The Sun.
London, England, 1815-02-21 00:00:00

COIN LAWS.

• _ __—
Mt. BARING moved the -readifi;.; of the Order X the Day,
fur the House going into a l.;iiiumittee on the torn Laws,---.
His objekt pNe resent-w; to declare'that, instead of pro-
posing some counter Resolutilms at. -this period, he 'should
submit an Amendment on Wednesday next, for the purpose-
of. olitaining a Resolution, in the first instance, that the
restriction shOuld be but..temporary, and, that
_it should ,be
gradually relaxed in its orratiOn,' according to the circuits-
.
stances of the times.

- NEW TAXES. '., - . •:. . " • - •
• •
rile House having resolved itself, on the Motion of the
Chancellor of the Exchequer, into a Committee of Way§ and
Means, .. - --,

.
The'CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUIqt inoeed, that
several Aceonnts of.Pnbiie Recentie, presented doing the
List and present Sessions of Parillinent, and the s,lth-.of the
Kin; chap. 75, for continuing. the War Duties bf Cusroxits
and Excise, be referred to the Committee. —Ordered. ^:

'The CHANCELLOR of •tlte Ee:cuEauPate in call-,
ing the attention of the Committee to the .Yimman
chit measni.es of which he had givennotice, stat-
ed Mat the House was ae,aee that the Property
Tax would expire on tlie sth'of April'nexte tent
that several other war. taxes would also expire
three months afterwards, in July. It was an int-
pbrtant consideration whether time -renewal of
'those ta.xes should be contemplated; or the sums
necessary to pay off the . expellees of the Weir
should be levied in a different manner. It was
not his intention, as he 'had already stated on a
former occasion, to proposelhe renewal of the
Property Tax; not merely because that• Tax Was
to expire on the sth of April next, or the war
with America was terminated ; for though it was
A war impost, lie did'not consider the House pre-
cluded from again resorting to it should circum-
stances render it expedient.. He did not conceive
that the transactions of 1806 on this subject could
bind future Parliaments against the interest of
the country. He did not understand a compact
between . the Commons at large and parliament.,
On this subject, whatever had been stated in the
peti :oils laid before the House would have had no .
;effect, had more powerful considerations requir-
ed the. renewal of this impost. He recollected
having heard a Right Ilonourabfe Gentleman
begging pardon of the Hous'e for time part which
he had taken in 1806, in the enerease of the Pro-
perty Tax. For himself, there was nothing
which he considered with more satisfaction than
the share Which he had in maintaining that irrie
poSt. He belierecl that the Property Tax had been
the means of rescuing the land from "its diffi-
culties; of supporting the exertions made io the
r cause of European independence, and effecting the
delivery ofnationse--(Hear, hear !)---It had saved
the 'country A funded debt of 303 millions, with
an animal charge on it of 14 minions. It had
prndtati in money 150 millions, and saved a ca-
pital of unfunded debt of 180 millions, and near
9 millions of permanent taxes., Yet, however
productive it had been, and however useful it
might • have proved at a time when large sums
would be wanted, he did not think proper to re-
new but considered it inure expedient,to pre-
serve it as a resourse, in case of the future re-
newal of war, to be resorted to only in the great-
est emergencies, as the firm basis of our public
credit.-e-(Hear, hear !)—He bad been told of the
inquisitorial nature of this Tax, and many com-
phonts.had been uttered in the /louse against the
eexations which it was said to occasion. For his
own part, he believed dint the Commissioners em-
ployed in its coilecthm had been actuated by the
pnrest amid most patriOtie motives. They 'were
not a set of.men appointed and.paid by the Crown.
They were the same Gentlemen to whom the
country was indebted for the preservation ,of
peace, and whose attention and exertions in the
gratuituus dispensation of justice did them time
greatest honour. There were certainly ninny pro-
visions in the Act about to expire, which should
not be adopted at a future period without the
deepest consideration. ,He could not refer to
times when liihtnity Was better understood than
'totho6e that followed
.the Reyolutione Yet let
the House lookat the Ist of Queen Anne 1
, semi(
section, chapter 53, enacted at the renewal of time
French %vat., and they would find what duties were
then imposed. -Amongst others, there was one of
foitr shillings in the pound omm pensions and an-
nuities, and one of five shillings in the pound on
the produce of professions. The CounnisSioners,
or thee major part of them, were empowered to
exaumine tar inform upon oath, amid all traders com-
pelled to give retort's, signed by 'themSelves; of
the whole qu•antity and value tit their stock in
trade. The Commissioners were besides amino.
rised to enter their premises at any hour. with
re!rtxt tQ the PropOrty Tax, whenever it had been

