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

V.ltt

LONDON, MONDAY, APRIL 25, 1853.

The real contest on the Budget will commence
this evening. Hitherto it has been confined to
the sharpshooters and skirmishers of the "Fourth
Estate." But it will no longer be an affair of
outposts—the legislative corps on either side will
at length be compelled to take an active part in
the engagement, and the fate of the conflict, and
with it of the ABERDELY-RUSSELL-MOLESWORTH Ad-
ministration, will depend on the result of the first
trial of strength between the belligerents, on the ,
division respecting the renewal of the Property
and Income Tax without change or modification,
and that not for three years, but for seven years
more. That there are good points in the Budget,
we freely and willingly admit, and for these
we are disposed to give every reasonable de-
gree of credit. But it is not because we
approve of the extension of the Probate and
Legacy Duties to real estate that we are
bound to sanction the monstrous iniquity—the
infamous injustice perpetrated on the industrious
classes, or to give an assent to its perpetuation—
for a renewal for seven years is to all intents and
purposes equivalent to a perpetuity. It is im-
possible for Mr. GLADSTONE to give any valid or
binding pledge as to what the Legislature
will do in 1860. The then Representatives
of the people may entertain fiscal opinions
of a very different character from those which he
now professes. They may not be so very willing
to sacrifice the rights of industry on the altar of
property, or to maintain a number of vexatious
imposts, in order that accumulated and realised
property should be exempted from confributing
anything towards the liquidation of the National
liabilities or the maintenance of the National
Establishments. Many circumstances may arise
to render the redemption of the promise impos-
sible or inexpedient. The only points for con-
sideration, then, will be-Ist, whether the tax
should be at all renewed in its present form, at
least until some bona fide attempt had been made
to remove some of its glaring inequalities, and to
afford something like an approximation to justice.
2d. Whether the term for which it has been
demanded should not be limited to two, or, at
the outside, three years, so that the popular branch
of the Legislature should be enabled to exercise
its legitimate control over the fiscal and financial
policy of the nation.
On the first of these points, it would be a wurk
.of supererogation to repeat the arguments which we
have so repeatedly, almost incessantly, put for-
ward, showing the very important differences be-
tween precarious and permanent incomes. Mr.
GLADSTONE is, or at least professes himself to be,
unable to recognise the distinction ; but we ven-
ture to assert that no other person of ordinary
ability who has been instructed in the primary
rules of COCKER could feel any difficulty on the
subject. As we announced on Saturday, " The
Times e'vea yet observes, it is clear to every one else
what are precariousi: incomes, and what are not."
Now, Mr.
_l. recognised the distinction ; and
had the first
dl
portion of his Budget, n
been taken on that
d-13ictu.,‘dr.et, the result might
have been very '
from what it has
been, and the labour different
making a financial
statement might not have devolvedreaseoaloulNy
different
RUSSELL dis-
u supposepo n
kinds M
thatr .
GLADSTONE. We may
a ia.e
even Lords ABERDEEN and
cernecl a distinction between the
of income. .We cannot for a moment suppose that
these Noble Lords endeavoured to obtain indul-
. Bence under false pretences, or that their Speeches to
which such frequent allusions have been made were
delivered without any real intention of proposing
an equitable, or comparatively equitable, arrange-
ment of the vexed question. No, they gave their
own impressions at the time, but unfortunately
they have suffered themselves to be overruled by
the crotchets of GLADSTONE and WOOD (there is,
. , perhaps, not a third member of the Cabinet
oitioirtisoloopiqiie with such perverse ob-
fl
yi tile-miitenable proposition), -and have,
Ai. ,-;Voi4ore;-**,frrmselves to be totally unfitted
l alliilllet4& s 4113itb respectively occupy.
':,,,,,,'.
...•
4x0v..,??;91.1-504,9 ecause the number of those
\.,:l*ol".9tdustrial incomes are compara-

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