The Sun.
London, England, 1831-02-01 00:00:00

'ntuitively, and know your duty—if you do not, we have
a rod for you, and will flog you to death.•--(Loud cries
rif bear, hear.)--The taxes, therefore, on the diffusion
knowledge were not the prevention of, but the premium
for, crime. Our gaols were filled—but with whom ?by
ignorant people. Justice was now, however, on its way,
and its career could not be stopped. That which was in-
tended against the poor, was i ecoiling on the rich, and
against the aristocracy ; for there was now no man with a
house to he burned—a pocket to be picked—or a throat
to be cut—but must be affected by the present state of
(bins. If the millions were enlightened, the mischief
would be prevented. The tax now complained of was the
most mischievous of all taxes ; it did not extend to parts,
but to the whole community. It denied to the labourer
what was his due ; it denied to him knowledge which was
the source of production, and therefore offered a premium
for crime and want.

Mr. ROEBUCK seconded the resolution. It was now
time, lie considered, for every man who had a feeling on
the state of the community undauntedly to stand forward
and express his opinion. Whatever might be the situa-
tion of that individual, however humble in the scale of
society, by coming forward as the open supporter of free
and universal discussion, he would not fail to render a ser-
vice to himself and the country. Taxation on the dif-
fusion of knowledge had an awful influence on the
morality of mankind ; for this purpose it was highly de-
sirable that it should be taken off. In this country,
which stood first in the whole civilized world, it presented
a most appalling reflection to find, that instead of that
security to the property which people expected to have,
there was no protection. People were kept in a state of
dark ignorance, and those who ought to enlighten
them were hunting them for their prey. The most
grievous tax, and the greatest obstruction to the dif-
fusion of general knowledge, was the tax upon news-
papers. By the removal of this tax there would be a per-
fectly free and open discussion, which was absolutely es-
sential for truth. Publications would then also appear
which would be within the reach of all, and thereby
knowledge be obtained by the humblest cottager. In refe-
rence to America there were twelve newspapers published
in New York. A friend had sent him eight, which he
was to take as a fair sample of the manner in which
they were published. The eight contained 3117 advertise-
ments ; 389 on an average in each ; accordingly the twelve
would contain in one year 1,456,416. Whereas, in
the 400 newspapers published in Great Britain and Ire-
land, there were only 1,000,000 advertisements annually.
It was an astounding fact, that the advertisements in the
whole of the American papers annually were 10,105,000,
and yet that in Great Britain and Ireland they were only
one million. Another fact he believed to be worth no-
ticing was this,---that for an advertisement in an English
newspaper, of 20 lines, the charge for the first insertion
was 13s. ; in New York, 3e. 3d. For the second in-
sertion, 13e. ; in New York, 2s. 2d. For the third,
131. ; in New York, Is. 6d. For every day in the week,
31. 181. Bd. ; in New York, 7e. 6d. For a whole year,
2001. 16s. ; in New York, 61. 182. This could not
fail to show the immense hardship there was on
the individuals who attempted to issue publications in
this country, compared with those of New York ; and
there could not be a doubt that this restriction had led to
the ignorance of society, and that that ignorance bad oc-
casioned the distressing events which had lately occurred
throughout this country. Livingstone, the author of a
" Code of Laws for the State of Louisiana," had beauti-
fully expressed himself on this subject. He said that the
penal laws should be written in plain language, clearly
and unequivocally expressed, that their nature might
be manifest, and not perverted. They should be
written in such a way as to be remembered with
ease. All technical words or phrases they contained
should be clearly defined. They should be promul-
gated in such a manner as to force a knowledge of
them on the poor:; and to this end they should not only
be publicly taught in schools, but publicly read on stated
occasions.

Dr. BOWRINO would endeavour to illustrate what the
meeting had heard by the mention of a few facts. We
stood at this moment in the most perilous position in which
the nation had ever been placed. The Government had
long made experiments with ignorance, and the results
were visible all around. The time was come when they
would have to learn new lessons, and make such experi-
ments no more, if they meant to secure the salvation of the
country. Gentlemen, the state of the agricultural
population of this country is one which cannot be con-
templated without distress and self-abasement. Wherever
we look we see ignorance, and, associated with that igno-
rance, that which is its invariable companion—crime.
