The Sun.
London, England, 1848-11-16 00:00:00

THE SUN,

HANN:ILL he should make a distinction be-
tween. tha two prisoner:. He would at once commit to
.2.;Pwgate for trial the yoaugor prisoner, but would take
bail for the appear:p.m-a at the sasioni of the elder pri
snner.—Ceuunitted.

MEETING OF THE FINANCIAL
REFORM ASSOCIATION.
(BY EXPRESS.)
LIVERPOOL, THURSDAY MORNING.
Last evening a meeting of the above association was held
in the Concert Hall, Lord Nelson-street; it was rather nume-
rously attended by working men, among whom were
sprinkled not a few persons filling the higher walks of life.
The association has for its object three important
points—the reduction of the national expenditure, the
economising the collection of the taxes, and the substituting
direct for indirect taxation, and the purpose of the present
meeting was to expound generally the views of the associa-
tion, to indicate the extravagant expenditure of the Govern-
ment, and to ask the co-operation of the public in their
movement. On the platform were Charles Robertson, Esq.;
John Finch, Esq., Brodribb, Esq. ; John Smith, Esq., of
the Liverpool Mercury; Richard Shiels, Esq.; Frank Boult
Esq. ; A. S. Stewart, Esq. ; and Alexander Somerville, Esq.,
locally known as " One who has whistled at the Plough."
CHARLES ROBERTSON, Esq., in the absence of the Presi-
sident of the Association, Robertson Gladstone, Esq., was
called to the chair. After briefly complimenting the absent
chairman, and excusing himself for filling that important
place, Mr. Robertson went on to say, that it would be the aim
of the speakers to deal with facts, such as could not fail to
obtain attention, elucidatory of the enormity of the present
mode of taxing the people, and the object of those taxes—
the supporting idle and unproductive members of
society a system which imposed heavy burdens
on those least able to bear them, and light ones on men
whose position enabled them to contribute largely to the
public expenditure—a system which, being essentially
wrong, could not be made right, though backed by law and
custom—such a system, taxing the poor to give to the rich,
should meet with the reprobation of the country. He as-
serted that the men placed in power to administer
the sacred trust of the national treasure had aided
in squandering it by aggrandising themselves and their
their connexions. These gentlemen were then on their trial,
perhaps for the first time. Mr. Robertson sat down amid 1
universal applause, and
FRANK BOULT, Esq., rose to address the meeting. He al-
most
immediately adduced a host of facts and figures
bearing out the principles of extravagant and unjust taxa-
tion; he approved of direct in preference to indirect taxation,
notwithstanding the opinion of the editer of the Times on
this subject. Of the blessing of indirect taxation a good in-
stance was afforded by the Customs, which, for the year
1848, were given at 21,000,0001. odd. The: lowest
foreign coffee, quoted at 245. per cwt., the value
of which was 2d. per lb. paid 6d. per lb. duty ;
this was for the poor man's use ; but the highest qua-
lay of colonial coffee, quoted at 120 s. per cwt., only paid a
duty of 4d. per lb. This is one of the monopolies which es-
caped Sir Robert Peel. The same unjust difference between
the amount of taxes paid by the poor man and the rich
was instanced in the case of foreign spirits; gin, at a
shilling a gallon, and cognac brandy being instanced. The
duty on tea was 2a. 2d. per lb. Bohea, the original value of
which was 2d., was taxed at the rate of 875 per cent., but
gunpowder, the first cost of which was 4s. per lb., paid a duty
of only 55 per cent. The article of tobacco paid no
less than 1,250 per cent. duty. The country was
deprived of the benefit of an enormous trade in
wines in consequence of this iniquitous system of
taxation, which deprived the poor man also of one of the
most agreeable drinks that can be taken, the light wine of
France. A Cologne merchant had told him that he (the
merchant) had wine at one penny a gallon and at ten shil-
lings, but when sent to England both were taxed alike.
