The Sun.
London, England, 1853-02-23 00:00:00

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LONDON, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1853,

Disappointments have hitherto been so perpetu-
ally the result of all our hopes in regard to sani-
tary improvement, that we are reluctant even now
to count with anything like confidence upon the
final closing of the London graveyards, notwith-
standing the promised interference of the Noble
Lord the Home Secretary. Fortunately, that
interference is announced to be of a prompt, in-
stead of as hitherto a dilatory and a most pro-
crastinating, character. An Order in Council is
to put an immediate stop to the system of inter-
ments in the burial-ground of one of the most
central localities in the metropolis—a burial-
ground situated in the very middle of the prin-
cipal artery connecting London and Westminster.
Thank Heaven, there is at length an appreciable
movement in the right direction on the part of
our Administration. The matter is no longer
referred to the consideration of a dawdling
committee. It is not to be abandoned to
the indolent care of that unhappy Board
of Health, which, if not composed of lineal
descendants from the Seven Sleepers, would ap-
pear to have a faculty for dozing away its time,
as unlimited as that of the fair princess who
pricked her hand with the spindle in one of the
dear old tales of faeryland. No—the assurance
given the other evening in the House of Commons
to the Noble Lord the Representative of Maryle-
bone, by Viscount PALMERSTON, was something
more distinct and positive than the promise of a
blue-book as the fruit of any farther. Parliamen-
tary or extra Parliamentary investigation—it was
an explicit declaration that the particular evil
complained of by Lord DUDLEY STUART, namely,
the continued interment of dead bodies in
the graveyard of St. Clement Danes
should at once be put a stop to by an
Order in , Council 1 So far this is well.
But if the Noble Viscount wishes for any real
change for•the better, he must so contrive that
we shall have other, Orders in Council applicable
to many other of the intramural burial grounds.
Otherwise no actual benefit can possibly accrue in
the end from the energetic course pursued in this
instance by her MAJESTY!S, Home Secretary. His
perseverance in that course has become, in fact,
absolutely requisite, for it would be folly to
assert that the graveyard pointed out by the
Noble Lord, the Member for Marylebone, is the
worst, although it Undoubtedly is one of the worst
within the boundaries of the British Capital.
Its selection, as a first example, we can-
not but in every way
regard As most judi-
cious. From the peculiarity of its position,
in the very centre of the main thoroughfare
of London, with the tide of business flowing
perpetually to and fro on either side of it, with
the houses of the Strand looking down upon its
abominations day and night, so that the atrocity
of the thing cannot be for a single instant disre-
garded—the spot in question is, perhaps, of all
these odious pits of corruption, the very one
that ought by right to have been chosen for an
example by Lord PALMERSTON. Yet, granting
this, how many other places of a
similar de-
scription are there not in the limits of the
metropolis demanding yet more urgently the
interposition of the Government ? Look at the
burial-ground in Drury-lane—pronounced by a ,

high authority on such matters, and that as
far back too as 1839, to be " a most in-
tolerable and highly dangerous nuisance 1" Re-
member the revolting details published long ago
in reference to the disgusting, receptacle for corpses
under Enon Chapel ! Look at St. Paul's in
Covent-garden, crowded with • the dead to very
repletion 1 Look at the burial-place in Russell-
court, with human bones thrust away actually I
under one of the dwelling-houses by which the
spot is immediately surrounded Look at St.
Giles's burying-ground, where in 1665 the great
Plague of London very naturally commenced !
Look at similar scenes of decay, where disease, or
at any rate the malaria productive of disease, is
being continually manufactured—in Whitechapel,
in Moorfields, in Bethnal-green, at Stepney, at
Shadwell, at Clerkenwell, at Lambeth, at Bermond-
sey, in all directions. Examine any one of them even
superficially, .and, GOD knows, you will only find
/reason for dismay, and loathing, and indigna-
tion. Why, the Pagans never perpetrated such
iniquities—the worshippers of stocks and stones,
the believers in the most grovelling fetichism showed
more homage for the dead than we in these " en-
lightened times," the lovers, and some of us the
so-called champions, of Christianity! It has not
remained for us to announce these facts. We are
only enabled to repeat them, for they have been
already proclaimed again and again during the
last thirteen or fourteen years, by that humane
and enterprising philanthropist, we need
scarcely say, that we mean, Mr. GEORGE ALFRED
WALKER, . who may with accuracy be declared to
have originated by his labours the whole
of the now well-known and beneficent, though
hitherto ineffectual, sanitary movement. The
facts here referred to by ourselves, as it were for
the nine hundred and ninety-ninth time, have
been reiterated time and again by that gentleman

in words that brooked not contradiction. Are all
his generous endeavours to go for nothing because
of the deplorable apathy of the Legislature and
of the cruel ifeglect of the Government No.
In the end they must infallibly prove operative of
great advantages—and the time for their doing so,
is, we are fain to conjecture, nearer than we :lately
anticipated, now that the Home Department has
been consigned to the care of an able and ener-
getic statesman like Viscount PALMERSTON.

