The Sun.
London, England, 1853-04-19 00:00:00

NEW ROSS ELECTION.

Mr. HEADLAM reported that this committee had
come to the resolution that Mr. Charles Gavan Duffy was
duly elected for New Ross.
-VOTE BY BALLOT.
- -

Mr. HENRY BERKELEY gave notice that, on the
11th of May, he would ask for leave to bring in his
usual bill for taking the vote of electors by ballot.
REFORM OF THE LONDON CORPORATION.
Sir DE LACY EVANS asked the noble lord the mem-
ber for the city of London, whether, in the commission of
inquiry regarding the state of the orporation of London,
there would be any objection to direct an investigation
into the working of the city police acting under the corpo-
ration, with a view (without derogating from the present
excAlent administration of that force) to a consideration
of the advantages of consolidating the whole of the metro-
politan police under one management ; also, whether that
commission is to be appointed by act of Parliament so as
to enable it to pursue, with adequate power, its inquiries;
and whether there be any objection to add to its duties a
like inquiry into the corporation of the adjoining City of
WeStminster.
LOrd J. RUSSELL said there would be no objection to
the commission of inquiry into the working of the city po-
lice. With regard to thesecond question, he had to state that
the corporation of the city of London had expressed their
willingness to give every assistance to an inquiry by com-
mission, and there would, therefore, be no necessity for a
bill on the subject. As to the last question, he did not
think it was desirable to extend the inquiry to Westmin-
ster.

Lord D. STUART asked the noble lord the member for
the City. of London, whether a protest has been received
by the GOVernment of this country from the Prince of
Schleswig Holstein, against the treaty of the Bth day of
May, 1852, regulating the succession to the Crown of Den-
mark ' • and, if so,.whether there will be any objection to
lay that document on the table of the house.
Lord J . RUSSELL said that a protest had been received
but he could not say whether it could be laid on the table
of the house.
On the motion of Sir B. Hall, the evidence taken before
the Tynemouth election committee was ordered to be
printed.
Mr. M. MILES asked the Secretary of the Admiralty
whether, in consequence of any instractions issued to Sir
Everarcb Home, of her Majesty's ship Calliope, with
a view to ascertain the fate of Mr. Benjamin Boyd, that
officer has transmitted any report on the subject to the
Admiralty, in connexion with his recent cruise amongst
the South Sea Islands,,from which he is understood to have
returned to Sydney on the 19th Dec. last; also, whether any
repOrt has been received from the officer in command of
the China station on the same subject.?.
Mr.' B. OSBORNE said that no report had yet been re-
ceived on the subject'.
Mr. A.'WYSE asked Lord John RusSell whether it was
the intention of h r Majesty's Government to • introduce,
either ,in—this or the next session of Parliardent, any
measure to abolish, or revise the laws 'relating to the
settlement And removal •of the poor, or to alter the
present mode of raising the rates for the "relief
of the poor,, by distribm ing the charge over a wider
and less variable basis, or otherwise. Secondly, if
her Majesty's GovernMent are not prepared to. propose
early legislation on these subjects, whether Lord John
Russell will assent" to the appointment of a committee
to inquire into the practical operation of the laws for the
relief of the poor in England and Wales, and to consider
the policy and general effect of all the laws relating to set-
tlement, removal, and parochial assessment?

Lord J. RUSSELL said the Government were of opi-
nion that there would not be sufficient time to discuss a
measure on this subject this session, but a measure would
be introduced next session.

Mr. PETO asked the member for the city of London if
it was the intention of the Government to proceed with
the sfcond reading of the education bill, pending the in-
quiry now proceeding in a committee specially appointed
by the house to inquire into the subject, on the introduc-
tion of the Manchester and Salford Education Bill ?

