The Sun.
London, England, 1848-03-04 00:00:00

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LONDON, SATURDAY, MARCH 4, 1848.

Well, the representatives of the people have divided_a
v
on the first point submitted to their decision.
majority of 175 they have negatived the amendment
of the Hon. and Learned Gentleman the Member for
Cockermouth, who submitted, " that if the income-
tax be continued, it is expedient to amend the Act,
and not to impose the same charge on incomes derived
from profesaionoi and precarious sources, as on those
derivedfrom real property." This proposition would
at least appear to be based on justice and equity: It
said nothing as to the proportions in which the tax should
be levied on the different classes ; it only asked that a
distinction should be made, that some portion should
be remitted of that which
EXCEIEQU the CnaxcELLcut of the
ER at its first introduction,• and -
unburdened with official cares, declared to `' be whenunjust
and iaquisiterial," And therefore then resisted, in his ,

capacity as an individual Member of the House, with
all his power. " A change, however, has come o'er
the spirit of his dream." He is now very differently
I circumstanced; the duty has devolved upon him of
providing the ways and means for the payment of
the interest of our enormous debt, and for the national
expenditure on our naval, military, and civil estab-
lishments. He has, therefore, in his new position.
adopted the argument of the Roman Emperor, "room
olet nummus" —provided he procures the neces-
sary amount, he is little solicitous as to the
manner in which it may be obtained, or the
propriety or justice thereof. A stronger illus-
tration could not be afforded of the dying
miser's last injunctions to his hopeful heir.
" My son get money—honestly if you can, but at all
events get money." What matters it that it is unjust—
that it is inquisitorial—that it falls most heavily upon
those who are the least able to resist the demand,
Who possess no Parliamentary influence, who cannot
command a majority in the popular branch of the
Legislature. They can only claim exemption upon
grounds founded upon the equity of their cause ; but,
alas ! their very weakness invites aggression—their
arguments are only those of the lamb, and the old
fable tells us how trifling was the effect thereby
produced upon the wolfish assailant.
The people do not refuse to be taxed—they are
willing to charge themselves with the sums re-
quired for the maintenance of the national honour
and the national credit ; they only demand that the
amount may be fairly collected, and that each person
should be called upon to contribute to the burden in
proportion to his means—to the stake he has in the
country—to the real value of the interests for which
he requires protection. The State secures him in
the enjoyment of his personal liberty and property
so long as he observes the laws enacted for the general
government ; and, in return, it demands that he
shall bear his share of the general expenditure. The
contribution for the protection of his property must,
manifestly, be in proportion to the real amount,
to the selling value, thereof. It can, however,
scarcely be argued—although liberty is equally
dear to the peasant as to the peer—that
the humble labourer, who earns a scanty and
precarious subsistence by the most arduous and un-
remitting toil, should pay as largely for protection as
the lordly inheritor of wide-spread domains, or the
possessor of funded millions. The true criterion,
therefore, for fiscal purposes, is that the value to a man
of his personal liberty is in proportion to his means of
enjoyment, to the amount of property which he pos-
sesses, and therefore in that respect, also, a property-
tax would be the most equitable and fairest that could
be levied.

Our representatives cannot conceive that any dis-
tinction should be made on account_of the sources
from whence income is derived, so far as taxa-
tion is concerned, but do they not make very
great distinctions in every other respect ?
Are the same privileges conceded to the industrious
lawyer, the skilful physician, the enterprising mer•
chant, the upright manufacturer, as to the possessor
of accumulated and realised property ? No ; far
from it. Does he aspire to represent a constituency
by whom he may be respected, and looked up to, in
the Imperial Parliament ? A property qualification
is required. lie must possess a fixed and certain in-
come of either 6001. or 3001. per annum before he
can be permitted to take his seat for either a county
or a borough. It is true he possesses a cultivated
mind and intellect, from the employment of which he
earns a large income, which the tax collector regards as
a full equivalent for a rent roll, or dividend upon
stock of equal amount, and he demands that with
such a qualification he may be permitted to watch
over the interests of those who have selected him.
But the Committee laugh his pretensions to scorn.
He is reported to want the necessary qualification—
the election is declared null and void, and the dis-
appointed constituency may choose some stupid and
uneducated dolt, provided he possesses the proper
amount in the rental of broad acres, or the dividend
of stock. Here it must be admitted there is some
difference—a difference which may, in some degree,
account for the otherwise inexplicable vote of last
night.
Perhaps his ambition may not soar so high. He
does not himself aspire to a place in the Legislature,
but he feels that he is at least entitled to a vote in
the selection of the Members for the district in which
he resides. He is aware of the constitutional prin-
ciple, that there should he no taxation without re-
presentation ; the collector who has just departed from
his door, bearing away, perhaps, his last shilling, has
proved, beyond the possibility of doubt, that he is
considered a subject for taxation ; but the revising
barrister will tell him that such an income does not
entitle him to be entered on the register as an elector
—that he must possess some other qualification
before his claim can be admitted !! I

