The Sun.
London, England, 1851-02-18 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON,

THBATRE ROYAL,DRURY-LANE.
Lessee anti .llanager, Mr. Jame. Andel sOn.
TO-MORROW' EVENING,
Will Us presented by her Majesty's S'7 vanta

Tel ELDER BiOTTIER ; or Love at First Sight.
After whist), s. new grand Openedic Spectacle, entit_ed AZA_EL,
THE PRODIGAL. Redil.)ell, Mr. Vandenhoff; Azael, Mr. J. Ander.
; Annenophis, Mr. Emery ; Bucharis, Mr. Cooper ; Sethos, Mr,
Vat er ; .Tephtelle, Mies F. Vining; Sefte, Mrs. Walter Lacy; Lia,
Xadlle. Victorine Legrain.

THEATRE ROYAL, HAYM.AIZKET.
Mr. B. Webster, Sole Lessee and Manager, Old Brompten.
THIS EVENING,
wit be performed a new and original Comedy, called PRE-
111INT13edD AT COLTRT. Charles the Second, Mr. Stuart ; Captain
Mcategse, Mr Howe; Rochester, Mr. Davenport; Marquis de Fla-
mer, Mr. Selby; Geoffrey, Mr. Buckstone ; Anne Franklyn, Miss
Reynolds , Miss Middleton, Miss A. Vining.
Ts be followed by a new and original comic drama, called GOOD
Mt NOTHING. Tom Dibbles, Mr. Buckstone ; Harry Collier,
Mr. Bowe ; Young Mr. Simpson, Mr. Clark ; Nan, Mrs. Fitzwilliam.
To conclude with the i-autical Drama of BLACK-EYED'SUS&N.
William, Mr. Davenport ; Admiral, Mr. Rogers; Cal tain Crosetree,
Mr. Parseille; Gnatbrain, Mr. Buckstone ; Jacob Twig, Mr. H. Bed
ord ; Susarbaiiss A. Vining.

TIIEATIIE curaL, ADELeitt.
Under the direction of Madame Celeste.
THIS EVENING,
Will be performed an entirely new grand Drama, n 3 acts, entitled
SELPHECIOR THE MOUNTEBANK; or, The Pride of Birth.
lake de Mentbazon, Mr. Hughes ; Count de St. Cyr, Mr. Boyce ;
ke Chevalier do Rolac, Mr. 0. Smith ' • Guillaume, surnamed Bel-
,Mr. B. Webster; Ajax, alias Mr. Merr:,•inan, Mr. Wright ;
Capaain Fir:fer, Mr. Worrell; Madellene, Madame Celeste; Nini
Flora Aphrodite Stile, Miss Woolgar.
To be fokowcd by a new Extravaganza called LA TARANTULA;
sr;'the :;;pider King. Characters by Messrs. Wright, P. Bedford, C. J.
Smith, Honey, Woolsar, Miss Chaplin, Miss K. Eitzwilliam,
Madame Celeste, &c.

ROYAL PRINCESS'S THEATRE, OXFORD-STREET.
Under the Management of Mr. C. Kean and Mr. Keeley.
THIS EVENING,
Will be performed the Comedy of THE PRISONER OF WAR.
Cam:wrens bpi Mr. C. Kean, Mr. Keeley, )Ire. C. Kean, and Mrs.
Keeley.
To bs followed by THE LOAN OF A LOVER, in which Messrs.
J. Yining, Addison, Keeley, and 3lrs. Keeley will appear.
After which a new Comic Christmas Pantomime, called ALONZO
THE BEAVE AND THE FAIR IMOGENE ; or, Harlequin and the
Baron all covered with Jewels and Gold. Clown, Mr. Flexmore •
narlequin, Mr. Cormack ; Pantaloon, Mr. Paulo ; and Columbine,
Miss Carlotta Le Clercq.

