The Sun.
London, England, 1833-05-02 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

Amongst some causes of displeasure at the
vote. of the House of Commons on Tuesday
evening, the country will feel with us that there
is one ground of solid satisfaction, in the proof
thus afforded of the wholesome working of the
reformed Parliament. It is not a week since, on
the vote for a reduction of the malt tax, the Tory
circles, and indeed half London, rung with " the
certainty that Ministers must go out of office."
All honest men deprecated such a result—all
men of penetration treated it with contemptuous
ridicule. Under the old borough system, a Mi-
nistry so circumstanced might discreetly have
sent in their resignations—nay, would have been
compelled so to do, by a second defeat, or a
series of them ; for an adverse division could
hardly then have been, as in the present
case, accidental. But we offered a remark
or two on Monday, tending to show that
if Lord Grey's Government were to act
hastily on an occurrence like that of Sir
Wm. Ingilby's successful motion, and to throw
up office after experiencing a single check in
their financial course, they would exhibit an
entire " ignorance of the machine which they
had themselves constructed," and deserve to lose
every particle -of public confidence. The truth
is, that had Lord Grey and his colleagues re-
signed, the whole island would have been a
scene of confusion within four-and-twenty hours.
The bare apprehension of seeing England with-
out a Government, and without materials for a
Government, to replace the Whigs, such as
would have . gained the approval of Sovereign
and people, ought alone -to have acted power-
fully upon the minds of Ministers as an induce-
ment to remain in office, and we are sure was
the consideration of most immediate weight,
which went to produce the large majority of
Tuesday evening in support of the proposition
of Lord Althorp. Undoubtedly, the object
which, in common with a large body of the pub-
lic, we had most at heart on this late occasion,
was that Ministers themselves, in accordance with
the spirit manifested throughout the great
towns, the capital, and the country, should have
seized the tide at flood, and proposed, not re-
sisted, the abrogation of the obnoxious imposts,
replacing them by a " property" tax. Now,
with respect to this latter expedient of finance,
as it has given rise to much controversy, and
will be contested, we presume, during at least
the present session of Parliament, it seems to us
most desirable to employ no terms in the de-
signation of the tax that can be turned to the
sinister end of raising artificial difficulties, in
the shape of causeless terror or repugnance, or
creating ambiguities susceptible of what deter-
mination artful partisans may by and by be
pleased to give them, and thus unfairly dispos-
ing the minds of men to look at this great, equi-
table, and efficient measure as one fraught with
oppression and iniquity. In one sense, and
one only, a " property tax," and an " income
tax" is the same thing—namely, a tax upon
the income derived from every species of
fixed and realized property. The question
has been put forth in recent publications, as if
a property tax must mean of necessity a tax upon
landed and moneyed capital, however employed
or circumstanced. That is not what we have
ever deemed to.be a true description of the tax,
or an honest one, of such a tax as, in this
commercial country, would ever be endured.
To tax, generally, the capital engaged in active
commerce, would be to fetter industry in all its
branches, and to impede the progress of the
merchant's or manufacturer's' profits, on their
way to investment, in some shape or other,
under which they might be fairly made available
to a tax on property. By a property tax,—
that property tax, which, with all the casual
inequalities inseparable from it, though we be-
lieve they haiie been much exaggerated, that the
public may be discouraged from demanding it,
.—with all these, we have nevertheless, more than
once recommended, by- that tax, our intention is
"a per centage tax OR revenue drawn from legally
ascertained and secured property, whether land,
buildings,or money at interest in the funds,on bond,
or mortgage, in perpetuity, for a definite term, or
for life. This is at once an " income tax" and
a " property tax." But it is not a tax on pro-
fits, precarious, or conjectural. It waits until
the profits, whether professional or commercial,
shall have been converted by investment into ca-
pital, to which they have a general tendency, as
all streams have to the ocean. Nine-tenths of
the outcry which was raised against the old in-
come tax, was because of its warfare upon the
operations of commercial industry, and for what?
—for the sake of less than one-sixth of the
produce of the tax. The House of Com-
mons has come to a decision which appears to
Tender any attempt to do more than just glance
at this mode of commutation for imposts not at
present to be discontinued, in some measure un-
seasonable, or at least not pressing. The
House, however, has not finally repudiated the
tax, nor adopted, of pure favour, the as-
sessed taxes instead of it ; but has merely
said, "If the Ministers resign, the finances, and
the State itself, are thrown Into serious peril."
Whether the choice of Lord Grey's Go-
vernment has been wise, we say not,--seit has,
we admit, to a certain point, been successful.
There is DO question that severe disappointment.
will be felt throughout the agricultural districts,
which have been humbugged by the landlords
into a persuasion that it is the farmer who suf-
fers from the malt tax, and among the better
inhabitants of towns who, with morel reason,
feel the assessed taxes to be upon themselves a
most irksome burden. Indeed, the division on
Tuesday night, by which it should appear the
duties upon houses and windows have been re-
tained, though only, we trust, for a while, has
already occasioned considerable dissatisfaction in
the metropolitan districts, as will probably be the
case in other parts of the country. Members
who have absolutely given pledges to the effect
that they would rote for the unconditional
reFeal, may be, perhaps, committed on the sub-
ject ; but others, who have declined such
pledges, and yet unquestionably wish the removal
of these taxes, are not so much restricted
to time ; they may vote when they please
for the abolition of the ;obnoxious imposts,
substituting in their place others of a
less Oppressive character. The retirement of
Sir John llobhouse might be thought, by the
force of precedent, to recommend a particular
I;_ee of conduct ; whilst, on the contrary, the
hurry of the moment, and the difficulty, in a state
of great embarrassment, of foreseeing all possible
results, may be urged as reasons with Hon.
Gentlemen for
retaining their seats, and cor-
recting, by their future efforts, whatever may
appear erroneous in their past conduct. We
would therefore recommend to the general con-
stituency, and to the metropolitan districts in
particular, not to be too decisive except in cases
where pOsitive pledges have been given #, in
• Sir Francis Burdett, Sir William Horne, Mr. W. Brougham,
rnd air. Robert Grant, all declined to give pledges, thou Eli some
mere Members gave, we believe, subEequelit prorniv:s.