Lord J. RUSSELL said it was not his intention to pro-
eed with the bill until after Whitsuntide, when he hoped
the report of the committee on the Manchester and Salford
Education Bill would be laid on the table.
In answer to• Mr. DIVETT - _

Mr. WILSON said that officers of the Mint were
using every endeavour to meet the demand for small silver,
lout the demand for gold coin being so great, it was impos-
sible for them to issue more coin. The amount of money
turned out weekly was 600,0001., a much greater amount
than had ever•been issued before.

NEW ZEALAND COMPANY.
In answer to Dir. H. BAILLIE,
Sir W. MOLESWORTH said that as the papers which
had been laid before the house relative to the charges which
had been made against the New Zealaid Company fully
bore out- those charges, he saw no reason for asking for a
furthgr inquiry this session.

THE BUDGET.
On the motion for g9ing. into Committee of Ways and
Means,
Petitions were presented by
LioorrdaHiffoetrent medical socie-
ha.m, Mr. Bright,
Mr. Peto, Lord Dudley Stuart,
ties ; by Lord Stanley and other honourable gentlemen,
praying for an alteration of the income tax so far as
it bears upon precarious incomes ; by My. Kershaw,
from Stockport, against the
taxes on knowledge ; by
Mr. Ewart. praying for the repeal of the duties on
butter and cheese ; by ColonA Harcourt, from the
isle of Wight, against the duty on malt and hops ; by My.
Gaskell, Mr. Hume, Mr. Cobbet, and Mr. Milner, for a re_
peal of the certificate tax.
Twe house then went into committee, Mr. BOVVERIE in
the chair.

The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER
o and
said—The annual exposition of the financial state ransde pro-
'T eets of this country, upon ordinary occasions,
abundant materials of interest to this house and affords
to the
country, and of anxiety to the person charged with the
preparation. of That exposition ; but on the present occa-
sion, perhaps, that interest on the one hand, and, certainly,
that anxiety on the other, are greatly enhanced by a variety
of cireunislanCe4 including among them the number of
motions which have recently been made in thiAouse, in-
eagerneSs of the people with respect
dicati4 the increasing
to financial (Hear, hear.) Political events, •
;shock; which have enfeebled or overthrown_ Atiministra-.
tions,aadhithiNa..44ittle.# Icyto adjectrn from
year to year questions of taxation, have likewise greatly