ROYAL LYCEUM THEATRE.
Under the Management of Madame VestriS.
8010 Lessee, Mr. Charles Mathews.
THIS EVENING,
Will be performed

A I,O3,IANTIC IDEA.
After which cm entirely new and original Fairy Extravaganza,
to be called KING CHARMING, or, the Blue Bird of Paradise.
Characters by Messrs. C. Mathews, F. Matthews, Horncastle, Suter,
*ilin.gham, ant Honner ; Madame Vestris, Mrs. Frank Matthews,
lila Ellis, Mrs. C. Horn, Miss St. George, and Miss Martindale.

tax and of the stamp-duties in Ireland. The income-
tax he estimated at 5,400,000/., and the stamp-tax in
Ireland at 120,0001., but if the House should re-
fuse to renew those taxes, there would be instead of
a surplus, a deficiency of 3,680,0001. When Sir R. PEEL
first proposed these taxes the deficit was only 2,140,0004,
and if Hon. Gentlemen opposite thought that a sufficient
reason for the imposition of the income-tax, he could
hardly think that they would now oppose its continuance.
He, certainly, on that occasion opposed the imposition of
the income-tax; but he stated at the time, that if it were
to be imposed for the purpose of making a great alteration
in the import duties he should be prepared to support its
renewal, and acting on that principle he had supported
its renewal when proposed by Sir R. PEEL in
1845. The timber duties, the corn duties,
and the sugar duties had been reduced, and
therefore ho was justified in proposing the
continuance of that tax. If the House did not accede to
his proposition there must either be a loan or a reduction
of expenditure to that amount, he did not believe
such reduction possible, or they must impose new
taxes to that amount. We had been for
years past repealing taxes which pressed upon
industry, and which could not be re-imposed, and there
Isere other taxes of the same character far more ob-
jectionable than the income. tax. Ho trusted, there-
fore, that those who wished to 'carry out the
system of improvement of our commercial system at
present in progress would support his proposition for
the renewal for a limited time of the income-tax.
He did not think it advisable to go into the details
of the measure ; in the course of the discussion on
the Bill there would be ample opportunities for considera-
tion. He had received various suggestions for altera-
tions in all the schedules, and all supported
by good reasons. Having considered the subject
most carefully he bad come to the conclusion that the
only practical mode was to continue an equal and uni-
form rate upon all descriptions of income from whatever
sources derived. With regard to the mode of levying the
tax under Schedule E, he was willingto enter into dis-
cussion upon the subject, but he believed it would be
found most convenient to adopt the same course that at
present existed. He thought it would be but right to
continue the exemption of Ireland from the tax as here-
tofore, and he proposed to continuo it. He
proposed to renew the stamp duties in Ire-
land for the same term as the income-tax
in England, viz., for a term of three years, and he hoped
the House would come to a speedy decision on the sub-
ject, as, if it should be refused, it would be desirable
that the Hon. Gentleman who would then occupy the
place which he had the honour to fill, should have as
much time as possible to prepare his financial scheme.—
(Hear, hear.) Hia Hon. Friend the Member for Mon-
trose had asked him to propose a completely new
scheme of finance; why, it was the hardest task that had
been imposed on a Chancellor of the Exchequer. By
whom were taxes paid? Why, the Honourable
Member opposite the ether night had said that
the malt-tax was paid by the farmer ; and
he had even contended that the tobacco duty
was paid by the farmer, his Hon. Friend had not
any right to call upon hint to make any return regard-
ing those things which were matters of opinion
merely. He had caused returns to be made up to
January last of the duty collected on articles which
we eat, drink, and smoke; and they amounted to
31,821,798/. The duty on manufactured articles
amounted to 2,452,0004, and on seeds to 742,0001.;
all those duties fell on the consumer, the whole amount-
ing to 35,720,000/. The duties on trade, including insu-
rances :and bill and receipt stamps, were 4,461,906/.
There were paid for locomotion 641,0004, for news-
papers and advertisements, 511,0001., and taken alto-
gether they amounted to 4,2)0,152/. The total duties on
property were 12,451,000/. The amount of the
window-tax was 1,856,000/. The local rates amounted
to 30,000,0001. in the three countries. Hon. Gentle-
men would therefore see how large a portion of the taxes
of the country was derived from the conssumer,aud when
those taxes were reduced, they were in general, in con-
sequence of increased consumption, more than re-
covered in a very short space of time. Having thus met
as far as he could the request of his Hon. Friend behind
him, he would allude to acme proposals which had
been made elsewhere to make a great reduction of
taxation, and to trust to chance for making up the
deficiency. Ho could not accede to the proposition.
Neither in commercial nor in political philosophy
could they afford to have a revolution every year.—
(Hear, hear.) The policy of 1842 was firmly established,
and it was their duty to steadily pursue it, and to
follow it, land that was the course the Govern-
ment had determined to adopt. He had stated
that the probable surplus would be 1,890,0002 occasioned
by an increase of income of 139,0001. and a de-
