The Sun.
London, England, 1853-04-25 00:00:00

THE INCOME TAX.

(FROM A CORRESPONDENT.)
1211% Gla,dstone's abominable Budget seems to
i"el'e been cunningly prompted for the pecuniary
irt of some large fundholding sybarite.
he or 40 years without rhyme or reason, he is to
ensured 2/. 17s. 9d. per cent. interest upon
every 1001. of his Consols.
of aillBPreign-built carriage is to be imported free
lid
duty. At breakfast, he is to daintily satisfy
an appetite with duty-free sausages from Bologna
in, nideer tongues from Lapland. After spell-
tee Iru.rengh the unstamped advertising sheet of
rimes, he takes an hour's stroll into his pre-
kid ser►es' and with the help of his keepers and beaters
40 duty-free foreign gunpowder, he contrives to
ek some scores of tame pheasants, orders his un-
der butler to seal their crowns with free-of-duty fo-
teidn, Perfumed sealing-wax—and then to his lunch,
will consist of sandwiches made from delicious
dog linPorted duty-free from Westphalia, washed
freer with foreign methegliu, also imported duty-
drawls through the afternoon in gos-
hirsPing tittle-tattle and at dinner he is served with
whs°,4l made from
' I
iltalian macaroni and vermicelli,
eu are to pay less than half a farthing per lb. duty.
tuertip then Primed' for feasting upon foreign-caught
f: and salmon, and turbot with oyster sauce,
ha`e° of duty. Then he attacks a free-of-duty
e'gt-truffle stuffed French turkey and Portugal
gym' and after filling up crevices with duty-free
1)3 and ptarmigan from Norway, and canvas-
(lec,L'ed duck from New York, which he washes
iria" with duty-free champaigned cider and perry
d from Germany, he complacently lavers
euerainate fingers in duty-free foreign rose-
Water, and then exercises the brightness of his
u
tare ect by yawning at the foreign duty-free pia
is'nles, and pictures, and marble statues,
tt„oe,e4 luxuriously adorn his salle-d-manger. At
and rt_2lle partakes of foreign grapes, and 'medlars
the itnces, paying only 2d. per bushel duty, and
farti,.7`4-ng wax candles, which are to pay only a
Clete'u'e
g Per lb. duty, exhibit to his foreign-acquired
kversth e gaudily painted foreign oil-cloth table-
hqiia imported at the duty of only one penny per
J: Yard. After his claret, which he will endea-
Itill;,°,i.raPort at the duty of only 2d. a bottle he
it ule eup of chicory-coffeefree of duty, washing
liqiio"wn with a glass or two of duty-free honied-
table ; and, if the night be not spent at the gaming-
hia "; Or in other dissipation, he may then retire to
thee6r-downed bed to sorrowfully meditate upon
eAr„ less of his fate.
the poor striving tradesman, or skilled arti-
,ltho -,hr Over-worked clerk, or much-pitied parson,
nebit„atices to rejoice in some hard-earned pittance
(lazi -e4 100/. and 1501. a year, is for the first time
texer the present generation to be unmercifully
Aouildfer seven long years at the rate of sd. in the
Re is not to eat rank Holstein butter
northane Pays upwards of a halfpenny a lb. duty,
of u coarsest Dutch cheese without paying a duty
44414vards of a farthing a lb. Foreign raw apples
dot pears he must not touch without paying the
144 •Pf 3d. per bushel—if dried, one shilling • a
friii,e4---nor dates, a health-promoting and nutritive
/iiii") Without paying more than a id. per lb. duty.
tliiir,wife is not to make a foreign potato-flour pud-
-1)oi;; or his children eat their foreign-oatmeal
14„tke, or foreign bread or biscuit, except by pay-
the,,, duty of 4id. per cwt. His humble tallow
bap twelves must pay a farthing per lb. duty. If he
Aiinai temperate man desirous to indulge in the
4,o"%esoute beverage of spruce beer, he must pay
olio3d. per gallon duty, and lie will not even be
fob Wed to brew it himself without paying 2s. 6d.
•
duty upon the foreign essence. And if, in the
Oest pride of his heart, he should wish to make a
io(qhday present of the tinyest silk parasol or a
t„r,eign hat or bonnet, however coarsely manufax-
,rd. of felt, or hair, or wool, or beaver, to the
not
of his bosom or the bairn of his loins, he dare
*)t do so without first paying, not a duty of one
veriny per diametrical yard, but the enormous duty
of one shilling each.
And yet, forsooth, this new, this " Heaven-
:ora" Budget is impudently called an extension of
4ree trade ! Query—Would Satan himself ever at-
,tetept to palm off such arrant hypocrisy even among
"4e unhappy inmates of Bedlam ?
it.T,bikl [Queen's head stamped on the writing-paper
;7, t, and not a Queen's head postage stamp] is the
ea,141) which should be used for the new stamp-re-
CPts) and on Bankers' cheques. The Times is
joie,araing over his cleverly-concocted advertising
t,L,al4 his penny-label correspondents are a set of
"4udlerB.