Timber came next in the category, and was stated to be
partly taxed and partly free, such as is imported
for cabinet uses, as the making of furniture
coming under the latter head, but when required for pur-
poses of shipbuilding, &c., restricted. Mr. Boult from the
Customs glided to the Excise, which, he said, was computed
at, for the last year, 13,000,0001.—he wished to ask if any
just reasen could be given why Ireland should be exempt
from the duty on bricks, soap, malt, and post horses, and to
inquire if it were the will of our Legislature that the lower
classes of this country should be driven into mud cabins, and
to forego the use of soap, paper, sugar, tea, and coffee.
Having drawn a melancholy picture of the poor man's house
under these restrictions, he introduced the following lines of
Cowper :
" The Excise is fattened with the rich result of all this riot,
And ten thousand cooks, for ever dribbling forth their
base contents,
Touched by the Midas finger of the State,
Breed gold for Ministers to sport away.
Drink and be mad then! 'Tis your country bids!
Gloriously drunk, obey the important call,
Her cause demands the assistance of your throats,
Ye all can swallow, and she asks no more."
He then went on to show that the duty on common bricks,
selling at 12s. to 14s. per 1,000, was 6s. 11/2d. or 60 per
cent. A million a year was thus produced, chiefly from this
description of brick, the more expensive fire brick being
comparatively lightly taxed. In the article of malt, too.
the labouring classes were taxed to the tune of four millions
and a half, this grain being chiefly consumed by them. The
injustice of fine and coarse descriptions of paper being
subject to one impost was spoken of, as well
as the fact of soap paying 1 'Ad. per lb. duty.
The department of Stamps in turn passed in review ; this
department produces 7,000,0001. Mr. Boult happily
illustrated the enormity of the advertisement duty, by con-
trasting the two descriptions of appeal to the public—an
advertisement of a column in length, and one of three lines—
the former fraught with the eloquence of Mr. G Robins, and the
latter setting forth the want of a servant out of place, yet both
these very different interests contributed the same portion to
the Treasury, one shilling and sixpence. The different kinds
of bills were enumerated also, with a view to showing
that the small sums here also paid a much heavier
proportion than those of large amount—a 2/. bill being one
shillings, while one for 3,0001. was only 255. Bonds in like
manner—for one of 100/. 21. must be paid, but if for the
heavy sum of 20,0001. only 255. for each thousand was re-
quired.
In like manner, the probate duty, though fairly
enough adjusted when moderate sums were bequeathed, was
singularly easy in the case of millionaires, ceasing to operate.
after the first 100,000/. Mr. Boult then came to the assessed
taxes, which he stated amounted to 10,000,0001. He again '
referred to the invidious exemption here in the case of
Ireland, and also as regards our own farmers, and
reverted to the Act of IHIS, which he described
as acting prejudicially to the farmers, as well as to
the inhabitants of towns, who instead of the landlords, had
to make up the deficiency in seasons of agricultural distress.
The window-tax came in for the next share of scrutiny,
and it proved to be based on the same principle as the fore-
going, every window up to a certain number after seven
paying a tax of Bs.; but when the number came to 45, the
tax suddenly fell to is. 6d. Thence the speaker went
to the land-tax, which remains to this day pre-
cisely as when settled in 1692, at 4s. in the pound.
This tax ought to yield 20,000,000 L, instead of the miserable
sum of 1,100,000/. He observed, in reference to this, that
Sir Robert Peel, when charged with the inequality of the
income-tax, had answered that Pitt had not dared to pro-
pose an equal income-tax, and neither would he. But what
was this but a confession that the aristocracy were the
dictators in each case?