accumulated on the present Government the task they have
to discharge in that regard ; and in 'connexion'with those
questions there have of late been raised diicussions of a
nature most deeply interesting, descending to the first ele-
mentary principles of taxation, and almost to the first
principles on which men are united -in civilised society.
(Hear, hear.) With a task so formidable before me, I feel
warranted in addressing a special appeal to the committee
for their kindness and indulgence, for I am certain that
only, by their kincinlss and indulgence, can I be enabled—
I will not say to discharge the task as it ought to be dis-
charged, for that is wholly beyond my power—bat to dis-
charge case td- be at least intelligible, to my
hearers. it
Hesar, in ,
hear:),Th9
first portion of my duty will
s( o a
,
be to lay before the committee the account of the country.
I think I shall best discharge it by taking up the state of
that account from the point at 'which it stood last year,
when the financial department was in the hands of the
right hon. gentleman opposite (Mr. Disraeli), and it will
be satisfactory to the committee to observe, that as our
experience grows with the lapse of time, so do we obtain
larger and still larger proof of the elasticity of the revenue
and of the progress of the productive and consuming
powers of the country. (Cheers.) On the 30th of April,
1852, the :right hon. gentleman opposite estimated the
revenue for the year at 51,625,0001., and in the month of
December, 1852, when the right honourable gentleman
had occasion to return to the subject, he was able to pre-
sent to us an estimate which placed the revenue of the year
at 52,325,0001., exhibiting an increase upon his estimate in
April amounting to not less than 700,0001. And now,
within the few months which have elapsed since last De-
cember, we have further evidence of the same gratifying
character, for the, revenue which the right hon. gentleman
then judiciously estimated at 62;325,000/. amounted.to no
leis, when we- reached the termination of the year, than
shoWing an. increase of 1,464,0001. upon the
estimate formed at the commencement of the year. (Hear;
hear.) The expenditure of :the last year, as estimated by
the sight lon. gentleman opposite on the 30th of April,
1852, was taken at 51,163,0001. but the actual expenditure
has only reached to 50,782,000 Z., ;and consequently you
haie had figurevpresented to you in the balance-sheet
which must have been gratifying to every member of the
committee in showing a surplus of income over the expen-
diture to the amount; of 2,460;000/. (Hear; hear.) But,
having reached this point by a smooth and easy progress; it
is now my duty to entreat hon. gentlemen to make large
deductions, from the very sanguine estimate-s-so sanguine
as; aiiiiSiderihg the quarter from wbieh it came, to excite
my surPrisess-that because our balance yields 2460,000/.
of surplus, therefore we have that sum available for re-
I mission of taxation. ,That would be a too precipitate in-
ference. Unfortunately, before we arrive at that conclu-
sion; there is one circumstance rather material to exatnine,
and that is—what is the estimated' amount of expenditure
of the year that' We have just. commenced ? -when I
leak to that; and compare, it as estimated, andas it appears
on the, votes before the house, with the estiniatas of the
lUet year; I find it stands as follows :—The expenditure.for
1-852-53 wag- 50,782,0001., ;
.but the expenditure for 1853-51,
the groat bulk of which is already voted; and upon which
'I can anticipate, on the whole, noaliminution,amounts to
52X53,000/. Therefore, without going into Other par-
ticulars, which, I am sorry to say-, occasion a fur-
ther dedustion from the surplus of 2,460,0301., I
hes, to. point out that no less than 1,400,000.:., or
nearly three-fifths of thst surplus, are already;disposeil of
by the charges, to wbieh you are liable under acts of Par
:lianient, by the votes which the house has come for the de-
lance of the country, and by the charges DII account of the
'miscellaneous services, which, I apprehend, this house will
net be inclined tosrefuse or ta diminish._ (Hear, hear.) The
right. heti. gentleman oppo,site, in December; 1852, esti-
mated as follows his surplus for the present year :—He
took a total sum of 1,60),000t., of which. I thinks he stated
that, on the ordinary.reventse„..he would venture to antici-
pate a surplus- amounting to between 1,300,0001. and
1,400,0001., and by decreaseinf charge for the Kafir war a
sum of 200,0001. or 300,000/. These two sums put together
gave a surplus; as the basis of his calculations for the year,
amounting to 1,600,0001. At that period the right hon.
gentleman thought, that the only charge against that sur-
plus on account of coming expenditure would he the alm-
a 103,0001., which he proposed to apply to, light clues and
purposes connected with shipping, and Immo/. for the in-
crease he anticipated on -the great services Of the country.
His successor has not been so fortunate, nor has he thought
it wise to confine the votes far the year within these limits.
I shall now state to the house how that surplus of
1,600,0001. has been swallowed. 'The increase on the navy
estimates, including the packet service, as voted in 1852,
and as we found it prepared for this year (making the com-
parison with the estimate of April; 1852, not including the
supplemental vote of December), amounts-to 617,6031. The'
increase on the army and commissariat, but almost en-
tirely on the commissariat, is 90,0001. ; and that 'increase
on the commissariat is to be accounted for by the fact that
we have now reached, we trust, that stage in the hostilities
at the Cape when we may consider our extraordinary
votes at an end, and when-the provision to be made has
passed under ordinary expenditure ; 'therefore, though it
is our duty to submit to the :house, during the present ses-
sion an extraordinary vote for 200,0001.; which is essen-
tially retrospective, we have likewise to submit a vote for
70,000/. in commissariat expenditure, which in its charac-
ter is-prospective, and analagous to our ordinary estimates.
So the durable expenditure, as far as the Cape is con-
cerned, is charged' on the service of the present year.' The
increase on the ordnance is 616,0001. The militia estimates
have not yet been brought to the shape in which they will
be laid on the table : but I am sorry to say that there will
be a large and I believe unavoidable increase on the
amount taken last year by my right hon. friend then Secre-
tary for the Home Department. The estimate for the
present year cannot, I fear, be expected to be much less,
if at all less than 530,000/. I doubt if it was expected
twelvemonths ago by my right hon. friend that the amount
would be more than something like 300,0001. If so, there
would be a considerable increase in the expense of giving
effect to that plan, and it is right that the House of Com-
mons should know the expense of giving effect to any plan,
and especially one which has realised, in other respects, all
the favourable anticipations formed of it. (Cheers.) The
increase of expense for the militia, as compared with the
reckoning of my right hon. friend, will be about 230,0001.
The last item in these augmentations of expense is the suni
of 100,0001. added to the votes daring the present year for
the purposes of public education. If the committee take
the pains to put together these five items they will find
that, though the right hon. gentleman opposite (Mr.
D'lsraeli) anticipated a surplus of 1,600,0001 for the finan-
cial year of 1853-4, the augmentations of charge, princi-
pally voted already and in part yet to come, amount to no
less than 1,654,0001. As I have already stated to the com-
mittee there has been some further improvement in the
revenue, and there are likewise some few items of public
expenditure on which the Government have been able to
effect some small saving. With respect to the important
and unsatisfactory charge for the packet contract service,
it has been our most anxious desire- to see what, consis-

