The Sun.
London, England, 1847-07-19 00:00:00

Divine punishmentfor our apostacy, is it safe to maintain
our connexion with Canada and Malta, and continue
parties, not merely to the payment of Roman Catholic
priests, but to the establishment of the Roman Catholic
religion, in dependencies of the British Crown? Consi-
derations, political or constitutional, may, no doubt, for-
bid that to be done in Ireland which is permissible in
Canada; but can that which is prohibited in one part of
the Queen's dominions on purely conscientious and re-
ligious grounds, be consistently tolerated and encouraged
in another?
I, for one, cannot untkrtake, on these grounds, to fet-
fer my di-cr..tion for all time to come on the subject to
which I have been referring,

I nave thus addressed ie•u, certa,inly without any in-
tentional reserve, on •he d.mestic questions which, from
their connexion with religion, are of pre-emi:ient im-
p..,rtance. I approach those (the next in point of interest)
which have reference to oir coinmercial and financial
p 'Hey. _

t ,en the late Government succeeded to power, there
hed been For each of F-ome % ears precrffling a defiJi ncy
in the amount of revenue, as compared H i h the Picp-ndi-
ture. The amount of tha d. ficienc% in the year 1841
was not less than 2,100,0001. An attempt had been
made in the year 1840 to supnly ticiency by an
addition of ten per cent. to the asse,sed taxes, and of
five per cent. to the revenues of Customs and Excise.
The increase thus made to the scale of the assessed taxes
answered the expectation with which it was imposed.
But the far greater part of the Isepoutit expected to be
raised was to have been supplied by the addition made
to the duties of Customs and Excise—that is to say, by
increased taxation upon articles of general consumption,
and upon the raw materials of domestic manufa,eture.
The estimated produce of these additional duties was
1,910,0001. They actually realised, on the most favour-
able supposition, not more than 750,0001, falling short
therefore of the estimate by no less a sum than 1,160,0001.
Under these circumstances, it became my duty, as the
chief Minister of Finance, to advise the adoption of
effectual measures for supplying the deficit between the
public revenue and the charge upon it.
As the organ of the Government, I proposed a tax
upon all incomes above a certain amount. I accompa-
nied the proposal of that tax with a partial reformation
of the commercial code, reducing many duties onerous
to the trade and commercial enterprise of the country.
The principal of reformation adopted in 1842 compre-
hended the abolition of prohibitions, and the abatement
of duties of a prohibitory character; the reduction of
duties on raw materials to an amount not exceeding five
per cent. ad valorem, and on articles partially manufac
tured, and completely manufactured, to an amount not
exceeding twelve and twenty per cent. respectively.
The total amount of reductions of duty was, in the
year
1842 £1,092,690
1843
1844

£1,963,321

Notwithstanding these reductions, the ordinary re-
venue of the United Kingdom, that is, the revenue de-
rived from the Customs, Excise, Stamps and Taxes, and
Post-office, amounted in the year
1841 to £47,917,000
1844 to . ... 48,125,000

In taking the revenue of the latter year, I have, of
course, excluded altogether the receipts from the Pro-
perty-tax, and also the receipts from casual sources of
revenue, such as the payment of China money in re-
imbursement of the expenses of the war.
The period of three years, for which the Income-tax
was originally passed, expired on the sth of April, 1845.
Encouraged by the experience of the past, the Govern-
ment proposed to Parliament the renewal of the Income-
tax for a further period of three years, and the ex-
tend- d application of those principles of commercial re
form which had been previously acted upon.

The duties on raw materials used in manufactures, on
dye stuffs, on oils, as well as on various articles pro-
ducing little or no revenue, were altogether repealed.
The manufacture or glass was relieved from the duto-s
of Excis,, and from the supervision and interierence of
Excise officers. The amount of the duties remitted in
1845 was not less than 4,511,000/.
In 1846 duties were again remitted to the extent of
1,151,0001.
The total amount of taxation remitted between the
commencement of the session of 1842, and the resigna-
tion of- the late Government in 1846, was 7.625,0001.
The ordinary revenue of 1841 was 47,917,0001.
That of 1846 (again deducting the receipts from Pro-
perty-tax and casual revenue) was 47,554.000/.
A portion, however, of the receipts of tnis latter year,
amounting to 416,000/. must be attributed to the in-
creased revenue from sugar, in consequence of the re-
duction, by the present Government, 01 the duties upon
foreign sugar. After making due allowance fur this
increase, it will be seen that the reduction of taxation
effected by the late Government, to the amount of
7,625,0001., were accompanied by a diminution of re-
venue to the extent only of 779,0001.
The result of these two experiments has therefore
been that, in the years 1842, 1843, and 1844, the whole
amount lost to the revenue by reduced taxa. ion was more
than replaced. In the two years, 1845 and 1846, nine-
tenths of a far larger reduction had already been re-
placed. But the case does not rest here. Notwithstand-
ing the disastrous circumstances of the late harvest, and
the depression of trade, the revenue of 1847 again ex-
hibits a considerable increase on that of the preceding
year. The last published balance-sheet of the United
Kingdom is that for the year ending the sth of April,
1847. If we compare the ordinary revenue of that
year (after deducting the Property-tax) with the ordi-
nary revenue of the year ending sth of April, 1841, we
find