We have repeatedly pointed out the gross and
palpable injustice of what is facetiously termed
the " equal taxation" of every description of in-
come, without reference to the source from whence
it may be derived, or the manner in which it may
be obtained. We have shown that in the case of
industrial incomes assessed under schedule D a
considerable proportion of the amount earned is
necessarily applied in, what may be termed,
" professional expenditure," or, in other words,
an outlay essential to the successful prosecution
of the trade or calling, without which the parties
would have no incomes to be taxed, and which
are by no means available for the general. pur-
poses 'of the family. It is, therefore, not merely
that the profits of the professional man or
tradesman are temporary, while the dividends
of the fundholder are permanent that
the former are precarious and fluctuating, while
the latter are fixed and certain ; that the former
is taxed 3 per cent. on, the entire property which
he possesses, while the latter is only charged on
one-thirty-third part of his property, that consti-
,tutes the full extent of the grievance. Nor is it
alone the advantage afforded to the person living
on the intereot of his money, that he can spend it
wherever he pleases, and by rgtiring to one 9f the
cheap towns of the Continent avoid contributing
any sum, however trifling, to the national
exchequer, while the man earning his daily
bread by his daily labour is compelled to reside in
an expensive district, in which he is, during every
hour of the day, at every meal he partakes of,
reminded of his liabilities as a citizen of the most
highly-taxed country of the world. There is
something even worse than all this, vexatious
and inequitable as it must be considered. There
is the fact, that the person nominally earning
4001. per annum hasilittle more than one half of it
to spend as he thinks proper, and that, even if he
were so imprudent as to disregard the obvious
duty of making provision for the time when he
could no longer undergo the physical or intellec-
tual labour incidental to his business—or for the
support of his family when deprived of his pro tec-
tion—he would still have to pay nearly double
the rate charged to the fortunate capitalist, or the-
amount which could be applied as he thought
proper. The most strenuous advocates of the
existing system, Mr. GLADSTONE, or even Mr.
THOMAS BABBAOE himself, can scarcely venture to
deny the hardship of such a state of things, or as-
sert that some relief should not be granted to the
sufferers.

But the system is as impolitic as it is unjust.
It holds out a temptation to parties to render in-
accurate returns, and to evade, by any and every
means practicable, an impost, the flagrant injustice
whereof is so keenly felt by its victims. Men of
high honour and probity will not consider it a
very grievous offence to secrete their property from
a robber who has power sufficient to seize it
whenever he could lay his hands upon it ; , and
many persons conceive that the present system is
neither more nor less than a, practical robbery,
where