tently with justice, was to be done to amend the position
of the public. We think that the amount of charge which
that service has reached; is *holly disproportionate with
the benefit derived: (Cries of " Hear.") lam not at pre-
sent iu a condition to lay the estimate on the table, or to
state exactly what the estimate will be, but I venture to
anticipate at any rate for the first year, we may be able to
effect a saving on it of not less than 75,0001. There will
also be a saving on the charge for Exchequer-bias, owing
to the diminution of interest, amounting to about 65,0001.,
and there• will be a sum which the house must observe is
occasional in its nature, of 135,0001., arising out of repay-
ments to the Crown revenues, and available under the pro-
visions of the law as ways and means, in consequence of
the bill passed by the house having reference to metropoli-
tan improvements ; and also there will be produced a sum,
by the liberation of the Crown revenues from a charge
which heretofore affected them on the satne account, to
the extent of about 27,0001. These various items wi►l

give a' fund amounting to about 301;0001. I will now
state more particularly to the committee the items
of anticipated revenue and expenditure' of the coun-
try, from which they will see precisely the amount of the
surplus we have to deal with. - I should at the outset ex-
plain that I think it would be convenient, that I should in
all cases, disregarding inaccuracies,
minute give the sums
in round numbers. I will now present to the committee
an account of the estimated revenue and expenditure for
the year 1853-54. With regard to the expenditure, the
charge for the funded debt is put down at 27,500,0001.,
and the charge for the unfunded debt at 304,0001., making
a total for the debt of 27,804,0001. The charges on the
consolidated fund will be 2,503,0001. ; the army estimates,
6,025,000/. ; the navy, 6,235,000/., not including the packet,
service ; the Ordnance estimates, 3,053,000/. • miscellane-
ous, 4,476,000/. ; commissariat, 557,000/. ; the militia, as
nearly as I can judge, 530,000/. ; the extraordinary vote
for the Kafir war, 200,000/. ; and the packet service, I
think, may. be fairly taken at 800,0001. for the present
year. These items give a total of estimated expenditure
amounting to 52,183,000/. I now come to the estimate of
anticipated revenue. I take the revenue of the Customs
at 20,680,000/. • Excise, 14,640,0001. • stamps, 6,700,000/. ;
taxes, 3,250,006/. ; and income tax, 5;550,000. From the
Post-office we expect 900,000/. '• and from the Crown linds,
swelled by the addition I have already referred to,
390,000/. ; from miscelhiheous sources of receipt (including,
I think, about 160,000/., being the capital of the Merchant
Seamen's Fund, out of-which we shall have to pay 80,0001.
during the present year on account of pensions, and the
whole of the remainder,' I need not say, will be absorbed
long before that charge for pension ceases) we expect about
320,0001., and from old stores 460,0001. To these I ven-
ture to add, though the items is necessarily one of uncer-
tainty and conjecture, that I anticipate a saving of no less
than 100,0001. from the operations which have been pro-
posed to the house in connexion with the exchange and re-
demption of stock. It may, certainly, be less, and it may,
on the other hand, beinore—the final result, I hope, will
show a considerable saving. I venture now to take credit
for 100,0001. on that account. Adding up, then, these va-
rious items, the committee will find that they give a total
estimated income for the year of 52,990,0001., against
which we have to set the total estimated expenditure of
52,183,000/., showing an apparent surplus of 807,0001.
Anxious, above all, to avoid raising undue expectations, I
am desirous to impress on the committee that it must
bear in mind that 'out of this sum of 800,000/. an amount