Year ending sth of April, 1841
£47,218,178
- - -- ---

1847

Difference in favour of 1847

943,419

This difference in favour of the latter year far ex-
ceeds any increased receipt from the admission of foreign
sugar.
A statement published on the 6th instant carries the
accounts for Great Britain down to the present time, viz.,
to sth July, 1847, those for Ireland being not yet com-
plete. It exhibits for this portion of the empire a total
increase of ordinary revenue, as compared with the year
ending sth July, 1846, of no less than 2,615,8711., of
which (notwithstanding the remission of the duties on
corn), 1,812,7731. comes under the head of Customs and
Excise, or, in other words, arises from increased con-
sumption. _ _

The whole effect, therefore, of the measures of the
late Government had been to remove more than seven
millions and a half of taxes; while the ordinary revenue
of the last financial year, for which they were called upon
to provide, has considerably exceeded the ordinary re-
venue (derived from the same sources) of the financial
year that immediately preceded their accession to office.
In the foregoing observations I have made no reference
to the reduction of duty on wheat and on those other
kinds of grain which were included in the Corn Bill of
last year. The amount of seven and a half millions of
taxation, to the reduction of which I have just referred,
does not include any advantages which may be derived
the consumers fiom the reduction in 1842, and pro-
spective repeal in 1846 of these duties.
I have already mentioned to you the general objects
contemplated by the reformation of the tariff—the tabo-
litioo of prohinition—the reduction of prohibitory dunes
—the repeal of dunes on the raw materials of manufac-
ture; but I am desirous of calling your attention specially
to the removal and relaxation of duties levied on the
import of articles from abroad, which enter largely into
the consumption of the people as articles of subsistence.
You are all well aware that it was upon this point that
the greatest difference of opinion prevailed, and that the
prop.,sal of the Government to repeal, at au early period,
the duties upon foreign grain, was the main cause of its
dissolution.
I wish to place before you, in the clearest and most in-
telligible form, the extent of the several measures pro-
posed by the late Government, for the abatement and
the repeal of the duties to which I have above referred.
The first column of the following table specifies the
amount of duty on the several articles payable on the I,t
of January, 1842 ; the second column the amount of
duty on the Ist of August, 1846:

_ .
RATE OF DUTY CHARGEABLE.
Ist Jan., Ist Aug.
1842. 1846.
Animals living, viz.,oxen. cows,
sheep, &c Prohibited ... Free.
Meat, salt and fresh Prohibited ... Free.
.E s. d. 4 s. d.
Bacon, per cwt 1 9 4 ... Free.
Butter, per cwt
Cheese, per cwt 0 11 0 ... 0 5 0
Cocoa, foreign, per lb 0 0 6 ... 0 0 2
Coffee, foreign, per lb o 1 3 ... 0 0 6
, Currants, foreign, per cwt 1 3 2 ... 0 15 0
' Hams, per cwt 1 9 4 ... 0 7 0
0 8 0 ... Free.
0 15 0 ... 0 1 0
RLaiSpirits,crec'ppeeper cc
gallonwwtt
5 0 ... 0 14 0
Sugar,nial per )
..... . cwt.
...
.. . (..8...r.i.t.i5..h.
....
1 _
the Ist ft there were
on thein force o
ietthorfe
jspanecutartoy,thleB4co2r,
n -lratesaw so'
importa-
tion of foreign corn, varying according to the average
price in the home market.
Whenwheat was 66285a..aa qquuaarrteterrls. thedy was 21461.
Od.
3, 735. a quarter ,/
Bd.
ff
prin-
ciple Corresponding duties were levied on the same
the import of other descriptions of grain. On
barley, for instance, and on Indian corn, when the price
of barley was under 345. the quarter, the duty on the
import of a quarter of barley, and also of a quarter of
Indian corn, was 12s. 4d.; when above 41s. the duty WAS
reduced to ls.

These several duties were reduced in the session of
1842. In that of 1846 provision was made for their
total repeal on the Ist of February, 1849.
Of the various proposals made by the late Govern-
ment for the reduction of duties on articles of subsistence
and general consumption, that which contemplated the
ultimate repeal of the duties on foreign grain encoun-
tered the most decided opposition.
Let me recal to your recollection the circumstances
under which the proposal was made.

"Irithe months of September and October'
United 1845, there
eg greatnce
n i
were indications in many parts of the Unit
of that mysterious disorder which has effectedisnto so
serious an extent the potato crop. There wa
alarm, in Ireland especially, as to the consequences.
From various authorities in that country entitled ts.
o
great respect representations were received calculated
to make a deep impression on the minds of thosP who,
as servants of the Crown, were responsible for the adop-
tion of every reasonable precaution against a threatened
scarcity of food. To some of the representations I will
briefl refer.
The Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, writing on the 20th
of October, stated —" Tae accounts of the potato crop
continue to be of the most discouraging nature. P.?ta-
toe sdug up to all appearance perfectly sound, after a short
time begill to decay, and very boon rot Dltogether.