possible to make the *as;.essinent without personal
injury it had been done. The property int the
funds"was assessed to its full amount, without
anl; difficulty. Titat in land was also pretty clearly
ascertained, but that enehged in trade was of a
less tangible shapc, and iFy assessmeut could not
be very, correct. If, On clic revival of the Tax; a
new mode of assesinent could be found in that
particular branch, it probably contribute
to render it more productive. He then alluded to
rt clause included in the Act in 1803, for allowing
private examinations, , but which did not fully
answer the end proposed. Having thus entered
into "a delence of the provisions of the Property
Tax, to prevent that odium from being felt which
had been expressed against it, and which it so
little deserved, he would now -proceed to state
the reasons' which induced hint to think its re-
newal unadviseable ; though in the present year,
when large SUMS would be wanted to liquidate
arrears, such -a measure might have appeared
to many preferable to raising a loan, and on ac-
count, of the. advantages which it promised to
perfectly justifiable. At the Peace of
Amiens, the Property Tax, had been pledged to
make good a large sum of imincy, and charged
for a period of nine year s. Though its renewal
ivonld therefore have been authoriked by peseta
eirghonstances, he had considered that the im-
mense fluctuation of price which had taken place
in almost every article would have introduced so
great a Variety, as to have made returns difliCult.
The impost would have fidien, besides with par-
ticular weight on the class of farmers, who would
have found themselves rated far beyond their real
property. The assessment had been calculated on
a fair average, but when. the fluctuation of prices
became excessive the average could not longer be
regarded as just. Many ideas had been suggested
to continue that tax during the present year, with
various modification. It might- have been done
on three different principles. By exempting those
classes,' on whom its operation was considered as
likely.to produce an unfair pressure, and includ-
Ing all fixed property. - But the chief ground
on Which this impOst had •been cheerfully borne,
was, that all were included in it. When that
should no longer be .the case/it would 'appear
that Government were encroaching on the
good faith of their et editors. Another., mode
might have been adopted ; persons might have
been charged in a proportionate ratio to their in-
conies ; the rich might have been made to pay
much; and ti:e poor little ; but this would have
been impracticable. The, Act gave: no insight
into,the whole income of any one; it charged
every Species of property, without inquiring about
its proprietor: Any Gentleman, for instance,
might be a partner in a banking-house in London,
might hold a share in a manufactory at Manches-
ter, and have 100,0001, in the Funds--(A laugh),
—for every one of these he would be assessed se-
parately ; he might gain, on the-One and -lose on
the other, and no One would know his real in,-
There was no case in which the Whole of
a man's revenue was known, unless when he ap-
plied for an abateaucut ti) he made. To revive
the Property Tax .with this modification; the pre-
sent system must have been overthrown, and one
more vexatious' established -in its stead. As this.
impost would, therefore, now encounter mummy
difficulties in its operation, and as it wos not the,
intention of Parliament that it shotild be employed
except as a 'War Tax, he thought it was far better
to lay it aside entirely, and to return to one of
'those -resources' which at all times remained open-
ed to the country. , lle.was 'Convinced, hoWever,
that in point of yight, had it been. expedient, it
would have been e-xenseable to have preserved
it for the purpose of diminishing -the. sum
which must be raised by loan. Asto.the amount-
of the expences of the year, until-the ratification
of peace by America should be received, it would
be impossible to ascertain it correctly, He could
not enter into any details on thatsubjeCt, as its
reduction would hi some sort del end on the period
at which 'this 'intelligence should, be received.
What he, should now propose would therefore not
be entirely on the-tboting of. peace' expeilditure.
Large stuns of money would be required this
sums, which even the renewal of the Property
'fax would 'not have covered. But since it Was
abandoned, the him: must be considerably larger.
In taking an enlarged view of our present 'situa-
tion, he would not compare it with that of the
country when it was involved in difficulties at the
close of the American \\Tar, and our public credit
was really giving way. He would oppose it to
the most flourishing period of our history, that.
which preceded the long and exteaordinny war-
fare in which we had been engaged.
In the year 1791, the produce.a the Consoli-
dated Vuna was
The Charges upon it

COME.