crease of expenditure of 3,900,0001. He proposed,
should the income-tax be continued, to make some re-
duction of our debt, that was the first claim on us. In
the course of the last year they had paid off the
amount which they had borrowed in the year 1848,
and the interest on it, viz., 2,330,000/. He thought
they ought never to start on a financial year with a
less surplus than 1.000,0001, which surplus ho pro-
posed to maintain, which would leave a surplus still
available for the reduction of taeatior, and he had nu-
merous applicants during the last month, each calling
for the total repeal of a tax which wctild more than
absorb the whole surplus. He had determined
that, on the whole, it would be advisable to
reduce those taxes which bear on the health
of the community; he, therefore, proposed a
certain alteration of the window-duties. As those
duties amounted to 1,836,0001., the total abroga-
tion of them would absorb the whole surplus, and
would be unjust to others; ho proposed to give a con-
siderable relief in that tax, because he believed it pressed
harder on country houses than on houses in town,
and he professed to relieve them.—(Cheers and laugh-
ter.) Except as to the mode of assessment a great deal
might be said in favour of retaining the tax, as
one to which people were already accustomed
(Lcud laughter)—and to which existing inter-
ests had accommodated themselves. House property,
then, had already been relieved from the house
duty and the brick duty, and therefore he did not
think this property had a primary claim to relief.
He admitted that the mode of levying the tax was ob-
jectionable, as being levied on every opening for
the admission of light or air, and, there-
fore, it produced disease. The present tax was
imposed on a house according to the number of
windows; he proposed to abrogate altogether the present
mode of levying that tax, and to substitute for it a tax
levied upon the value thereof, and to apply it
to all new houses. The size of a house was no
test of its value, but its rental was, and he proposed
to levy, instead of a window-tax, a tax upon the
value of the house; but applying it to all new
houses, he proposed to modify it with regard to exist-
ing houses. A house in a fashionable square would,
under this system, pay more than one
in an unfashionable part of the town. The proposal was,
that all new houses under the value of 201. a year
should be exempt, but above that value they should pay
a certain per-centage, that all above that should pay a
certain per-centage. That all existing houses of
less value than 20/. a year should be exempt;
that all above 20/. a year should pay two-thirds
of their present amount of window-tax, that existing
houses of greater value than 201. a year, paying now no
window-tax, should pay two-thirds of that amount of
rate, and that new houses should pay a rate of one
shilling in the pound. Upon shops and farmhouses he
proposed to impose a tax of 91 in the pound instead of
is. in the pound. This would exempt the great majority
of farm-houses, and the produce of the new tax
he calculated would be 1,155,000/4 the loss to the
revenue being 700,000/. All reference to windows being
done away with, the objection on sanitary grounds was
also'done away with; all existing houses would be either
exempt or have their payment reduced one-third. He next
proposed to deal with the duties on coffee, the revenue
from which had fallen off 77,000 i. This was occasioned,
it was said, by adulteration of coffee with chicory.
It had been stated that he had a direct interest in the.
growth of chicory; he had only to say that ho never
grew a root of chicory in his life, and ho did not believe
that any bad been grown upon an acre of land in his
possession.—(A laugh.) He did not believe the admix-
ture of chicory consumptiondiminishelodwethrientheprie i
c oft
placed coffee,
on the contrary, by g
coffee within the reach of many who had not
b-fore consumed it ; and he learned from grocers
that chicory made coffee more palatable and more nutri-
tious. In America, where no duty existed, this same
admixture took place. He believed that the buyer
must protect himself against adulteration; ho was not,
theretore, disposed to incur the odium of imposing an
Excise duty on chicory, but he did propose to meet the
evil by reducing the duty on coffee. The duty on
foreign coffee was sd. a lb., and on colonial 4d. Et lb.; and
whilst the import of colonial coffee hail increased, that of
foreign coffee had diminished. He did not think the protec-
tion of this differential duty was of much value to the colo-
nial -,rower • he proposed, duty was
reduce the duties on
both,' and to' equalize them by imposing an equal duty of 3(1.
Per lb, and to propose the same duty on. the importation of
chicory. The loss of revenue would bee1d7o;000/. The next ar-
atierleeattocluvmhipcihaith would
had
been
madewas
htlTi 0 u
ru
fear of being exposed to the competition of3rthon foreign
who used nntaxed timber. This acted hardly
itsprespnt
ships of an inferior class, and he proposed t
upon foreign timber to one-half timber.
shipowners
proposedr
eiig
um . oe rf t theiro itbuilder,s o.
oa amount
reduceou
nats .
thethat
duty
wasregarded
to say, upon sawed timber to lOs and upon' rough t," ' b -
There was another item upon which he
reduce the duty, and that was upon agricultural
seeds. This he believed was the only duty that
the agriculturist exclusively paid.
Upon clover seed and
grass seed alone there was a duty paid of 30,000!. out of