toiyv.
tIOF A LETTER ADDRESSED TO JOHN
IC41:11`; ESQ., M.P., ON THE PROPOSAL TO
,AIiEND THE INCOME TAX TO £lOO

~,„ Patricroft, near Manchester, Apra 23, 1853.
litzcii,et,o the parts
t4tl;'',--1 beg respectfully to entreat your earnest oppc.-
of the Chancellor of the Exchequer's
1,4444 4 proposing
to untax the wealthy man's "men ser-
f 2584 private carriages, horses, and dogs," to the extent
of ioe°o/. per annum, and to tax the precrious incomesf
elliell rlieality°l4els°/. a-year to supply the deficiency ;or such
0 the c eration of the Chauceilor of te Ex-
thifopr:ooeVatotl• tl/41,prefaced proposals to rob the compara-
give more to the already rich.
1441, °4B the wile has thoroughly investigated and under-
c..e i-Lnatter 'll say, as the Chancellor
.of the Ex-
141ineprf andlr:"loatedwl
will
ebr -- i'le 19th inst. thatas " the man with 1201. a yearare
enta ea% well off under the
.proposed changes, on afbem
Potation
luY own of losses and gams,". as I will show r
proposedcaße, taking the assumed income of 1201. a year.
Savingsltax, d. in the £. . - . .£2lO 0
rorya '7, the p posed reduction of duties in
p if„-lIIALY----se-frfo" *f* and nine children (sup-
toc'st-b-g the price wlf
alle' articles to be reduced
t• rTeteensumer theo full amount of the reduc-
-414 ,130,' ::111, tY, which I believe very few expect,
res ""tett certainly will not be the case with
Pect to all the articles enumerated ; as to
, it •
deal 18 Well known that the merchants and
dumeja intend to pocket the 41d. per lb. re-
do -°n in duty, for it is too small an amount
%hare with purchasers' of ounces and 11ba.
°f tea) ,
COne ---.
omption of tea, average 11b per
eeek, duty reduced 5 5
Ditto
soap, 31b. ditto ditto l3 0
-...-!.tto butter, 41b. ditto ditto
Ditto cheese alb. ditto ditto
2ltto eggs, i doz. ditto ditto 1 3
Ditto
apples, say a bushel a year

48.1,
ti-047 the proposed "
.. readjustment" of taxa- --
........: .£0 18
.... ............. . her articles the duty on
440°1 is reduced, is so trifling as not to be worth taking
,Naceount.
lg;np°B the loss to such as ine would be not less than
4,;),(1- per annum, and probably much more.
thcthis is not the time for laying more taxation. on
eh "e whose precarious incomes, of which there is n
o4nee of increase, range from 1001. to 1501. per
.year—
pr:°,that bread is fully 1-10th dearer than during the
pr,,..vt°114 two years—animal food far above the average
14;"e--butter and cheese high—potatoes, essential in
prig: families, enormously dear. The present increased
the4l °I potatoes alone over the average of years before
i
Potato disease made its appearance, s, on the quan-
tniiinwo require, equal to the proposed income tax
a-year ; and leather, which forms an important
as'" In the shape of shoes, has advanced in price at least
Per cent., and no prospect of the price being lower,oa
kph few hides are now received from South Am
hi,ence until recently, a large proportion of the best
4eB have come for some years past.
°4 the whole, it appears by the Chancellor of the
vlehequer's statement, that I and thousands of others
`l° have expended the saved portion of our hard earn-
tegß in buying bits of freehold property as a qualification
'Vote in the election of M.P.'s, professedly anxious to
tillselliote the welfare and comfort of the great mass of
(4People, and to adjust fairly the burthen of taxation
'doh freehold property, in my own and numerous
other instances, has not made 3 per cent., the property
%elf being now not worth what it cost by 15 to 20 per
and who looked anxiously forward to the repeal
°is the41 corn laws, and the removal of restrictionsonthe
Portaftion of articles of food generally, as measures
ex, great benefit, which would enable us to ex-
lir" more orr the education of our children, make
"-111° raore comfortable, and save a little a
stel:lny day," are to be deprived of the anticiparedinbset a
ne-
-4 peezeept the miserably small total
.calculated saving of
butcher not equal to the present increased cost of
I•e-.r.te .meat. and potatoes.
the `fither, it is most unjust that an income of 10. 0/.
paysif it nothing.
be
taxed 21. Is. Bd., whilst 991.
'8 considered " expedient" that all precarious in-
then the
in-
only under 1001. a-year should be exempt,
,NellYeeequitable and common-sense cours ewillbe to corn_-
Pro, Charging from 1001. and not from 11., and
lisfeas thus—let 1101. pay 10 fivepences or 4s. 2d.;
and Pay 15 fivepences or 6s. 3d ; 1201. pay Bs. 4d. ;
R• 0108, on charging all parts of Si. as 51. This plan
object' oe simple and so just that I am sure no oneworuold.
:er to it, and what is still more important the p
nal, inducement to fraud in making returns of incometo
all be removed, and this an should be extended_
Yo Pleearious incomes under 2501. or 3001. acyear• ne
h n't these amounts tax on the whole income could be
etter afford d
e •
UndAgain, if the income tax is to be levied on incomes
ter 15°/-, what constitutes the " inexpediency ia reoching " on what the Chancellor of the Exchequer
thel'jeaßed to call " the territory of labour "—that is
114,2nexpediency of taxing artisans and foremen of arti-
-241, thousands of whom in England earn from 1001. to
longs Per annum, with less risk of injury to health and
ind,3:vitY than the clerks and others who will be
Whatet. to the proposed extension of the income tax ?
tlau, Is it but the fear that a storm of strenuous, indig-
voilielnosition would be raised by this class, which
other „..drive from office the present Ministry, or any
tzatiitieolv-tin_.asnistry, that proposed such a re-adjustment of
is now before the public, viz., the untaxing
Lan_tve,asremahrrimagaens's luxuries in the shape of " men-ser-
, horses, and dogs," and to raise an
4.14 in lent revenue out of the income of the clerk, ar-
daY: °,lldi. foreman of artisans, which may cease any
•64.11:
b,clps to pass ploy_ patts of the

-1 11

Budget cannot, surely, expect the support of the thus
needlessly-intended-to-be taxed class, when he again
requires it at the hustings ; and though the class is not
numerous, it is not without influence, as may appear in
the next elections, which are perhaps not far distant.—
I remain respectfully, your very humble servant.
To John Bright, Esq., M.P., London. H. T.