The Sun.
London, England, 1836-01-26 00:00:00

the repeal of the Stamp Duty, would produce an in-
crease of revenue equal, but with a small postage, cer-
tainly more than equal to the amount now raised by
means of the stamp impost.
But the loss which the Revenue might sustain by
the abolition of this tax, is R mere pretext for its con-
tinuance. The CiIANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER
is not to icarn the means of supplying the deficit
which certain monopolists feigtt to bericvt Would follow
its repeal. The Right non. Gentleman kno7;s well
that he would he put to no inconvenience;
hitherto, he found that it suited his intet-Vsl's; lthd ac-
corded with the views of certain leaders of his party
to resist the abolition of this iniquitous impost, under
the plausible pretence of preventing the mischiefs to
the public service which must necessarily follow a de-
falcation in the national revenue. The real cause of
the opposition offered by the Government to the aboli-
tion of the Newspaper Duty originates in a dread.of
the influence of an untaxed press. Some of the Whig
leaders are afraid to trust the people. This is, perhaps,
the whole secret of the matter. And whence proceeds
this terror? Most certainly from bne or other of these
causes ;—consciousness t?-,at their own acts accord not
with their principle,-,, or ignorance of the effects which
the Press pro.),uces upon the public mind. Wit l". 1 res-
pect to one latter of these causes—by far the more im-
Pcrtant—we give the opinion of the wiiter in the
London Review ; an opinion in the jUstness of which
we most entirely concur
The newspaper is the great instrument of civilization.
We wish this assertion to be well weighed by those who
wonder at the earnestness of the demand for the repeal of
the taxes on knowledge. All the books ever written are
but as a feather in the scale, compared with newspapers,
as a means of affecting the mass. What is the circulation
even of a popular novel, to that of a paragraph which rune
the round of the press? The one is read by thoutands—
the other by millions. It is almost entirely to the influence
of newspapers that the superior intelligence of the middle
classes is to be attributed, contemptible as may be deemed
the information derived from this source. How few are
the tradesmen, or even merchants, who have time or incli-
nation to take up a philosophical treatise, and make them-
selves masters of its contents. Inquire of the most en-
lightened of this class if they have read Mill's Essay on
Government,' Bailey's Rationale of Representation,'
Smith's Wealth of Nations,' Brown's' Philosophy of the
Human Mind ?'—if they have studied Bentham, or Ri-
cardo, or even Locke ? How many shall we find who
know anything of these writers except their names ? Yet
we know that there are in the middle classes many men of
high rank in intone*. What has chiefly furnished them
with food for reflection, and given them a general, although
perhaps a superficial knowledge of almost every subject ?
—The newspaper : that despised and seemingly insignifi-
cant messenger, bringing every day some new fact, or some
new idea, and thus adding, by little and little, to their
mental stores, until they have accumulated to an extent
for which the cause would have appeared at first quite ina-
dequate. A quarto volume, containing the same quantity
of information, would never have been opened.
" The utility of the press depends chiefly upon the price
at which newspapers can be sold. - The enemies of cheap
newspapers are therefore the enemies of the press. Let this
truth he reiterated in the ears of our opponents. These are
not times in which confoi'mers, or bit by-bit reformers, like
to be pointed at for endeavouring to render the art of
printing as nugatory as possible. But in what, after all,
did the principle of that immortal invention consist ? It
was not the discovery of a mode of communicating facts
from one mind to another upon paper, for that was done,
and well done too, through the agency of an innumerable
host of copying clerks. It was simply the discovery of a
cheaper mode of communicating information. To destroy,
therefore, the cheapness of the press, is to destroy the press
itself. Carry out the principle of the stamp-duty, ye who
love darkness better than light, and you throw us back
upon written manuscripts, and the ignorafice of the middle
ages".

Here we have the whole gist of the question. There
needs not another word to put it fairly before the
public. The apprehensions so foolishly entertained
with respet to the general diffusion of political know-
ledge are very ridiculous. The more men know, the
less prone are they to violate the laws or disturb the
peace of society. Look abroad in the world ; behold
the immense labours which are being carried on to ad-
vance the national prosperity. The originators and
conductors of these works are all men of intelligence—
readers of newspapers. Without intelligence man
canpot boast of the utility of a machine ; and in point
of. fact, is very frequently a curse rather than an ad-
vantage to society. Now, what is found to be uni-
formly beneficial to men in easy circumstances, must of
necessity be advantageous:to individuals in an humbler
position in the scale of social being. What teaches
men to carry themselves prudently in prosperity must
soothe the feelings, and allay the fiery passions of such
.as have to contend with adverse circumstances.
Besides, there is no exaggeration in asserting that
the trade of England could as ill support itself against
the stoppage of the Press for any length of time, as it
could against the stoppage of the National Bank.
Now, why should the wealthy merchant, who only
can afford to purchase a newspaper, profit by the in-
telligence conveyed to him through the medium of the
Press to the exclusion of the poor trader ? Why should
not the struggling dealer be made acquainted with
the best market for his goods ? And carrying out the
principle—why should not the poor man, who has
only his labour to depend upon, be told where to carry
it with most advantage to himself and his family ? By
restricting the circulation of newspapers, the Govern-
ment restricts trade, paralyses enterprise, and over-
taxes the industry of the working classes.
But. if the Government find that it cannot do all
that is demanded of it, let it at least abolish the Stamp
duty, and reduce the Advertisement duty one third its
present amount. With this the country will be well
satisfied. We are aware that a plan for reducing the
Stamp duty to two pence, or *even to; a penny, would
meet with the approbation of the Government. But half-
measures will not do. The reduction of the duty would
only increase the number of smugglers, while it would
call for increased vigilance on the part of the Crown
prosecutor. Thus the Ministry would remain exposed
to the same odium ; and yet the Stamped Press would re-
ceive but an increase of benefit, scarcely commensurate
with the increased annoyance from illegal vendors. By
the total abolition of the duty, the Government will be
freed from the painful necessity of being hest known to
the people as the prosecutor of poor half-starved Penny-
Gazette vendors, some of whom even glory in being
martyrs to the cause, as the Police Reports of the
Metropolis daily prove ; and it was but last week that
two respectable people in Leeds chose rather to go to
York Castle for six months than to promisenot to offend
again in a similar manner. Can such monstrosities con-
tinue to be tolerated ? Public indignation—common hu-
manity—nay, common decency and consistency in the
conduct of public men—forbid the odious anomaly !
A Government, to be respected in its administration of
the laws, must itself respect their operation on the pub-
lic mind. The moment it ceases to do so, public opinion
begins to denounce the partiality or injustice of the Go-
vernment, and the natural consequence follows—the lair
becomes inoperative, because it has lost public respect,
and the Government contemptible. But it is impossible
that a Government decidedly liberal should persist in
such a course. If it do, the end is certain.
With respect to that part of the Reviewer's plan which
regards the anonymous character of the Press, we con-:
sider his scheme as totally impracticable. Instead of
raising, it would -lower the tone of public discussion,
and writers beaten in argument would have recourse to
the basest personalities.
the public sufficient instances LoißthoiEssfaucct.K has given
The whol

le of the Paris Journals of Sunday havl3
been received. The Moniteur states that the Go -
vernment had just received a telegraphic dispatch fron
Bayonne, communicating the fact of a battle having
been fought between the Christinos and the Carlists."