35,000/. raised upon all seeds. The present duty was ss.
upon foreign seeds, and 2s. 6d. upon colonial seeds; he pro-
posed to reduce the whole to a uniform rate of ls. per cwt.,
which would involve a loss to the revenue of
30,0001. Many propositions had been made to
cast what were called the local burdens on
land on the Consolidated Fund. Such a change would pro-
duce a social revolution, by the removal of all the checks of
local administration ; it was to the magistrates, the guardians,
and the local boards, that the peace and safety of the country
were owing, and if they transferred the payment of their
burdens to the Government, they must also transfer the
management; but there was one portion of these changes
which he thought might be taken upon the general
revenue, and that was a portion of the charge for the
expenses of pauper lunatics. He proposed to leave the
conduct of pauper lunatic asylums as it was at present,
but to take upon the Consolidated Fund a portion of the
maintenance of pauper lunatics, taking upon the ;Govern-
ment a larger portion of the expense of county lunatic asylums
than of those paupers confined in private asvlums,so as to reduce
the expense of the maintainance of these unfortunate persons
to about the average expense of the maintenance of an ordi-
nary pauper; he proposed to take a charge of 150,0001. under
this head for the United Kingdom. These were the
proposals which he should in due time submit to
the House. In the month of July there
would be a reduction of duty on sugar of 330,0001, and
that added to the reductions which would be proposed would
be a gain to the community of 1,522,000/., but the loss:to the
revenue he estimated at only 1,130,0001. The charge for
the transfer of local rates was 150,0001., making a total loss
to the revenue of 1,280,0007., leaving a surplus for future
years at 612,000/., the actual loss for the
next year being only 150,0004, being for next
year a surplus of 952,0001., of other years of 612,000/
He could not but expect that this Budget would in many
quarters create disappointment, but he did not think it con-
sistent to relieve, as he had been urged to do, the
owners of land to a greater extent than he had proposed.
Last year he had relieved them by a reduction of
the stamp duty on deeds, and by the removal of the duty on
bricks, and this year he reduced the duty on timber which
they employed in the erection of farm buildings, and reduced
the duty on seeds. He did not know that there was any other
point on which he need trouble the House, and the resolution
he should propose was for the renewal of the income-tax and
of the stamp-duties in Ireland for three years, and he
was prepared, if the House wished it, to postpone the discus-
sion to another opportunity.—(Hear, hear.)
The resolutions having been proposed from the Chair,
Mr. LlEnaixs rose, and after complimenting the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer upon the ability of his elaborate
statement, claimed from the Government ample time for the
country to consider the important point whether or not the
income-tax should be continued. He hoped they would
not be asked to come to a decision that night, and he thought
the House ought to have until Friday next to consider the
matter.