Which !clog deducted from it, left a surplus of
To this was to he added, the produce of Land
- • and War Taxes

L:3,47.q,000
1 1,821,000

2,151,000

2,558,000

Forming, together, a total of
Disposable fcw the service.of t he' Country.
Our income to the sth of January last, ineltid=
.ing the produce of the Consolidated Fund,
amounted to
To this was to be added in War Taxes; ,,706,060

Fortuity,' together a Total
The charges upon this were
Charges on Imperial Loan
Pato on Poquguese Loan -
Charges on Civil List and other

40,9(;2,00h
:35,450:000
4Gt;,090
7,000
1,571;000

Nil
Ithie: l'otal of n7,544,000
Which being deducted from the atiuve 40,9Ci"2,000

. ,
Learing-a surplus-of
.3017,000
To this is to be added in Aeuuai Duties substi- •
tilted to War Taxes, about 3,00,000

. .
Which forms a Total of /4417,000
left, for tba service- of the State, ,o that at the close of the late
extensive, long, and expensive War, there rent lined a dispose-
ahle surplus'fimd much larger than at its commencement.
The Sicking Fund, which tiow -produced upwartls
of 11 millions, (h.l not yield at. that period more
than 1 ,300;000i. It was true that we now had a
debt of 650 millions, and that it only amounted to
250, at the time of the breaking out of the Revo-
lutionary war. We had in addition an unfunded
debt which must be rovidcd:for. But to meet
that,expence, we had 20,000,000 of war-tax-es.
If it were possible. to reduce •our expenditure to
what it 'vas at the commencement of the war,
then we should have ample means in our powerlo
encounter it, but it must he evident to every one,
that such a reduction was impracticable., and that

exertions must be Made to meet what could not
be avoided. The expellee of the Peace ..:stablish
ment would depend on the wisdom of Parliament;
he wished its most deliberate attention should be
given to the subject. But it v,,ould be unfair to
look merely at what the I..!ace- Establishiuent cost
formerly, and•not to take into Consideration what..
was' now really wanted. An augmentation of
expenee was rendered unavoidable at present, by
many circumstances connected with the pros-
perity and greatness of the empire. We must
of necessity augment our Military Establish-
ment, on account of the increase of our Colonies.,
Malta, the Cape of Good Hope, several important
islands the East and West Indies had heel'
added to our poinintcius ; and a great extent or
services had been prOvided by Parliament, which
it did not depend' on Government to reduce
.--
Amongst these might be mentioned the expellee
of the half-pay allowance, awl the widows' pen-,
sious, which alone would not fall much short er
the whole amountof our military establishment at
the-he"giuning of the Nv ar. Respecting the peace
establishment, be did not think he should be able
to bring it under 18 pr 19 millions, including the
Irish establishment. He should be most baPPY
to find' another year, that 'a greater reducrion
should be practicable. The present calculation
%.vOuid allow two millions for Ireland, ,and seven-
teen for Great Britain.• •

To meet the annual sun he would take from the
Annual Taxes and Consolidated Fund nearly LE,o(}o,o-
He would continue War Taxes to- the amount of 6,300,°°'0
And would levy additional Taxes to an amount
of about

a
5,000,0
17 ,500 I°°C)