of 215,0001. consists of moneys which do not proceed
from permanent or recurring sources, but •of moneys
due simply to the year, and not to be repeated. Like-
wise, with the uncertainty connected with the items
for the packet-service and for the Channel Islands' har-
bours, on which my right hon. friend at the head of the
Admiralty and I are not, quite sure whether we can or
cannot' venture to make a reduction in the sum printed in

__ . ----- .
to the extent of 100,0001.
men-
tioned may not be realized ,
for the c ommittee to
Therefore, it will be more securedof
800,000_.,
/ will be
the estimates, it is possible that the surplus I save
assume that the surplus,
At
con-
sists of occasional payments.
700,0001., and to bear in mind that 21_
my sanguine
giving this explanation by way of caption, This is
hope is that we shall realise a surplus of 800,0001.th5e,000samLooutitLf,itwililethe state of the account of the country, as I have endea-
voured to bring it up to the present moment. The
com-
mittee will not have failed to observe that in reckoning
the estimated income I have included a large sum amount-
ing to more than one-tenth of the whole revenue, which,
from 184.2 up to the present time, we have been deriving from the income-tax. Ilowever, the income-tax has at
this moment legally . expired, and .it will be for the. com-
mittee to consider whether or not they. shall. revive it.
Upon that subject I am afraid that it will be my duty to
trouble the committee at some length ; but before I venture
on a detailed and continuous exilbsition of the views of the
Government with respect to prospective finance, there are
two questions- to which I must -briefly advert on -account
chiefly of the position they oecupied- in -the financial itate-
meat of my predecessor in the offiee I now fill. The first
gof these has reference to a particular class. Now, a re-
a,r(ls the -shipping-interest- the-house knows from a st4e-
to ent already niade.by -my -right hon. friend-the-President'-
Hof tr Board of Trade, that- her Majesty's Government
`'pro so to afford what they trust will ba found consider-
,