Their position is in every respect most calamitous. The
sphere of union is not atnong them—the habit of inter-
course with their fellow-men is scarcely known among
them—they are planted almost like the trees upon the
land they cultivate, without knowledge, without any
means of instruction, and when the pressure of poverty
comes upon them, they rush recklessly on in the way we
have lately witnessed, upon the cause which they
believe their sufferings to arise from—they argue not, they
consider not, and they are arrested only by the hand of the
executioner. Dr. Bowling then contrasted the conduct
of the poor manufacturers with those of the labouring agri-
culturists, and showed that that of the former, under cir-
cumstances of the greatest privation, had been peaceable
and regular, which was attributable to the degree of edu-
cation which they had over the latter, while that of the
latter had been outrageous. If the manufacturing classes
were as ignorant as the agricultural, the danger would be
extreme, and yet the Wellington Administration had sup-
pressed the circulation of cheap publications among
the labouring poor; yet, notwith-
standing manufacturers. The United Trades' Journal was
sold at 2d. a number in the Manchester districts, and it
w a
s
it was suppressed by
the Stamp Commissioners. It was got up by the trades-
wgolOodllyit b,Yv.as effecting,
trades-
men, and after it was put down, they raised money enough
to start a newspaper, which commenced about three
weeks ago, and of the very first copy 3,000 numbers
were sold. Dr. Bon ring complained of the security
which was required by Government before a person could
publish a newspaper, as well an the heavy tax upon it.
ble read extracts of letters front poor persona in different
parts of the country, complaining of their want of means
of acquiring information, and among others, the following
verses from the Sheffield Mechanics' Anti-Bread Tux
Society, addressed to a Parson Justice :
Dost thou, thus ear,ly, mighty Lord, repair
To yonder fane ? u s well. Go, and in tears
Kneel, holy wretch, although the Sabbath air
Is weary of thy long unpunished prayer.
Thou who wast staggering seen, and drunk, and blind
With zeal for blond-stained despots, proud and vain
Of horrid triumphs, when the tardy wind
Bore fresh glad tidings o'er the groaning main
Of hecatombs on Moloch's altar slain
Kneel, Saint of Carnage !—kneei, but not to Baal;
Kneel, but alone, with none to laud the zeal;
For the hour cometh, when the reed will fail
On which the wicked lean. Ilut wherefore kneel?
Can the worn stone repent, and weep, and feel?
Still harder granite forms the bosom core
Of him who laugh'el when freedom's thousands fell.
Hark, 'tis the voice, that erst of Battle's roar
Was wont too oft from yonder tower to tell,
Pealing, at thy ccinmand, o'er crash and yell,
And fiendlike faces, reddening in the light
Of streets, that crimson'd midnight with their glare,
When I:ngland hir'd the hell-hounds of the tight,
Bee:luse men broke, in their sublime despair,
The bonds which nature could no longer bear !
kad congratulated the King of Denmark on not
having a subject in his realms unable to read and write.
What a contrast this presented to the state of England.
The people of Scotland, he regretted, were also falling
off frosts the high character they formerly had of universal
education, though this was in a measure to be attributed
to the vast nerober of Irish that overran that country ; at-
tributed in this way, that upon examining the ignorant
prisoners in gaols in Scotland, by far the greater part
were found to be natives of the Sister Country. He
inoved--" That recent events in the agricultural and manu-
facturing districts have proved the necessity of immediate
and general exertions for the removal of every obstacle to
the diffusion of knowledge amongst the great body of the
people ; and that the most injurious of those obstacles
are the various fiscal imposts upon the press."
ERsKINR PERRY seconded the resolution.

Mr. HILL moved—,. 3. That a permanent Committee
he appointed for the furtherance of all measures tending
to procure the entire removal of all taxes upon knowledge,
and that the gentlemen who have moved and seconded tke
resolutions of this meeting, with power to, add to their
another, do form the said cornm4tee.."—He felt happy an
all occasions to stand forward as an advocate for the gene-
ral difu&ion of knowledge. The Stamp Act was a great
grievance, and as long us it existed it would impede know-
ledge; the result would be iguorsnce, s.nd as long as ig-
norance prevailed there would he no safety—not even the
gs of Judges from town to town, elevated
in
and learning, leaving a parcel of our
fellow-creatures
ckreatures here, and a. rarzel there, fur execution,
would secure that gaiety 'wtich we had a right to
re:pezt t. people and to property. Front his earliest, pr-
rind of reflecting it had always struck him ae wafter re-
quiring great consideration—thAt people were, bound to
know the law, even ties humblest and, most ignorant—,
whereas tie tucst "earned, on all occasions, ara slot ac-
quainted vijth it and its eiTeCt, and yetQaverntent should
continue not only not to take the proper means of circu-
lating a knoWivdge of what the law is, but actually
to improve the restrictions that had already been so
ably alluded to._Hear, hear.)—He trusted that the
influence of that meeting, and of the Committee to be ap-

pointed, would greatly aid the end for which they had
met ; and, under that feloiug, he cordially moved the re
solution that had been put inte his hands.