Making in all

There would then only remain two millions to be
provided for Ireland. The expense of the Loan
tor the present year, and the charge on the on-
funded debt, would also still be to be defrayed-
If it were possible to reduce the amount of the
Peace Establisment to 13,000,0001. which was at
this moment utterly .still the tars
-which he had mentioned would be necessary. ,Fie
thOught them preferable to making an applicatiolz
to the Sinking Fund. Every Gentleman in the
House must be aware of the expences which o'r
long war entailed upon a nation. These it re:
quired time to.liquidate. After the contest Wit':
America was closed, it was not until 178 G that
Parliament took the Peace Establishment serious"'
ly into consideration, and even as late as 1791 the
Committee reported expences incurred on the ac,
count of that war. Therefore he thought Icie.
spoke within compass, when he said that it woln
scarcely be'practicable to 'wind up the peace
'
tablishnient in less than four years from the pre
sent time. Until 1819, therefore, it would be
necessary to have resort
.to funding Exchegt.ietf
BillS, or Limns ; and to meet the charges whie.rl
those would occasion, with new taxes. In tb::
be had•the example of Mr. Pitt, who as ear?,
as 1784, proposed by anticipation to form
fund to liquidate the debt then funding. Tilers
was. also • the unfunded debt, the :charge Oa
which was also to be provided for, as vle
as for -that which was funded. The
.first 'tee
source .to meet this expenditure might hat
been the continuance of the War Taxes, Iviliet o
would have expired last Christmas, had they n°•
then been renewed till next July, There we",
some that had since expired, such as those on the
io
Export of British Manufacture 4, and on goo:
carried coastways. These he did not intent!. f
, renew, and if he did, their arirount would ne
have been considerable. Neither did he prorst
to continue the duty on Cotton Wool, if nuporj`;
ed in a Britib ship. This provision, be thought',
was but a fair encouragement to our own platitelf:
and no one could contemplate it. with any reale
He would not read over the list of the Taxes,-tbe.c':
were familiar to every one, he would state their
total amount, which for- the yearfluishing in J"111;
, 1515, consisted of 9,857,0001. From this wet
to be deducted 2,750,000, and 630,000 for Taxes'
which had" already expired. He should PT; •
pose to continue only out of the rest to t
anumnt of 6,513,0001. He should now proeeue.
to the new taxes- which, he had in view.
thought he should gratify the curiosity of the
House if he did not bring them for Ward 1;t1,
usual order, but' come at lonee to the Assessie
Taxes, on which the attention of most pe°P,,t
seemed to be fixed. (A laugh.) He should
propose any addition to the duty on windows 4
inhabited houses. He knew it was. a tax me
inconvenient to the middling classes, who'll of
was his most sincere wish to relieve as effectOf'
as possible. But lie would lay a duty on 1.1 of
objects, to be included in the denommations,•
Windows—he meant green-houses, hot-11°115110
and conservatories, which had hitherto paid ,v
duties` The assessment it. tould be made on,.e;
superficial measure of glass, of forty-eight s9°' 1,
feet,
,which should be deemed, equal to a `'bet
dow. The rate would
.not be progiessive, an
would not exceed 3s. Gd. per window.- Tlin!i,te
extent of glass, 63 feet broad by 12 in - her' lid.
would pay upon the whole 31. 7s. Gd. No °Pe;blt.
trusted, would consider such a tax objectiolLos.
—(llear, hear!)—Considering the great Ati`ey.
tages which traders would derive from tbe °Pi of
ing of the European ports, and the reviv3 tbc
peace and commercial relations throtrahoot
world, be thought the fairly bel;roogl!btliC
contribute more than they bad done to the P'ilor.4,
service. He should therefore propose, that, 050
and warehouses should pay the same proporu°l.oeat
duty of 3s. Gd.. per window. This asess,,tc,
would not yet admit of very accurate est' 4
w
but it was calculated .ould oeoduce 50,0°' at
year. 'The next tax. should affect the vttes.
ent'c'ttil3eeir
.inhabited houses in a scale of augm
forming an increase of 30 per cent.: on 01'1
sbo f
present taxes. The rents of warelionse c-co,
he subjected to the same impost. The pr°(,''
•rOw • ,t
the tax on houses was estimated at 396,-) /301,
of that on warehouses at 150,0001. Tbe ouw
would be laid on servants and carriages, an,!l as°
he a more considerable and progressive lilhotlidf
of SO to 90 per cent. If any Gentlemen
ica
object to such an augmentation, he beq;tUe
him to recollect what proportion it hone seta'
Property Tax. The produce of this tax 1001gte
rants, exclusive of those in trade, was e - et pro;
at 410,0001. a year. The latter would 11°1,01!e
duce. so large a' sum, the estimate w'c'sll,
1480001. The impost on carriages, 0t t 40' I
of About. 75 per cent. would produce)