The Sun.
London, England, 1849-01-01 00:00:00

THE ARMY AND NAVY.
(From the United Service Gazette.)
Major-General Thomas Jenks ‘Vemyss, C. 8., hee
sncceded to the iina.t tached pay of 255. per diem. The
Major-General is an old Peninsular officer, duringan
his home service since the peace, has gained "
golden
opinions of all sorts of men." We lately Ove an account
of the presentation of a piece of plate to Major-General
Weymss, the result of the high claims he had established
to the grateful consideration of the inhabitants of the
northern district.
ROYAL MILITARY ASYL J M.—Doctor Balfour, who has
been recently appointed medical officer to this establish..
ment, has recommended an alteration in the diet for the
children, which we are sure will lead to the most bene-
ficial results.
THE ADMIRAL OF THE FLEET.—Upon inquiries at
Cavendish-square this morning, we were informed that
the gallant and distinguished Admiral of the Fleet hail
somewhat rallied during the past week, but still con-
tinued in a Very dangerous state.
THE ACCOUNTANT-GENERAL.—We regret to state
that the -eery much and deservedly-respected Account
ant• General of the Navy, John Thomas Briggs, Esq , is
seriously ill at Brighton.
RETIREMENT OF THE CHIEF CLERK AT THE ADMI-
RALTY.—We have heard from good authority that Mr.
Amedroz, the venerable chief clerk at the Admiralty,
having completed half a century's service, is about to
retire from his arduous and responsible office. His re-
tirement will promote Mr. John Hay, the senior clerk,
to be chief clerk ; Mr. John Brigs. of the second class,
to be one of the senior clerks; and Mr. Thomas James,
of the third class, to the second class.
CONVEYANCE OF TROOPS.—In addition to the subject
of the rations of the soldier, to which we referred laz,t
week, we find that the committee, of which Lord liar-
dings is a member, is considering the question of the
best means of providing carriage for the troops, their
stores, baggage, &c., in moments of emergency. To
avoid the expense of permanent establishment of carts,
cattle, &c., it has been customary to levy such means of
conveyance just when they are wanted ; but, as they
are not always obtainable when a country is in a state
of commotion, some modification of the plan has been
deemed advisable.