" They shall take who have the power,
And they should keep who can."
We do not justify this reasoning. Far from it.
So long as the system is sanctioned by Perlia-
, ra.ent—so long as it is the law of the land—it
should be respected by every faithful subject.
Let every exertion be made to repeal the ob-
no_tious enactments, but so long as they remain
on the statute-book they should be obeyed.
There are many persons, however, who think
rently—who conceive that the unfairness of
' the tax justifies them in evading it, if practicable.
It t I vas exercises a demoralising influence, induc-
ing :many men to disregard and violate the exist-
ing :law. This, by the general assent of all states-
men:., is an evil of great magnitude, which should
be e ;Irefully shunned •by all legislators. It is no
trivfi al matter to- bring the law of the land into
conb3mpt and disrepute, and. to tempt parties to
beco cme habitual violaters thereof. Now, it is
only under schedule D that these evasions can
be practised. It is under that schedule that
the parties interested make their own returns.
The Bank of England has no object to gain in
savi ug the pocket, of the' fundholder. The occu-
pier of a house or ifarm will not run any risk in
ord nr to save his immediate landlord from a small
pap: sent. There is no motive or inducement to
falsd hood. It is different with the small trader,
or p rofessional man struggling to maintain appear-
ance S. ]very shilling retained from the hands
of ' the tax-gatherer, is for his own benefit, a
(lir eot personal saving ; and if he should
bit disposed to mystify the collector, and
rei .urn less his actual profits, there are no such
fl oilities for detection as exist in other cases, and
it; is therefore in cases. of. Schedule 1) only that the
quisitorial powers that have been so loudly and
) justly complained of are requisite or necessary,
a: c.d the chief objections to the impost would be
g c t rid of by absolving industrial incomes from
ty contribution.
cl
are
s_ experienced
btceoiiosir
aTnnshkht
eeiw. andhilael
nrgedo:oao on
efficientfiblenme°: fiiee
confirmed
The most experienced officers all concur on this
d
-
po int. Mr. PRESSLY, in his evidence before the
Se lect Committee, said—" At present everything
be ing charged at its first source, we are quite sure
el the tax on. every penny, we get every penny
u eon the dividend, and every penny upon a man's
glarylosonm
ie.
olallei
nttta,hxabettixt-
s-ietts ditsTolipeeirnoloileo.dmrvt
produces
now is the profits of
a man's trade, but in all the other schedules it is
c ()Heated to a penny without any disclosure what-
-8.0
i3a samejevefructheTrhede
at evasion on the subject, and I think the
rich) )(Tule D." This may be considered decisive
Schedulet tiie valueA 't
ohfe re
his i sp
property
o littlepe r
tyor;
floermaseerangdenttlhele-
nboy I:ecfisesTil.ty7aL
mat:An
b doearSsohedule D, there is'no doubt
qi
arolainm:tetsvtirs on i i—rsegs;trUtdletitd
t
i ssio n considerableers
sat
satisfying
glllithy
themselves
ss
thatitself
theiny theare
maki ug a right decision ; it in reality must be

taken,, generally speaking, according to the con-
science or to the will of the party who
comes to appeal or make the return." The
latter adds—" Cases [of evasion] can only be
met before the local commissioners by surcharges
being made. If a man makes a return of his
profits, under Schedule D, of a trade or profes-
sion, it is almost impossible to get evidence to
prosecute him for a false return ; the amount of
his profits is known only to himself."
Under such circumstances it must clearly be
desirable to get rid of the fertile source of so
much demoralisation ; and it is fortunate, indeed,
that, in the case under notice, equity and expe-
diency go hand in hand, that justice and policy
alike demand the modification we have insisted
on.

The British House of Commons is, without
doubt, the first Legislative Assembly in the world.
There is nothing indeed to compare with it in
Europe ; for the Hungarian Diet is no more. The
American Senate most resembles it in ability, and
in the respect felt in its own country for the

opinions of its leading men. Its functions are,

Of course, more a.nal nous to those of our House
of 'Lords ; but its members being, in fact, the
elite of the elected by the people, their opinions
have the double weight of ability, and of ability
chosen by those for whom they speak or act. Our
House of Commons combines far more talent than
can be found in the American Senate, with nearly
all the licence in whic'h the House of Representa-
tives indulges. In it men may be found compe-
tent to deal with any subject which can be
discussed within its walls—men whose knowledge,
good sense, and debating powers can put down
charlatanism, ignorance, and flippancy at will ;
yet does it abound in orators whom nothing can
deter from parading empty motions and foolish
speeches before this business-like and grave as-
sembly. It is a place in which, on the wh,4o,
there is free scope for all the pleasantries, all the
asperities, and all the follies, too, of debate, and
yet where the real leaders seldom forget that
' .

they are engaged in real business, and contrive
to bring all to a business-like conclusion. There
can be no doubt that men of all countries, Ame-
ricans not excepted, venerate in it the noblest
monument of constitutional freedom in the world.
We, can hardly conceive of a greater calamity
befalling the interests of rational liberty than the
overthrow of the British House of Commons.
While it stands, it is a living witness that the
people can at once govern themselves, give , their
due to an aristocracy, and not merely uphold,
but love the Throne. While it stands, the out-
casts of despotism—from a KOSSUTH or a MAZ-
ZINI to a PELTIER—WiII have an asylum in which
at last they can be free, while tyrants may gnash
their teeth, but can neither silence their pens,
I.nor .dare to ask for them even an honourable de-
tention, Well may Englishmen be, as they are,
proud of their House of Commons. And yet how
perverse are we : for ever finding fault with it
—for ever clamouring that it should reform it-
self—laying to the charge of its members .every
species of corruption ; or, if not always to the
charge of members themselves, yet to that of the
parties who elect them. ' Rotten, corrupt, bribed,
intimidated, petty, insignificant are the epithets
we are for ever freely bestowing upon the consti-
tuencies who elect this august and world-honoured
body ! One would expect that our legislation
could not be much better than its fountain—that