able benefit arid relief to that interest, without inflicting
an annual charge upon the public. (Hear.) But there was
another interest mentioned by the right hon. gentleman
opposite (Mr. Disraeli) which has so much claim upon the
general sympathies of the house, that respect and consider-
ation demand that I should not leave it without men-
tion ; I mean that is called the West Indian interest.
(Hear.) With regard to that interest, I regret to say that
there is indeed little, if anything, that can be done by a Go-
vernment, in our view, consistently with its more extended
duties to the public, in fulfilment -of the requisitipn
which that interest has preferred. 'With regard to a reduc-
tion of the duty on sugar, -which is one of its requests, in
proportion to the fall in the duty upon foreign sugar, so as
to maintain the differential' rate that now exists' between
them, it is entirely 'impossible for the Government to hold
out the smallest hope of their recommendation being
adopted. (Hear.) With respect to the question of re-
fining sugar in bond, which is of a different character, my
hon. friend the Secretary to the Treasury (Mr. Wilson)
will take a future occasion of entering more at large into
that question; but I rag-set to say that we have not dis-
covered any method of granting that privilege in the pre-
sent state of the law with respect to sugar which would be
satisfactory to the West Indians and to the refining trade,
and which at the same time would not inflict very heavy
loss upon the revenue. (Hear.) With respect to the equali-
sation of spirit duties, again I fear that really nothing re-
mains to be done in that respect. I believe the distillers
of this country consider that already the duties have been
somewhat more than equalised, all things considered, in the
case of the West Indies. At all events, we are not prepared
to propose any change in the law in the nature of equalisa-
tion of spirit duties as between colonial and domestic pro-
duce. (Hear.) There is but one way in which it has oc-
curred to the Government that they might entertain a
sanguine hope of being able, at very slight charge to this
country, perhaps at no charge, to confer material benefit
on the West Indies; and that is a way which, if it can be
effected, will, I am sure, command the approbation of this
house, because it is by enabling them to economise the
heavy expenditure of their own governments—(hear)---a
heavy and now in many cases almost a ruinous expenditure.,
In the case of Jamaica, for example, there isn public debt,
the minimum rate of interest upon which is 6 per cent.,
and the Maximum 10 •er cent., the capital of the debt
amounting to about 500,1111 a; and if it were possible for
the Government to induce the Assembly of Jamaica to
amend the vicious constitution of that island, and to place
it upon a foundation that would give scope for a strict con-
trol over expenditure, •her 16.jesty'ti Government would
then be disposed to recommend to this house to eipploy-the
credit of this country in a gnaranted for the island of Ja-
rnaiea: (Hear.) I' do not now inquire whether that would
entail a charge upon year; I believe it would entail none.
Would. be the first to assert that there should be' the ut-
most jealousy as to the interposition of the credit of this
country .between debtors and creditors Out of this
-,--(hear)—but, considering all that has happened to the
Wert Indies, considering the effect that British legislation
has had in, precipitating their difficulties; rdo beliefe. that
if we were able to point' out a 'prospect- of great' and effec-
tual relief to Jamaica, to be indirectly obtained 'through
an effectual reform in its government, this houSe would look
with a generous and a considerate eye upon any proposal
for using the credit of this country in the- manner that I
have,Mentioned. (Hear.) That refers to Jain-aka; which
presents at this moment by far the most:urgent case of dis-
tress among the We3t-Inlia colonies: lam not sure that
there`is any other among thOse colonies Which would be in
a condition to request a similar interposition—(hear)—if
they. Aid, it would depend upon the case they showed. I
do not think it likelysthat such a case will arise; all I mean
to say at the present 'inoreent i 5, that the door would not be
absoltitely shut'ao•eninst them. I !Ass on now froni the col-
lateral topic of the West Indian interest to another topic—
that connected with the-Exchequer Loan Fund. After all
that passed in debate in peceMber last; it was' evidently the
dray of her Majesty's Government to-make a full investiga-
tion into the transactions of that board. We haveinstituted
(that investigation—we have preSatited the results in pri tto
the house—they are in a form so simple that an inspection