Mr. EVANS seconded the resolution.
The Cuotearaw then invited Joseph Hume, M.P., to
address the meeting.
Mr. Hume assured the meeting that when he
entered he had no idea of addressing it. He had
come down for the purpose of observing what passed, in
the hope of its acting as a support to measures which he
trusted would be introduced to the present Parliament,
with a view of ridding the impediments that existed,
and which had been so ably and justly complained of.
I sin not disposed (said the Hon. Member) to say much
on what has passed, though I have humbly endeavoured
ever since I have been in Parliament to oppose every one of
those measures which have been calculated to impede the dif
fusion of knowledge. Two of the six Acts which had been
passed were for the express purpose of keeping the prop e
in ignorance, and had been death blows to the progress of
knowledge. To show how little notice the House of Com-
mons had taken of this, I may remind you that three years
ago, when I submitted a motion upon a regular notice and
after a regular lapse of time to the House to repeal one of
the Acts—that Act which prevents a man who cannot
spend sixpence (or who is not disposed to purchase two
sheets of paper for sixpence) front obtaining it—the
Act was passed to put down Mr. Cobbett's publication,
avowed since to have been so—in a House of 643 Mem-
bers I only obtained 10 to vote with me.—(Shame,
shame.)—But I do hope the time is changed. Things
have taken another course, and I trust the present Admi-
nistration—some of the Members composing it desired,
when out of power, to remove the grievances which exist
—and I trust that now, being in power, they will cons.
forward to do that which the people expect of them, and
which they require to be done for their benefit. If do
people will exert themselves, and show it is to their
interest these taxes should be removed, I feel con-
fident the present Administration will be disposed to yield to
the people's voice to grant that which the public interest
require. I was asked by a friend of mine, before the
meeting, a gentleman well informed, what taxes there were
on knowledge ? He said, taxes on knowledge, there are
none. I told him that he would find, in the Customs'-
book—the Excise-book--the Stamp-book, various taxes,
all of which have the object, indeed avowedly so, of check-
ing the circulation of publications of every kind. Taking
the finance accounts for last year, I find that no
less than 1,400,0001. was raised in 1829, on what I will
show are the materials used for the purpose of books, and
the circulation of knowledge, and though souse of the
items are so contemptible that we would scarely think any
Government could retain them as a means of finance, yet the
amount which it brought to the Revenue, I take iu many
eases not to be equivalent to an hundreth part of the injury
thereby done to the public, and I am sure this Session
of Parliament will not pass over without many of
those imposts being removed. Any manufacturer can
commence his work without being under the necessity of
giving security, or being placed in the unpleasant situation of
finding individuals unwilling to come:forward to support him
its this way which is absolutely necessary, with a
newspaper publisher. Thinking that some ques-
tion might arise on some of the items of import
this evening I had a few figurer put down
this morning on paper, front which it appears
that under the head of stamps 666,5911. was collected.
That was subdivided in this way on newspapers,
4e0,96PL,--on almanacks, 30,848/.,—on pamphlets,
1,1a19/.—and on advertisements, 153,6451. Now small
as that amount fur advertisements may be, yet it
will explain the great disparity there exists between the
circulation of information in England and America. If
the taxes on newspapers are 666,591/. in England, I
think that will pretty well explain to you why
the circulation of information through the medium of
newspapers in the United States is a hundred times
greater than in England. The fact is, that these taxes
cause a kind of monopoly in newspapers ; it re-
quires a large capital to carry them on, and without
that they cannot be started. Let this taxation
be once removed, and I have no hesitation whatever of
founding my opinion on the judgment of those who have
observed these things longer, and perhaps with more
accuracy than myself, that in the course of two
years our publications would exceed, perhaps in
a greater ratio the other way, the publications in Ame-
rica than we are exceeded by them at the present moment.