TO THE ELECTORS AND NON-
ELECTORS OF THE CITY OF GLASGOW.
My Friends and Constituents,—I have, during the
last and present month, been frequently requested by
several of my friends, and by a good many of those
who take a leading part in the affairs of these king-
doms, to give a public expression of my opinions
respecting the financial questions which are now en-
gaging public attention, more particularly in the
chief manufacturing and commercial districts in
England, of which Manchester and Liverpool are
the great influential centre points, and of which, as
regards Scotland, our city of Glasgow is the metro-
polis. The state of our revenue and expenditure will,
after the lapse of a month, which will swiftly pass
away, and which leaves but a short time for delibe-
rate consideration, be introduced and discussed in
Parliament. It will, assuredly, occupy a great part
of the time of that Legislative Assembly of which I
have the honour of being a member in virtue of your
confidence in me, when exercising that first of
responsiqle- duties confided to you as a sacred trust
by the Reform Bill and the constitution of these
realms.
I therefore consider it my first duty to address
and express to you, as your representative, the opi-
nions which I have formed, after giving this question
my careful and impartial consideration. I have
brought to the aid of my judgment all the informs-
Coil I could collect, and the results of the measures,
which experience has proved the most practically
good or the most pernicious in their operation, either
in these kingdoms, in our colonial pa,sessions, or in
foreign countries.
The questions which probably necessarily must
engage the attention and occupy the time of Parlia-
ment are chiefly those of-
1. The taxation, revenue, and expenditure of the
United Kingdom.
2. The naval and military establishments of the
empire.
3. The condition of Ireland question.
4. The electoral franchise.
5. The sanitary laws and regulations.
6. The means and plans of education.
7. The navigation laws.
8. The commerce and navigation of the country.
9. The whole question of colonial administration.
10. Our foreign policy, and relations with foreign
states.
To these ten questions, there will be added many
others of local and general importance ; but I shall
at present confine my statements and remarks to the
subject of the taxation, revenue, and expenditure of
the United Kingdom. This being a subject to which,
with those of trade, navigation, colonies, and our
foreign commercial interests, I have the most assidu-
ously, and for many years, devoted my labours.
I am compelled to remark, at the outset, that I
cannot agree with many very sincere but very san •
guine persons, who consider a perfectly equitable
system of taxation practicable. Experience, facts, and
reflections have brought me to consider that the more
numerous are the interests of society, the more varied
their employments, trades, pursuits, sources of income,
and the kinds of property which men possess, the
greater and more perplexing are the difficulties which
are opposed to an equitable adjustment of the
public taxation. With respect to this first great
question, and all others of human legislation, of the
acts of man, who, with infirmities incident to his
mortal nature, can never attain to perfection in this
world, the most that I expect is the best approximate
equitable adjustment of tue public burdens, and of the
public expenditure, that all the moral, social, and ma-
terial circumstances of the country which we inhabit
render practical. It is with this view, and this con •
viction, that I shall endeavour to point out, free of
the bias of party or of prejudice, that which I be-
lieve to be within the limits of practical legislation,
rather than contend fur all that I would desire—for
all that I would consider the most equitable, but from
which many others may differ entirely in opinion. I
must take, as they exist in the House of Commons,
its members, their intelligence, their prejudices, and,
I fear, in many cases, their interests ; and I must also
take the whole condition, in all its elements, of good
and of evil, of these kingdoms—of the colonies—of
public opinion—and of individual and local in-
terests • all these I must take into my calculation
when I enter upon a financial inquiry, and endeavour
to expound practical fiscal reforms. If we cannot ob •
tain all that others who have gravely considered the
subject anticipate and propound, or all that I would
propose, we ought, instead of rejecting, to prefer ob-
taining such ameliorations as are practical, in con-
tending or agreeing with the elements, justly but not
disrespectfully designated .bv Sir Robert Peel, of " a
proud aristocracy and a reformed House of Com-
mons," and of all the circumstances which strengthen
or enfeeble the pressure of public opinion from with-
out that assembly.
All our researches can discover no Government,
of any nation that ever existed, with a claim to civi-
lization, that did not tax its people. It would almost
appear that taxes are necessarily allied to civilization,
they certainly are to ;an age of luxury. Augustus
decreed that all the world should be taxed, and all the
world was taxed. The more complicated the affairs,
the more varied the interests, the more numerous the
pursuits of any, but especially of a great commercial
country—the more highly have the people been
taxed. Greece, Rome, Venice, France, and Hol-
land, are historical examples of this truth. The
example of the United States of America is
usually quoted as a great free country, where
citizens are but slightly taxed. I have taken con-
siderable pains to estimate the burdens of the
general state and local taxes, and of the personal ser-
vices of the inhabitants of the great Anglo-Saxon
Renablie, and I am prepared to prove that the whole
taxation borne by the citizens is far from moderate.
They are a people, however, at all times active; they
"" nooor, strictly speaking, except the masses of
human poverty exported to their shores from Europe ;
and though we thrust many of our poor upon them
trhaetecitize
ns of America are not oppressed with poor-

I am, however, not going to defend either extra-
v igant expenditure, o—r excessive taxation, and I
frankly declare that
taxed country in thenGwroertßritain i: I the highest
consider a
great fiscal reform to be a;)1, and that
The
high taxation of Great Brirlutely necessary.
for I must
distin-
guish that from the taxation of s
Ireland--i ,
at the
same time, unequally levied in pr
of each class of those who pay the
13(23 to the means
,n
The first question with regard 1)0 ourlle burdens.
ta
the amount to levied. This amount reueti',tation' is
by the expenditure ; this expenditure ou z decided
purely subservient to the necessities and theg tto be
credit of
the nation.
This necessity, and the maintenance of this credit,
involves the preservation of our civil liberty and
religious freedom—a just administration of the laws
our tdomestic tranquillity—security against foreign
dangers—and the protection of our maritime com-
merce. The question then is—how far the amount
of this expenditure can be diminished ? Its
minimum amount since the war, was, in the year
ending sth January, 1836, 48,787,635/. ; or, after
deducting the expenses of collecting the revenue and
payments on its way to the Exchequer, 44,422,729/.
Taking the twenty-one years, from sth January,
1327, to sth January, 1848, inclusive, the gross
End net revenue, and the charges for collecting the
revenue and other payments, were as follows :
Total Charge of Net Amount

Years

Gross

Collection sued

Endin; Jan, 5. Revenue.
Payments. Revenue.
1828 56,336,819 ... 5,263,486 ... 51,068,333
1829. ••• 54,144,241 ... 5,286,592 ... 48,857,649
1830 . 54 223,412 ... 5,148,280 ... 49,075,132
1831 52,018,617 ... 4,875,674 ... 47,142,943
1832 —• 51,711,465 ... 5,888,167 ... 45,823,298
1833
~•• 50,908,328 ••• 4,534,322 46,373,996
1834 ... 49,166,314 4,408,071 ~. 44,758,243
1835 ... 49,223,116 4,321,415 ... 44,901,701
1836 ... 48,787,638 „.. 4,364,916 ... 44,422,722
1337 50,819,305 „. 4,346,743 ... 46,572,562