A. S. STEWART, Esq., followed the last speaker. He
chiefly confined his remarks to the expenditure entailed on
the country by the war establishment. He took the
entire population at twenty-eight millions, and di-
viding the responsibility devolving on each, as regards
the national debt of 8,000,0004, he found that every man;
woman, and child in England, Ireland, and Scotland was in
debt 29/. From the national debt Mr. Stewart went to our
present liabilities for war. The army estimate for the present
year was said to be 20,000,0001., which, taking every-
individual at the rate of 14s.3d.per head, to which add 20s. per
head for debt, and there would be a total of 11. 14s. 3d. due
from each individual, which, in fact, was under the actual
amount, inasmuch as this calculation includes infants,
women, paupers, and the like, who pay no taxes. The
standing army, rank and file, amounts to 123,992, of which
5,734 are officers, gentlemen who cannot stoop to business, yet
do condescend to dabble in the commission market,
for their own advantage. He would ask whether this large
force was required, and would reply that it had been proved
that our police was sufficient to contend with civil
tumults. And as to the argument that this force was re-
quired in case of war, he rejected it as absurd in princi-
ple. He reprobated the system of colonization which
required 250,0001. to be expended, because we
refuse to allow them to govern themselves. He contrasted
the amount of exports with the cost of government, :which
showed,: in the case of the North American colonies, that
for every 20s. received for exports, 9s. was paid for expense.
The exports for 1844 being 9,000,0001., and the cost of
government 4,000,0001, whilst for the same year we re-
ceived 8,000,0001. for exports to the United States, in which
only 15,0001. was expended, which, in fact, would be still
lower were it not for the fact of our paying more to our
Ambassador at Washington than the Americans paid
to their President. The speaker went on, with consider-
able force, to point out the items of expenditure con-
nected with the army, and the enormities of fashionable
regiments, which were most extravagantly over-officered.
The following are a few of the statistics adduced :
the list of generals contains three kings, two princes, one
royal duke, and one common duke, three marquises, six earls,
four viscounts, nine lords, twenty-one right honourables,
and nineteen honourables, making a total of sixty-nine.
There are 131 lieutenant-generals, and 84 major-generals; to-
tal ofgenerals, 284, which gives to each regimentitwo generals.
The numbers of subordinate officers was, shown to be on a
scale of equal magnitude—a remark which also applies to
the half-pay list, on which are 206 colonels, receiving each
11. 7s. Gd. per diem for doing nothing. If we were asked why
such things were allowed to exist, we would say
it was owing to the monstrous law of pri-
mogeuiure, which, in the words of Adam Smith,
snakes one child wealthy and all the others beg-
gars; but this law was considered necessary to perpetuate
the honour of our ancient and glorious nobility.
Referring to the constitution of the House of
Commons, which is supposed to represent the people,
he proved how .such a state of things was compatiabla
with its functions, inasmuch as this deliberative
Assembly is composed of 656 Members, out of which 250
were officers of militia, six marquises, seven earls, 63 lords,
133 brothers or sons of peers, 56 baronets, 85 married to the
sisters or daughters of peers. Mr. Stewart concluded by
urging the importance of unanimity amongst the middle and
labouring classes to the success of the cause. After which,
Mr. JOHN SMITH addressed the meeting. He spoke of the
absurdity of the situation of obsolete offices in connexion
with the Court of her Majesty, such as the Master of tho
hawks, who receives 1,200/. though he has no hawks to
tend. The Gold and Silver Sticks came in for a
share of his sarcastic observations. He did not
doubt but that were there a gold fiddle-stick
some ready member of the aristocracy would be found to
flourish it. Amongst other grievances, he complained of the
enormous expense of purchasing Acts of Parliament, which
he would call by no other name than public plunder;
in confirmation a, he adduced an instance. The small
town of Southport requiring a short Act for
the management of their own affairs applied to Parliament,
• and had to pay 1,500/. He reprobated the system of indirect
taxation, which he characterised as being invented to supply
the aristocracy with patronage.
Mr. Joins Flux concluded the business of the meet-
ing that the present was the initiatory of a
series by g
t to
bwel ohuenl
de i
non the evening of each third Wednesday
in the month. He advised agitation as the only
means of success, which had been shown by
' the Anti-Corn Law League, and concluded by re-
questing as many as could do so to become subscribers
to the association, the expenses of which, it was pre-
sumed, would not be more than 1,0001. psr annum. He was
glad to say that at present the funds were in a prosperous
condition, there being a balance in their treasurer's hands.