The Sun.
London, England, 1856-12-24 00:00:00

AIGFIi WA.TER AT LONDON BRID(it,

Tan DA r—Moni. 0 min. aft. o—Plvenitm 56 mire. aft. 11
Tl-114 MIRO -^7 orn . 1 8 min. aft.l2—Evening 41 mir,. at' 12

VIE WE A. CHER—StioT OFFICE, DECEMBER 21
THERMOMETER, IN THE SHALOM.
42 —highest since noon yesterday.
41—lowest this morning 9.nd during the night.
44 —this day at noon.
BAROMETER, 29 37—a fall of an inch and a half since
Monday evening.
W.S W. to S.W.—Light, with fine, sunshiny
weather at noon. It rained in the night.

(%4.1
Llt1:11
11
_ 9

L WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 186 e

A merry Christmas and happy New Year to each
and every one—to friend; in particular—and to
the community at large ! Cordially and sincerely
do we wish it ; and earnestly shall we strive, to
the best of our ability, to add to the happiness of
those most deserving of sympathy and assistance.
Good wishes alone will not suffice. All have
heard of the place-- " not to be mentioned to ears
polite "—which is said to be " paved with good
intentions." Every one must labour honestly and
energetically in his vocation to add to the general
felicity, and to promote that great end and aim of
true philanthropists—" the greatest good to the
greatest number." Many a heart will, however,
shrink,, notwithstanding the social enjoy-
ments and cheering festivities of the season,
at the demands that must be provided
for. The happiness of the day will be
marred by the presence of " the skeleton," that,
we are told, has a place in every household. The
dread of approaching bills that must be liquidated,
the claims that cannot be satisfactorily encoun-
tered ! Conceal it as he may, that grievance will
rankle in the mind of every pater familias. Ho
sees the wants of his wife and children, the old
gowns, broken boots, and worn-out jackets, aro
stern monitors to repel the temporary exuberance
of his spirits, even while partaking of that which
the nursery legend too truly informs him, " comes
but once a year." An unbidden tear " trem-
bles" in his eye, and its bitterness is aggravated
by a deep sense of wrong when he feels that but
for the anticipated visit of the tax-collector, who
requires so heavy a contribution from his hardly-
earned "income,' he might provide the
humble comforts so greatly required by his
family, and still keep out of debt ; nay,
more, set wide a small sum for a rainy day, when
illness or any unexpected calamity shall visit his
home, and press heavily on his scanty resolirces.
We speak of those who are gaining their daily
bread by their daily labour, not of the possessors
of accumulated and realised property, who have
something on which to fall back in the dark hour
of adversity. They care comparatively little for
the impost, for it may be altogether evaded if
that property is not invested in a tangible taxable
form ; or, if there has been a stoppage in transit a,
a deduction from the gross sum which they re-
ceive in the shape of rents or dividends. They
are subjected to no inquisitorial and prying inves-
tigations as to their means of livelihood—no im-
pertinent sneers from officials seeking to entrap
them into heedless admission, as a peg whereon
to hang a surcharge. They are notobliged to devote
valuable time to stand the iusolent cross-examination
or vexatious badgering of Commissioners. They
are not exposed to the unhallowed visitations of
these prepared to leave a man in possession, and
thus add costs to the burden, if the paymaster
chance to be from home, and who scornfully re-
pudiate the suggestion even of a single hour's
delay until the money can be sent for. All these
serious aggravations are wanting, and, as we have
frequently explained, a fairly apportioned " Pro-
Poly Tax" is at the same time the most equitable
and the most tolerable that can be enforced.

Bat it is altogether different with an " Income
Tax." There, to say nothing of the gross and
Palpable inequality of charging at the same fate
that Which is
really available income—the whole
of which 'nay be expended without apprehension,
and that wii;et; is
both capital and income must
provide not Only for present wants, but for future a
contingencies man is charged not merely
on bis whole
Worldly wealth, but he is s 9
chargedwealth has been expended.
He s
fortunate if given the amount of
i indeed,
aftere ed, that
the tax remains, and that he is not obliged to
become a borrower, in order to avert the dreaded
untltteofdehmi:nhdaltf-hyeeavriactim
distress. At theotelmacmoof
has not by him
in-
come. The fees of the professional
man, the
wages of the clerk, the profits of the small trades-
man are absorbed in the daily maintenance of their
respective familie 4. They can't live on air, and
though the trade,man stock maY mo altogether
exhausted, like the purses of those living entirelybe