The Sun.
London, England, 1851-04-24 00:00:00

" Gild refined gold,
To paint the lily, or to throw a perfume on the violet;'
but it is, happily, rendered necessary by the
blundering stupidity and unreasoning obstinacy of
the man who, unfortunately for the nation, is placed
at the head of the Exchequer, and enabled, by the
culpable apathy and carelessness of the people, to
carry out his financial hobbies. Sir CHARLES WOOD
will only condescend to inform us that he has
" arrived at a conclusion," or that " a tax produces so
many thousands per annum, which he is certainly not
prepared to relinquish," and thinks that those stereo-
typed answers should be considered satisfactory by
the sufferers. It is not, however, because an unjust
and impolitic system has been patiently submitted to
for a few years, under peculiar circumstances, that the
aggrieved parties will consent to its being perpe-
tuated, or to the greater portion of the burden being
placed on the shoulders least able to sustain it.
The constitational theory is, that every man
shall contribute to the liquidation of the
national liabilities and the maintenance
ref the national establishments secundum statum et
facultates, according to his means and the position
which he occupies in the country. is this principle
recognized when one man pays only one-thousandth
part of the actual value of his available capital, while
another is compelled, perhaps, to hand over every
shilling in his possession to the tax-collector, and not
improbably to become a borrower, in order to satisfy
the claim ? Is it just that the person with 4,9001. in
the Three per Cents., leading an idle life, and making
his certain income tof 1471. per annum, paid to the
very hour, go farther by living at the other aide of
the Channel, and enjoying the untaxed luxuries at-
tainable on the continent, should be exonerated from
the tax, while the struggling clerk, who has to sup-
port a large family in the most expensive locality on
his salary of MU per annum, must, in addition to
paying 200 per cent. duty on his tea, 800 per cent.
on his tobacco, and also contributing heavily in pro-
portion to the value on his coffee, sugar, beer, wine,
spirits, and others of these unwonted luxuries to a
man in his position, hand to the tax-gatherer
the sum of 4L 7s. 61 per annum, and this although
he may not have the means of supporting his family
for a single week in the event of sickness or being out
of employment, and could not leave sufficient to de-
fray his funeral expenses in the event:9f death de-
priving his sffiicted wife and helpless children of their
only provider ? It is indeed a monstrot!s anomaly,
that the man who, in justice and equity, should be
taxed must heavily, is permitted to escape scot free, to
snap his fingers in the face of the tax-gatherer, while
the man who on every principle of sound police
should be encouraged and sustained in his arduoya
course, is most heavily assailed in every part of his
career. From the hour of his rising in the morning
until retiring at night, at every meal he partakes of;
at any relaxation he may venture to indulge
in, the hand of the tax-collector is percepti•

hle appropriating a considerable portion of his
earnings. The moment he can accumulate
and lay by anything he becomes a proper subject
for taxation. Let him contribute to the national ex-
penditure is proportion to the value of his savings,
and let there be no exemptions of any kind, for
every exemption directly and almost necessarily
leads to fraud. It' a man possess but 1001
there is no reason why he should not pay on that
amount. His industry alone should be free, so that
be should have every assistance to put by and accu-
mulate capital. Dace more, then, and while there is
yet time, we call on all who feel themselves ag-
grieved by the present most inequitable system
to make an exertion proportioned to the importance c f
the subject. Let them bestir themselves actively and
energetically, while there is yet time. But if,
through their own carelessness and apathy,
the favourable opportunity is thrown away,
and the galling chains rivetted for a further
term of three years, let them not indulge in unmanly
complaints and lamentations, but consider that they
themselves are chiefly to blame, and determine by
their future conduct, more especially at the hustings
during the next general election, to remove the
reproach to which they are justly liable, and to show
their determination to secure for themselves a just
and equitable measure, in the Parliamentary session
of 1854.