a moral cesspool should not send forth living waters.
Still we continue to abuse, and continue to be
proud of our House, as England's glory, after all.
There is reason in this. The abuse has reason for
itself, the pride has reason for itself. The greater
the disadvantages overcome, the greater the, mar-
vel of the honourable result. Honourable in the
comparative sense of surpassing all of its kind in
the world. This, however, is no justification of
our permitting the evil because we get much
good notwithstanding. No more than protection
and monopoly were to be tolerated because the
energy and capacity of British merchants carried'
on a noble and increasing trade in spite of them.
We all see that, proud as we were of our commerce
under the reign of monopoly, we are much
prouder of it under the wise, just, and beneficial
reign of Free Trade. No, doubt, were we in like
manner delivered from petty and nomination
boroughs, with all the vices attendant upon little
constituencies and open voting, we should have
an incalculably more efficient House of Commons,
one far more truly reflecting the noble heart of
the British people, one far more united in its po-
licy, far less open to selfish and sinister influences,
and one which could bring into existence Cabinets
strong, not merely by combination of talents, but
by talents harmonised and directed by a higher
moral purpose.
But why plague us any more about Reform? Is
it not done with till next year 7 Of course it is.
Twelve to one, at least, of the secret voters have
settled that. We cannot make Government give
us Income Tax and Electoral Reform in the same
year if they will not ; we must even then be
oontent with the former, if we can get
it. There is one thing, however, to which Re-
formers should be fully awake : and that is to
make the best use of the numerous controverted
election petitions (we gave the entire list in The
Sun of the 10th). It would be worthy of the
whole strength of the thoroughgoing Liberals to
bring out fully all the lessons which might be
learned from election committees. The new laws
relating to evidence apply, it is said, to evidence
taken by election committees ; Members them-
selves, as well as others, cannot refuse to appear
before them, as W. B. actually did so recently
-before a special committee. We should advise
that an organisation be at once formed to work
these cases thoroughly. The getting or losing a
Member on this side or that should not be the
object so much as to drag to light the aboMina-
tions connected with the " influence " boroughs
and the purchaseable voters. A St. Albans expo-
sure, as far as practicable, should be the aim in
each case. A central and' competent organisation
could co-operate with right-minded petitioners—
could select the best counsel—could warn them of
Parliamentary tactics, and be a rallying point for
all who were disposed to unveil the electoral iniqui-
ties which Whig Reformers abhor in words while
they carefully conceal the deeds. We know the
difficulty is immense of bringing out these hateful
faots ; still, if the Liberals would but go to work
systematically, there is little doubt that the dis-
cussions over some six-score seats might silence
the insincere arguers against the ballot, and the
hollow defenders of little constituencies. This
kind of war will soon begin—there is no time
to be lost. Lord JOHN has referred us to
the results of the election committees, let Re-
formers see that those results are not compromises,
shifts, and evasions, but an impartial revela-
tion of all that such very imperfect courts can
elicit.

We also can see no reason whatever, as we
showed more at length recently, why Reformers
should not press their liberal notions as earnestly
as possible. Mr. LOCKE KING and Mr.
-111 ERKE-
LEY, especially, should be at their posts. It is no
concern of theirs to save embarrassment to a Mi-
nistry. They have two admirable propositions to
maintain; they must throw on their opponents the
burdens which belong to thein. Let those who
grudge even " bit-by-bit Reform" bear the dis-
graceof their own niggardliness, and let honestße-
formers show themselvesproud of being in a minority,
when frigid Whigs, and smooth-tongued but
proud Conservatives, constitute the majority.
We should be the last to counsel mere show
motions, or useless obstruction of national work,
to exhibit the adroitness and gratify the vanity
of cliques and partisans ; but substantive pro-
positions which, if carried, would facilitate the
Reform work of next session, are quite a different
thing. As to the election committees, the leader
of the House of Commons has directed our
attention to them. Every effort will be made to
prevent their disclosing the facts which would
exhibit pocket-boroughs and voting under sur-
veillance in their true light ; we, therefore, merely
ask the' Reformers to make the committees, as far
as possible, honest courts of inquest into electoral
villanies. We see with great pleasure that the
attempts to burke inquiry, by withdrawal of
petitions, are not_ to escape notice j Mr. LOCKE

KING having given notice of a motion for the
appointment of a .nonTinitt4;e: to investigate such
compromises. We hope that Mr. KING will press
did in
this business as firmly as Mr. ROBBUGIC
1842, and, if the committee-be not granted, vi."-
resort to the same plan of catechising theiconr
promising members.