loccupyinae only a few minutes will exhibit them -Co anyhon.
member. It appears from the figures there presented that,
gter debiting the Exchequerioan Fund—l won't say with
bvery folly of Parliament, but-With every questionable or
eibigu_ons grant that was made—after champing thewhole of
this to the last farthing, yet such has been the sound discre-
tion exercised by the members, and officers of that board in
bite loans they have made, that _while they have afforded an
inmien„se amount of local accommodation, they have like-
wise realised, after paying every expen e that belongs to'
the office; a nethalance of not less than 227,3001.--(hear)
-which balance, if we put values such as sanguine men
Might perhaps put upon certain investments that have not
yet been realised, it is far from impossible may be raised,
to nearly 1,000,000/. of money to the credit of the entire
transactions of the board. (Hear.) It is our candid opi-
nion, under these circumstances, that the:sentiments- ex-
pressed by my right hon. friend the First Lord of the Ad-
rairalty, in .December last, in regard to the Exchequer
Law Fund, are justified-by the facts—(hear)—and it is not
our intention to propose the abolition of that system, which
we think has been both honourable to those who have act--
ministered it, and highly beneficial to the country. (Hear.)
-I now approach a difficult portion of the task that I have
to perform—the discussion of the income tax. (Hear,
hear.) . The first question that this committee has to con-
sider is, whether or not it will make efforts to part with
the income tax at once. I do not say that such an alter-
native is impossible. On the contrary, I believe that by
the conjunction of three measures, one of which must be a
tax upon land, houses, and other visible property, of per..
haps 6d. in the pound; and another a system of licenses
upon trade made univei sal, and averaging something like
71., and-the third, a change in your scheme of legacy duties
—(" Hear, hear," from Mr. W. Williams, and other mem-
bers), it would be possible for you at once to part with the
income tax. But her Majesty's Government do not recom-
mend such a course to the committee. (Hear.) They do
not recommend it because they believe, in the first place,
that such a system would, upon the whole, be far more
unequal, and cause greater dissatisfaction than the income
tax ; they believe, likewise, that it would arrest other be-
neficial reforms of taxation ; and they believe that it
would raise that difficult question in regard to the taxation
of the public funds of this country in a form the most in-
convenient. (Hear.) I might dilate upon this subject,
but it is needless to do so. I leave it to those, if such there
be, who are prepared to recommend the immediate aban-
donment of the income tax. Such is not the recommenda-
tion of her Majesty's Government. Now, in regard to the
income tax, I wish that I could possess the committee-with
the impression that constant study has made upon my own
mind of the deep and vital importance of the subject. We
are too apt to measure the importance of the subject by
the simple fact that we draw from this tax 5,500,000/. of
revenue. Sir, that sum is a large one, but the mention of
it conveys no idea to the committee of the immense mo-
ment and magnitude of the question. If you want to ap-
preciate the income tax yon must go back to the time of
its birth ; you must consider what it has done for you in
times of national peril and emergency—(hear, hear)—you
must consider what, if you do not destroy it—and I will
explain afterwards what I mean by " destroy,"—what it
may do for you again, if it please God that those times
shall return. (Hear, hear.) Sir, in was in the crisis of the
revolutionary war that, when Mr. Pitt found the resources
of taxation 'were failing under him, his mind fell backupon
the conception of the income tax ; and when he proposed
it to Parliament that great man, possessed with his great
idea; raised his eloquence to an unusual height and power.
'There is a description of the speech of Mr. Pitt on that oc-
casion, :written by a foreigner, a well-known writer of the
day—Mallet du Pan--which I may venture to read to the
committee ; I believe, after the lapse of 55 years, it will be
read: not without interest. (Hear.) This is an account
which, in a periodical that ho edited, he gives of Mr. Pitt's
speech in 1798 :
" From the time that deliberative assemblies have existed,
I doubt whether any man ever heard a display of this nature
equally astonishing for its extent, its precision, and the
talents of its author. It is not a speech spoken by the avii-
mister ; it is a complete course of public cc-enemy ; a work,
and one -of the finest works, upon, practical 'and theoretical
finance that ever distinguished the pen of a philosopher and