Lord JOHN RUSSELL consented to the postponement of the
further consideration of the resolution until Friday.
Mr. HOME objected to the apportionment of any part of
the surplus to the reduction of the debt; it should all have
been appropriated to the reduction of taxation. He ap-
proved of the removal of the window duties, but not of the
imposition of the house tax.
Lord DUNCAN considered that the proposition to impose a
house tax would create great dissatisfaction.
Sir Joni.; TYHELL did not object to the adulteration of
coffee with chicory, but he thought that adulteration with
other substances should be prohibited.
Mr. W. WiLtanms objected to a house tax, and would
prefer seeing any deficiency supplied by the extension of the
probate and legacy duty to real property.
Mr. Alderman SIDNEY objected to a house tax, and would
oppose the renewal of the income-tax, unless a difference
were made between incomes derived from trades and profes-
sions and those derived from invested property.
Mr. SLAxEr proposed to relieve the landowners by
granting the facilities for raising money on mortgage.
Mr. EaDGEs and Mr. FREWEN advocated a repeal of the
duty on bops.
Mr. ALC,OCK, Sir W. JOLLIFFE, Mr. NEWDEGATE, and Mr.
F. FItENCII expressed their disapproval of the statement of
the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Mr. RANXES approved of the repeal of the window duties,
but reserved his opinion upon the other portions of the
Budget.
Mr. MITCHELL approved of the reduction in the timber
duties.

Mr. MENTZ would oppose the renewal of the income-tax.
It was the most objectionable of all taxes.
In reply to Sir B. HALL and Lord DUDLEY STuAux, the
CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said he did not intend to
extend the house tax to Ireland.
The Committee was likewise addressed by Colonel SIB-
THORP, Mr. W. BROWN, Mr. SANDALS, Mr. HOPE, Mr.
HENLEY, and Captain HARRIS, when the House resumed.
Mr. HAWES moved the second reading of the Passengers'
Act Amendment Bill, the objects of which he explained.
The Bill was read a second time, after some remarks
from Mr. S. HERBERT and Mr. HENLEY.
Mr. ANSTEY obtained leave to bring in a Bill for establish-
ing municipal councils in counties; Sir W. SomEnvziLE a
Bill to amend the laws relating to the valuation of rateable
property in Ireland; and Major BLACKALL, a Bill to extend
the remedies provided by the Renewable Leaseholds Conver-
sion Act.

The House adjourned at a Quarter to Twelve o'clock.

