The Sun.
London, England, 1833-02-19 00:00:00

more then 1/. 55., instead of bring, on 10,000/. 95/. 4s.
Thus, in the former case, the poor man paid nearly 11. per
cent. and the rich man 3d. per cent., and so on. In bill•
of a looser date than two months, the partiality was still
greater, weighing still more heavily on the needy man.
How could such a legislation he ? At first he was dis-
posed to put it to the account of night-work—of ire
brietv—(Laughter)—for he could hardly think Noblemen
and Gentlemen would be guilty of such unworthy leaning
to their own interests.—(An interruption here taking
place, Mr. Cobbett sail, " Very well, Sir, no hurry
—no hurry at all." Order was soon restored, and
Mr. Cobbett proceeded.) In the case of Insurance
or Lives, where the sotto insured amounted to less than
SCOL, the stamp was 1/. ; if to 500/. to t 2/. ; if to 5,000/.
or upwards, 5/.—so that the man who insured 10,0001
paid only Is. per ceut., while he who insured for less than
500/ paid tis. 6d. per cent.—the man of scanty means
psying nearly seven times as much as the man of wealth.
As to receipts. If the sum were for 2/ , the stamp was
; it for 1,000/., 10s., when in due proportiou it ought
to he Si. 6s. St The poor man here paid more than
sixteen times as much tax as the rich man, and if the sum
went on to a hundrea thousand pounds, or a million, the
stamp was still only 10s. For any sum, ton, expressed to
be in full of all demand., whether for two, or a million of
pounds, the stamp was always 10s., so that it might be
l'airly said that the poor man in such a case paid a thou-
sand titres as much as the rich one. He would then refer
to the subject of apprais-ments. Here the higher I )r,!ers
had again the advantage, and they knew well how to keep
it. No people surpassed them in that ; and it appeared to
him, ti.at of them all, the nobility exceed the rest of the
landowners. The stamps on appraisements offered them
another advantage. They could not miss that. The
stamp on an lapraisement not amounting to 50/., was
2s. 6d. If the things appraised amount to 5001. in value.
the stamp duty was 155. ; but if they amounted to more
than 500/., as they frequently did to 5,0001. and
sometimes even to half a million, nay, if they exceeded
that—though the amount wus a million of money or more
stamp duty was but one pound. They heard that.
and could they know that such had been the fact ? He
booed they who had heard this statement had not partici-
faated in making the law, and he hoped they would not
participate in keeping it in force. What ! make the poor
tradesman pay, as in this instance he did, nearly forty
times as much on the sale of his furniture as the Noble-
man (lid on the sale of his estate ?—while the tax on corn.
too, was kept up to maintain the high value of his estate
at the same time? He now came to another part of the
subject. He did intend—and his Hon. Colleague knew
that such had been his intention—to produce calculations
on this subject. If he bad seen any marks of an intention
on the part of the Government to do anything for the
people, he should not have moved this resolution. But
be saw no such intention. On the contrary, he saw an
intention to force all their measures, like every thing else,
and not to take if one farthing of the taxes; and there-
fore it was that he made this exhibition of the injustice of
the stamp laws. All knew the end he had in view. Be-
cause he perceived in them a resolution--a determination
—to carry through and enforce every measure, even at
the point of the bayonet, he brought this matter under
the consideration of the House. He now came to a part
of this abominable Act—and, till he did come to it, he
almost believed that a great part of those who passed it
did not know what they were doing. He saw an Hon.
Gentleman take up the book, to see if Ilia statements were
correct. The Hon. Gentleman will fund nothing in it
contrary to what he had stated. Bitt, however, as it was
terribly wicked—(A laugh)—to be out of a word in
quoting an Act of Parliament, he would read the port.
Till be came to that part of the Act, he thought they
had overlooked the nature of the Act they were passing ;
yet still it was strange that, by accident, they should
make laws for the rich, and against the pour, in every
inntance. He was glad, however, to say, that there was
one part where they were perfectly impartial. In that
part, the taxation went on decreasing in degree, from the
rich down to the poor. What was that part ? It was in
the duty upon apprenticeships. In apprenticeships—
who re all the parties were tradesmen—there were no sons
of Noblemen, nor sons of Baronets, nor of Ministers of
State, who were apprentices. " Oh! certainly ; do take
care not to let the poor pay as ranch as the rich."—(A
laugh.) That was in apprenticeships where the amount
of duty went on regularly, or almost regularly increasing
with the amount of the premium, till it reached 1,000/.,
sod they supposed, of course, that there would not he any
premium above 1,000/. They were just in that case, and
he had to thank them for being so. But why did they
not observe the same rule in other cases, where they them-
selves were concerned? They did not, in cases where
they were to be affected as the owners of estates. They
showed there, at least, that they understood something
about Cocker, as an Hon. Baronet had told his fellow-
parishioners—(Hear, and a laugh.) An Hon. Gentleman
in presenting a petition from Woolwich, had called this
mode of nxation a wicked partiality. They had shown
that partiality in this Act, At last, after laying taxes on
every body else, there was one matter of relationship
which they had not forgotten, which they had put at the
end of the Act, and which was a total exemption from the
opeeatiou of the Act, upon all bonds, contracts, mortgages,
conveyances, deeds, and instruments whatever, exempted
from the stamp duty, by the 17th Geo. 111. c. 53—for
what, did they think ? For building, repairing, or pur-
chasing houses or other buildings for the beneficed clergy.
