The Sun.
London, England, 1841-06-26 00:00:00

taming one reduction only—That of ls. per bushel co
malt. The Opposition pressed for further reductions,
which were strenuously resisted by the Tory Ministers,
but on a division on a motion for a repeal of the Malt
Tax they only escaped defeat by a majority of four.
They were subsequently beaten on two several motions
by the Opposition,—one for a reduction of salaries to the
Lords of the Admiralty ; the other for the abolition
of the sinecure office of Joint Postmaster-General ; and
finally beaten into abandoning their Budget altogether,
and bringing forward a new one, containing the reduc-
tions of taxation above quoted. In the statement re-
ferred to, the merit of these reductions is given to the
Tory Government, who opposed them to the utmost,
and only adopted them after repeated defeats, when-they
had no resource left but to adopt the measure of their
opponents, or resign offiCe.
7th.—The reduction of the duty on British distilled
spirits in 1823 and in 1825, and on rum in 1824, and
on cider in 1825 and 1830, which altogether figure in
the list, to the amount of 2,250,0001., must not be 1
taken as a reduction of taxation, but as a differential
duty against foreign spirits and oiler, creating to that
amount a preference interest in favour of home-made
spirits and cider, and also in favour of colonial rum.
This, instead of a diminution, should in truth be con-
sidered as a protective 'tax to that amount.
Bth.—lf the public, therefore, allow for all these deduc-
tions, and for the new taxes imposed by the Tories in
1819, amounting to 3,200,0001. per annum, and add
all the previous burdens with which the Tories have
oppressed the country for thirty-six years, it is plain
that the Tories have little merit left them on appearing
before the tribunal of national judgment
Lastly.—lt is equally plain that if we allow the Tories
all the merit tney claim for diminishing the public bur-
dens, there remains, even by the evidence of Tory
statements, still greater merit for. the Reform Govern-
ment in taking off the taxes as admitted by the Tory
list, but which list is at least 2,000,0001. under the
actual amount.
The amount of taxes taken off by the Reform Govern-
ment, as stated by the Tories, is 6,373,000/.
Now the real amount of taxes taken off was as follows :
1831. Customs duties on Coals, Coast- £
wise .

Sate ditto
Wine, Barit a, &c. ......,

36,813
54,951

1,060,961
Excise, Calicoes
Assessed 'faxes . 3,152
832. Customs 247,746
Excise, Candles ...... ... • 483,800
- Stamps 7,234
Assessed Taxes 44,065
833. Customs 349,147
Excise on Soap and Silks
Stamps
Assessed 'faxes 419,145
.834. Customs duties 307,364
Excise ditto
Stamps ••• ...... •••• 31,618
Houses and Windows
1835. Customs, Coffee
Flint Glass and Spirit Licenses lBB,OOO
1836. Customs 143,302
Excise, Paper Duty, &c 572,500
Stamps, Newspapers, I-lace-horses 408,300
1839. Post-office 1,220,000

8,730,077
The taxes imposed were on Customs and Excise, and I
Assessed Taxes. Taking the exaggerated statement of
the Tories,'they amount to 3,249,000/., or about the same
amount as imposed by the Tories in 1819, Without any
reduction whatever.
The Tory list states that the Public Debt was re-
duced from 801,000,0001, in 1821, to 757,000,000/. in
1831 :—we readily admit this, and the Tories were
easily enabled to do so by two circumstances : first, the
general peace of the world, and secondly the abundance
of money, rendering it easy to diminish the interests
of the National Debt, and to buy up stock bearing high
interest, to be refunded at low interest.
From 1831 to 1841, events unforeseen, and none of
which could possibly have been prevented, have arisen,
and have caused additional expenditure, and which ex-
penditure the Tories themselves in Parliament saw fully
as great a necessity for, as the Reform Government did.
Among these was the revolt in Canada, the China war,
the scarce harvests of 1838 and 1839, causing a dimi-
nished use of other articles than food ; the comwercial
crisis in America affecting the trade and especially. the
Custom's revenue of England.
There is this fact, however, to be taken into account,
viz., that if the Reform Government had abided by the
proclamation of the Tories, viz., " that the latter
'had not left it in the power of the former to make any
further reduction in the national taxation," then the
national revenue would at this day exceed the expendi-
ture to the amount of about six millions, notwithstand-
ing the extra expenditure caused by the revolt in Canada,
and the expedition to China, and also of the interest
of twenty millions sterling, which the Reform Govern-
ment and Parliament, to their immortal honour, have paid
for emancipating all the Colonial slaves. Nor must it
be forgotten that the Reform Ministry entered
upon the Government immediately after the last French
revolution, which was followed by the Belgian and Po-
lish revolution ; and that the Reform Ministry instead
of involving the country in war (as the Tories did after
the first French Revolution), have preserved the peace of
Europe from 1830 to 1841, during a period of great
difficulty and danger.
We may further state that the sliding scale of the
Corn Duties with which the Tories have saddled the
energies of the country, has defrauded the Treasury of,
and put into the pockets, not of the landlords and far-
mers, but of the jobbers in food, at least the amount of
2,000,0001. within the last two years.