It is, therefore, the subject of great lamentation, that any
Government, for the sake of as paltry a sum, should
continue those imposts, or not come to some other
arrangement respecting them. It is lamentable that
the peace, and security, and happiness of this country
should be 'sacrificed on that ground. Again, un-
der the head of Customs, you will find the amount to
be 21,241/. ; and they begin that sum by a duty on
the very rags which make the paper. We cannot,
however, obtain even the raw material, without this
taxation, paltry as it is. It is only 2,217/. ; but yet,
contemptible as it is, it operates as an obstruction to the
means of circulating knowledge. There is also
1,400/. fur paper—a kind of superior paper which our
artists require, and which the interference on the
part of the excise in this country, prevents our
making eeriel to the French, or even to the same extent.
By this course our artists are obliged to pay twice, three
times, or even four times more than they otherwise would
be obliged to pay for the purpose of getting it from
the French. This is not only against the policy of
England, but it actually cripples that on which we
pride ourselves, the advancement of our arts and sciences.
Then there is a duty on books to the amount of 11,146/.
Prints and drawings are not even exempt ; for there is
actually a duty on them to the amount of 1,605/. Not
only that, but even quills (which every one must use) there
is a duty upon of 4,8431. In short, one would suppose
they do much more injury by this taxation (for the ex-
pense of attending the importation and connected with
them must run away with three-fourths of tile gross
amount) than, under any circumstances; they can do
good. When you consider that the whole of the quills
imported into Europe were in 5,000 parcels, on which
there was a duty of 4,8431., can you be surprised that
an immense number of persons must be employed to keep
up the impost. These, you will recollect, are the gross
amounts lam giving you. The next tax is that of the
excise upon paper, amounting in gross to 701,629/. This
is not so much in amount as it is made by the
interference of the excise with the manufacturers.
Wherever the excise enter into a manufactory it adds from
20 to 30 per cent : then if it adds3o per cent. to the value
of the paper, which undoubtedly it does, it costs to the public
more than the revenue the Government derives. We shall find
that the whole is 1,389,461/. added to the material in which
all our information is to go forth in this way of putting
it. I therefore submit that the amount, instead of being '
one million and a fraction, may safely be taken to be nearly
double the sum ; and I think that the Government can keep
up such a system of taxation certainly cannot have the
welfare, the interest, or the happiness of the community
at heart. lam satisfied that without instruction being
much more general in England than it is or has been,
w. shall never obtain a population likely to afford
that safety to property and to life, which we flat-
tered ourselves we should have.—(hear.).—Under
these circumstances, I hope that along with the repeal
of these taxes we shall have measures taken for the pur.
pose of making our instruction useful. Of what use
will it be to have the means of circulating information
if persons are not in a condition to receive it?
It is on that ground I have for year, past viewed with
regret the state which England has been comisig to. It
is not a new thing to me, I have., dreaded it for
a long time ; and I must agree with Dr. Bowriug,
that in Scotland education doe* not now make the progress
which it used to do. All our schools remain the same,
and I regret to find the lame Lord Chancellors have held
that all our old schools shall not give the instruction of
they day—that they have established that a school whic)4
has been oncea gram mar-sehool,shall be a granitnar-eenocifor
ever. By this means a great portion of those tnstitAtiotta are
rendered inefficient, whereas if they warele give instruc-
tion in the common language of the conntry, they would
be infinitely more useful W every one, lam happy
now, however, to think that we shall have a
plan granted to us, something like what I have
stated. I therefore look to the reelection of the taxes
arid the extension of knowledge, as two moat impor-
tant measures : and if the Government 4o not adopt
measures for these purposes, I, anti vaany others, who at:
anxious to see those who are now in power continue its
tit .t power, shall 14a vary much disappointed, X concur
,n what loos been said, that it is not by d,eclatnation it can
be el\on'o, We must establish a conektion, upon rational
principles, in the mind of every thinking map, that
taxes on knowledge au' ignorance are two:evils of themselves
which most !?a letssoved before Engleind can, be in any
thing like a proper condition-,a skate in which we should
wish her to be ; and we mutt endeavour not only
in Londen, L
s',4 iq. every community throughout the
,cottntwy, to, raise that excitement, and then if once
brought before the Legislature, it is neither consistent with
reason, (mown-mon sense, or any timing else that that Legis-
lature should withstand the call. I trust, therefore, the
Committee now about to be formed will adept the
means of petitioning Parliament eta, the subject,
and that the agents of the Society for Useful
Knowledge will take every means of raising a
similae spirit throughout the parts where they