The Sun.
London, England, 1851-01-30 00:00:00

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themselves temptera -to evil, inviting ingenuity to Com.
' mit fraud. The e: xtent of this disgraceful fraud
was great in 'relate I, in Scotland little, and in Eng-
land something mor4 !. He (Mr. Borthwick) had heard
' manufacturers sae-, and urge it on the Government,
that they desired era get rid of the paper tax, if for no
other rea lon because they wished, when they shouldretire from Le trade, to leave it to their children and
heirs
whichumn satdaeilniet da,l
ma a)sat taraddiesg,
rbayc
et ht
oa tbeeict
hi oouusghcht aarapcapteerr,
i
maker. The inequality of the tax was another consi-
deration. Paper trade from the finest materials, from
linen and cambric, and that made from the rags which
poverty itself had discarded, and from the produce
of the farm-yard, bad to pay the same rate of duty.
This was a monstrous injustice—a-leer, hear)—but
the broad characteristic of the tax of which they bad
lis—twaxhei:laincottnhe-
all to complain, was the great fact that labour, in the
action of transferring the rags of poverty into the
most elegant materials used byldtnehnenieorduicB
itnogllea bionusrt
instance
municated the burning thoughts of Byron, of Scott,
of Dickens, to the world at large—
pmearneuefnatc.tuorfeittso
natural
ntuexratel nvtaluthea.t
could they appeal to the Government to repeal a tax
whose repeal would so largely benefit the whole public
as this tax on paper. The repeal of the window tax,
of the soap duties, would benefit many ; the remove .1
of the malt tax would be of advantage to light lands,
the taking off other taxes would be advocated on ma my
plausible grounds; but there was not any other tax
against which so many arguments and so powerful
reasons could be brought as against this tax upon
paper.—(Cheers.) He (Mr. Borthwick) most bear-
tily seconded the resolution.
The resolution was carried unanimously.
Mr. SMITH, of Bingley, in moving the fifth resole.
tion, said he thought one of the speakers had stated
that this tax had been laid on to maintain inviolate
the shores of our country.
Mr. BORTHWICK—Yes, in the reign of Queen Anne.
Mr. SMITH—Then they were coming to the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer to demand the settlement of
an outstanding debt, instead of a boon.—(Hear.)
The Chancellor of the Exchequer would, doubtless,
talk of the sum produced by this tax as 800,0001.
That certainly was the gross sum brought into the
Exchequer ; but when that went into the right hand
pocket, what went out of the left ?—(Hear.) First,
there was the expense of collection, which he believed
must be 5 per cent., but he would say 3 per cent.
The Ctietnimear—The Government acknowledged
it to be 7i.
Mr. SMITH remarked that all his experience made
him believe that that was the real amount. Then
there was the drawback in exported goods, on the
paper used in printing Bibles and Testaments. Then
there was the Government stationery, and, indeed,
many other payments out of the left-hand pocket,
which very materially reduced the 800,0001. received
by the right hand.—(Cheers.) Paper making was a
trade, too, which afforded a respectable and regular
support to its workmen, and was less liable than othe't
manufactures to fluctuations, which threw workman
and their families on the public purse for their main.
tenance.—(Cheers.) It was therefore a trade which
ought to be encouraged on public grounds.
Mr. E. Wooaatrai seconded the motion, and, as re-
presenting in some degree the newspaper press of the
West of England, assured the meeting that in Wane
part of the realm they were determined to use every
legitimate and honourable means to get rid of so ob-
noxious a tax.—(Cheers.)
The resolution was carried unanimously.
The sixth and last resolution was moved by Mr. S,
DUNCAN, and seconded by Mr. P. G. BAR/QM It
provided that copies of the resolutions and memorials
be respectfully presented to the Chancellor of the
Exchequer. It was carried unanimously.
On the motion of Mr. Bouruwici it was resolved
that the resolutions be advertised in all the daily and
weekly papers.
Mr. BALDWIN, in seconding the above resolution,
announced that although no memorial had that day
been presented from Birmingham, the town council
and the merchants of that town were preparing peti-
tions to Parliament.
A vote of thanks, proposed in most complimentary
terms by Mr. Charles Knight, and seconded by Mr.
Petter, was given enthusiastically to the chairman.
' The CHAIRMAN acknowledged the compliment. He
had for twenty years been devoted to the object for
which the present agitation had been organized. His
strongest incentive for taking that course had been a
principle of hostility to fraudulent traders, and the
consummation of one of his most ardent wishes woulii
be achieved when it was entirely out of the power of
any man to take an unfair advantage of another in
the way of trade.—(Cheers.) He had pursued his
object steadily and with energy, and before he bad
asked the public for a single shilling he had expended
1,0001. He would pay deference to no man in point
of energy, and now that he was supported by so
general a feeling, and so much of the talent and enter-
prise of the country were enlisted in the cause, he
would, if it cost him a thousand a year, agitate until
their efforts were crowned with success.
Subscriptions to the amount of nearly 1,0001. were
announced, and thanks having been voted to the Chair.
man, the proceedings terminated.

THE PAPER. DUTY.
(From the Morning Post.)
The expression oF public opinion in favour of the
repeal of the oppressive tax upon paper becomes daily
louder and more explicit. Dublin, and Edinburgh, and
Manchester, and Leeds have already spoken emphati-
cally upon the subject. While we write, meetings are,
we perceive, being held in various other parts of the
United Kingdom, and the proceedings of a conference,
which took place yeiterday at the King's Arms Hotel,
in Palace-yard, are reported in our paper of this day.
To this significant and most important demonstration
we invite the special attention of our readers.
The meeting was attended by gentlemen who, it ap-
pears, are to present to the Chancellor of the Exchequer
this day memorials from almost all parts of the country.
To these documents are appended nearly nine thousand
names of great weight and respectability. To such an
appeal as this no Government can lend an inattentive ear.
But were the agitation less energetic, and its results
less palpable, the arguments advanced by Mr. Cromp-
ton, Mr. Charles Knight, Mr. Chambers, Mr. Cassel,
Mr. Towle, send other speakers, are so cogent and irre-
sistible, that it seems impossible for financial or poli-
tical ingenuity to meet them with even a plausible an-
swer. The tax, it was shown, was imposed in the reign
of Queen Ann, when foreign war and domestic turbu-
lence united to present an emergency, under which
alone so monstrous a demand on the part of the Crown
could have been even listened to. Alternations of peace
and war had since that time succeeded each other; and
now, after the duration of forty years' peace, and with a
surplus revenue of nearly three millions, this grievous
burden continued to press upon industry and enterprise,
and the advancement of sound education, of science, and
of art.