Parturient mantes, nascitur ridicules mus. Never
before has so ridiculous an abortion been ushered
in with such magnificent pretensions. Never have
the reasonable expectations of the people been so
deeply and bitterly disappointed as by the "PRECIOUS
BUDGET "—the inestimtsble boon (!)—which the
Chancellor of the Exchequer has just bestowed upon
the oppressed and suffering taxpayers of the United
Kingdom. If Sir CHARLES WooD had to struggle
against a deficiency—the ordinary condition of the
Whig regime in financial matters—Some al-
lowances might be made. Without a sur-
plus fund to be disposed of, he could scarcely be
expected to sanction any of those great fiscal experi-
ments, by which considerable relief would be
afforded to the industrial classes, without any cor-
responding diminution of revenue , but, unfortu-
nately for his own fame and reputation as a states-
man, he has had handsome balances in 1850, and
1851, after providing for every liability and every
necessary expenditure, and in the allocation of
balances he has contrived to overthrow his own cha-
racter for competency and political integrity.
The "Brick-dust Budget" of 1850 was bad enough.
Much could not be alleged in its favour, and we
candidly confess that we believed that it would have
been utterly impossible to have produced a more im-
politic or more unstatesmanlike plan than last year's
financial bantling of the Right Hon. Gentleman.
But we must acknowledge our mistake. "Facilis de-
-Bcensus crverni." Our sagacious Minister of Finance
has travelled more rapidly on the downward track
than we could have ventured to anticipate. He
has attained railroad speed during his decline,
and his fall cannot long be averted.
Nemo repente fuit turpissimus. A man must have been
some time in office, and had his mind gradually har-
dened by the influences of that demoralizing situation,
to render such an offence against public policy and
public honesty possible. Sir CHARLES WOOD has
contrived to disappoint the reasonable anticipations of
all classes throughout the length and breadth of the
land, and to heap a load of obloquy upon the
Ministers whose misfortune it is to have
him as a colleague, perfectly unprecedented at
any former period of English history. 'We have had
honest blunderers presiding over the financial destinies
of the British nation. We have also had clever
rogues (of course we allude only to the public cha-
racters, and do not invade the sacred precincts of
private life) ; but it was reserved for the present
Cabinet to place at the head of the most important
and most arduous department one who was at the
same time an incompetent blunderer and a
political rogue.
We now tell Lord JOHN RUSSELL earnestly and
emphatically, and we say it more in sorrow
than in anger, that Sir CHARLES WOOD is the
evil genius of his Government, and that if he does not
forthwith shake off the incubus, if he does not find a
more popular, a more competent, and a more sagacious
Chancellor of the Exchequer, he must be prepared to re-
linquish office, and make way for others who may not
be so obstinate on such a point. Far better, say we,
that the Protectionists should come into power, and
that the Whigs should be placed in the position
where they have ever shown themselves to be most
consistent and most useful—viz., in opposition, than
that the nation should be longer oppressed by the
inequitable and impolitic, the dishonest and unwise
mismanagement of the national finances, that has
signalised the administration of Sir CHARLES WooD at
the Exchequer. A combined and vigorous exer-
tion must therefore be made to remove him
from office. Even if the entire Ministry be
shaken in the attempt, it is a matter of but little con-
sequence in comparison to the evils that must follow
from a continuance of Sir CHARLES WOOD as the
English Minister of Finance. The Whig Ministers
are, however, made of squeezable materials, they have
repeatedly yielded to " the pressure from without,"
when sufficiently forcible. The "voice ofpublic opinion"
has penetrated even into the deepest recesses of Down-
ing-street, and has been responded to, more especially
on fiscal questions. Scarcely a session has passed
since the Peel Ministry were removed from office, that
the Premier has not been compelled to step forward,
as the Deus ex machines, to save his Government from
the gross and palpable errors of his Minister of Fi-
nance. Let him do so once more, and let him, at the
same time, get rid of the incorrigible blockhead who
has imposed upon him the painful necessity, and has
brought so much disrepute and reproach on the entire
Government.

We must, however, allude to the contemplated
changes which will be found set forth in exknso in
our Parliamentary Summary. Sir CLEARLXB WOOD
calculates, or asserts that he calculates, that he shall
have a surplus of 1,892,0001. for the ensuing year.
It is a portion, and a very discreditable portion, of
his system of tactics to make his estimates very much
below the actual probability. This will be found to