--(lleac, hear.) Would the Reformed Parliament sane
tine that hear.) Would they ? Would they ?
Then, if they did, let them go afterwards, if they dared,
and look their constituents in the lace.—( Hear, hear.)
He should now go to another part of the Act, and there
he should show them the ingenuity used in framing it. It
was said that the country gentlemen were lubberly jolter•
head fellows; but see bow careful they were here. They
looked after the timber and underwood—their lands and
tenements—so closely, that one might think they were
tied to the trade of a grasier, or butcher, or timber dealer.
An auction duty of 711. in the pound was imposed on the
amount of the sale of any" freehold, customary copyhold, or
leasehold lands, tenements, houses, or hereditaments, and
any shares in the capital or joint stork of any corporation,
or chattered company, and of any annuity or sums of mo-
ney charged thereon ; and of any ships or vessels, and of
any reversionary interest in the public funds, and of any
plate or jewels," Tradesmen had no plate and jewels—
(Hear, hear, hear)—and so plate and jewels were to
pay 7d. in the pound on their value ; but in all
other things tradesmen and farmers, reduced by po-
verty to sell their furniture, these people, who could
least afford it, were to pay one shilling in the
pound ; while the " careless and generous" Nobleman who
made the laws, was to pay, if he sold lois property, '7d. in
the pound—all the rest of the people were to pay Is. But
was that all ? Far from it. There was a duty of 2d. in
the pound (value) on wool sold at any auction, provided
it was sold for the benefit of the growers or first pur-
chasers. But if it came from Hampshire to London, and
sold, and was carried thence clown to Yorkshire, and then
sold, it became liable to an auction duty of Is. in the
pound. Everything was so basely partial in this law—
every thing in it was mean and dirty, and then it was the
work of the Nobility. That was not all ; no, nor half;
for there was, besides what he load already mentioned, a
total exemption from auction duty of several other things,
which he should now mentoon—" all goods distrained for
rent, tor fur non-payment of tithes." Aye, aye, goods
Bo distrained b. longed to the Lord ; the tax must not
touch th, m. There might he a tax on the farmer, who
was obliged to sell his stock ; but not on the Lord, when
the Lord took that stock four rent. In the next place, he
called on them to mark the atrocity of this—yes, the atro-
city—for it was impossible to use words strong enough to
characterise it. All sa'es by auction for letting of lands
and tenements, for lives or years, to be created by the,
person on whose account such auction shall be held, were
exempted from the auction duty. So were all sales of
woods, coppices, produce of mines or quarries, or mate-
rials for working the same ; or on the sale of any cattle,
and live or dead stock, or unmanufactured produce of
land, so as such sale of woods, coppices, produce of
mines or quarries, cattle, corn, stock, or produce of
land be made, whilst they continue on the lands pro-
ducing the same, and by the owner of such lands, or
proprietor of such mines, or their agent. Did they
mean to sit there, and represent that such laws ought
still to continue in force ? Were they the friends of
the people, if they could bring themselves to declare
that they would not look into this matter ?—(Hear.)
Such were time facts of the case. Comment or advert
ors them he should not, for it would be impossible to make
any observations stronger than were the facts themselves.
What ought the House to do, then, if this state of facts
was true ? Hon. Gentlemen would have time to look
into these Acts, and see whether he was not right. There
ought to be a Committee of the House to take into con-
sideration these grievances—they ought to tell the peo-
pie that at least they would look into these grievances.
Let them tell the people so now. He would try them
now. He should conclude with moving this resolution--
" That on the Ist of March tbis'House will take into
consider otion the nature, tendency, and effect of the se-
veral Acts of Parliament which impose taxes on stamps,
and on things sold by auction." All he asked, then, was
to take these things into consideration. He would divide
the House on the motion—he certainly would' do that, and
let the people see how many there were who were for
taking these things into consideration. He did not want
them to pledge *themselves that they would modify these