Statesman. We may add this statement to . the learned re-
searches of such men as Adam Smith, Arthur. Young, and
Stuart, whom the Minister honoured with his quotations."
(Hear, hear.) Ido not know 'whether this committee are
aware how much the country owes to the former income
tax, but, because I deem it to be of vital importance that
you should fully appreciate the power of this colossal en-
gine of finance, I will venturato place before you, in what
I think an intelligible and a striking form, the results
which it once achieved. I will draw the comparison be-
tween the mode in which your burdens were met during
that period of the war when you had no income tax—dur-
ing that period of the war when you had the income tax.
in a state of half-efficiency—and during that. last and most
arduous period of the war, when the income tax was in its
full power. From 1793 to 1798, a period of six years, there
was no income tax from 1790 to 1802 there was an income
tax, but the provisions of the law made it far less effective
in proportion to rate than it now is ; and from 1806 to 1815,
a period of. 11 years, you had the income tax in its full
force. Now, every one of us is aware of the enormous
weight and enormous mischief that have been entailed
upon this country by the accumulation bf our debt—(hear,
hear)—but it is not too much to say that it. is demonstrated
by the figures that it need. not at this moment have ex-
isted if there , had been the resolution& to submit to the
income tax at an earlier period. (Hear.) This test I think
you wiL admit is a fair one ; I put together the whole
charge of government and war, together with the charge
of so much of the national debt as had accrued before 1793,
so as to make (if I may so express myself) a fair start from
1793. (Hear, hear.) The charge of goverriment and war,
together with the charge of debt incurred before 1793,
amounted on the average of the six years down to 1798 to
36,030,000/. a-year : the revenue of that period, with all
the additional taxes that were laid on, ' amounted to
20,626,000/. a-year ; there was, therefore, an annual excess
of charge above revenue—charge for government, war, and
debt contracted before 1793, including the charge of debt
contracted since 1793—0 f no less than 15,404,000/. (Hear.)
In 1798 you just appreciate the income tax, and immedi-
ately a charge begins. In the four years from 1799 to 1802
the charge for the same items that I have mentioned, which
had been 36,000,0001., rose to 47313,0001. a-year ; but the
revenue rose to 33,724,000/. a-year, and the-excess for those
four years was diminished by about 2,000,0001; a-year ;
instead of an annual excess of 15,400,0001. over revenue, it
was 13,689,000/. But now look to the operation of the
tax from 1806 to 1815, during the time- when your exer-
tions were greatest and your charges were heaviest. The
average annual expenses of war and government from 1806
to 1815, together with the charge upon the, debt contracted
before 1793, wa5,67,794,000/. ; but you had your income
tax, in its. full force, and the revenue of the country
now amounted to 63,790,0001—(hear)—and the deficiency,
in actual hard money, which represented something like
double the amount in debt, owing to the rate at which you
borrowed—(hear)—instead of being 15,404,0001. a-year, or
(as it was in the second period) 13,689,0001. a-year, was
only 2,004,0001. a-year from 1806 to 1815. (Hear, hear.)
Such was the power of the income tax. I have said there
was a deficiency annually of 2,004,0001., but it is fair for
you, to recollect, and it is necessary in order to present to
you the fact I want to place in clear view, that-out of the
65,794,0001. of charge that I have mentioned, about
9,500,0001. were due for charge of debt contracted before
1793, so that if you compare the actual expense of govern-
ment with the whole expense of war from 1806 to 1815
with your revenue when you had the income tax, it stands
thus before you—that you actually raised 7,000,0001. a-year
during that period more than the charge of government and
the charge of war. (Hear.) That, I must say, is to me a
most remarkable fact. (Hear.) It affords to me the proof,
that if you-do not destroy the efficacy of this engine—l do
not raise now the question whether it is to be temporary or
permanent, which I hold to be quite a different question,
and I will go into that by and by —it affordayou the means
should unhappily hostilities again break ott, of at once
raising your army to 300,000,and your fleet to 100,000,with
all your establishments in proportion. (Hear, hear.)
A
whichn concur—of
a
smaya bearm ysraesiL ofeirve the importance—inandnavyreseand
of droving your dockyards• well stored, I
'say this 7-iscalrOrve c7l.lesiioinuproarrts,ailaci7r:. hear)fisfortit,l'VdurithrhherigifecitsV .9:41;;"