We might multiply similar instances ; but what
avails it ? Our chosen representatives have decided
against us, and it is only by the pressure from
without, by the instant and unceasing exertions of
the middle clußses themselves, that the anomaly can be
remedied. N'Ve call upon the nation to be up and
doing. If the present opportunity shall elapse—if the
vote is passed in its present form, they may consider
themselves permanently saddled with the intolerable
and iniquitous impost.

Among the many affecting and romantic incidents
which h_ive illustrated the progress of the recent
revolution hi Paris, one of the most beautiful was
assuredly the demonstration of the love and reverence
entertained by the new-horn Republic for the me-
mory of ARMAND CARREL! Ainid,t the tumults of
this glorious and memorable movement the genius
and the valour of ARMAND CARREL have not been
forgotten—his noble services in the cause of freedom
have been acknowledged by the spontaneous enthu-
siasm of his countrymen. Yes : after the lapse of
twelve years, since that melancholy day, in 1836,
when the young journalist was shot dead in a duel
with EMILE GIRARDIN—after the lapse of twelve
years since that lamentable catastrophe, the Pa-
risians have re-conquered their liberties, without
crime, or bloodshed, or spoliation, they have
re-conquered their liberties, and now, in the
very moment of their victory, they have
hurried to the little churchyard of St. Maur to pay
a solemn and tcuching tribute to the dust of their
champion. As the gifted son of Lord STAANGFORD
has sung so eloquently—

" We weep not, we mourn not, Armand Carrel,
Though we knew, though we loved, though we
prised him well,
For he died in his youth, as the brave should die,
And his soul still burning with chivalry l"
It was with feelings of this character—with feelings
of mingled sorrow and admiration—that many of the
inhabitants of the French capital proceeded to the
tomb of citizen CARREL (the late editor of the
National), on Thursday, the 2d inst., for the
purpose of testifying their homage to patriotism
and misfortune. Among those who participated in
this half-mournful and half-exultant ceremony
was one of the most distinguished Members of the
Provisional Government, a namesake of the deceased
author, and his successor in the editorship of the
National; we mean, of course, ARMAND MARRAST.
But the individual who, of all others, attracted the
most observation in the heart of that vast concourse
of Republicans was EMILE GIRARDIN, the editor of
La Presse, the man who, but for his prolonged and
genuine lamentation for the demise of his illustrious
antagonist, might have been called with perfect accu-
racy the assassin of CARREL; for it was the pistol
bullet of
EMILE GIRARDIN that in 1836 felled
ARMAND CARREL. Bearing this in recollection, it
is scarcely surprising
that the spectators were
at first disposed to receive with disdain,
and some of them even with abhorrence,
the man who had alone occasioned their cala-
mity. Immediately, however, that the repentant
duellist had spoken over the ashes of his rival the
distrust of the multitude was changed to approbation.
The words spoken by citizen GIRARDIN were
these :
" Citizens," said he, " in coming here to take part
in this grave and mournful solemnity, none of you
will mistake the sentiment which induces me to be
present. I responds to a noble appeal that was ad-
dressed tome.
" Such an ap peal could not but do. _me_ honour,
since it assuredly was not to treat my heart as a
vulgar one. It was to tell me that no one doubted
either of the t incerity or of the duratiori of the

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