The Sun.
London, England, 1851-01-03 00:00:00

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,t 1 -new sto on the ground of paper, and he appealed
from Dow g.street to the master of Do%ning-street
—the pu. ic.—(dear.) Ile would call their attention
ti the eatute and operation of this tax. There was s
tiff reuce in the operati,n of a tax upon the value of the
article. In the case of gold and silver manufactures, for
instance, the tax would bear principally upon the article
itself; but in paper the tax was upon refuse, disused,
and discarded matter, which, by the application of la-
bour, the paperrnaker converted into useful and elegant
productions. To what other purpose could rags be
turned? None. But the art of the papermaker trans-
ferred the refuse of the dung-heaps into the elaborate
ornaments of the writing-table. In the case of cotton
the Government properly repealed the tax, for the raw
material could not live with the burden. In this case
300 per cent. lay upon the labour of the conversion of
the worthless raw material into articles of value and
utility, and could it be conceived that such an amount
of tax should press upon worthh•se rags throne) the pro-
c,ss cf manufacture, to the triNgniticent papier mud/
ornaments which adornel habit,tion3ot the wealthy.
If this tax w• r 4 r; pealed ealplo) molt would be gi v• n to
500 000 alittional s. The peopla ne•w told the
Gove:nuttnt it at these w at: a ~urplu, of 3.0d0,01)01. in
Cieir hand,. —(aleic.) 6., much stronger t•to argu:rn nt
for the repeal. The renal cf the tex weuld, he
said, give emp'oyecentt 500,010 pe:s3et i
s,ntiocnacaont;fiufi,e.lfutoi
theexclusive marufacture 6' pap r, b l
and oruan ental article, in paper macle awl other rv:..) • ,
'or it was incalculable to what new 119(.41 paper might
be employed. Mr. 13 irthwiek then ieterred to emigre
tion, au:l observed that in America they were free from
such impositions, while in England the Gurcriunent said
to these 500,000 people that they might go to America
or any where they liked whore they could get paid for
their labour. But this was laying the axe to the very
root of the national prosperity, for it was the labour of
England that made London the metropolis of the world.
—(Hear, hear.) Paper carried thought from mind t.
mind, and was the medium through which knowledge
passed from one class to the other. Hooker had said
that a man should live wisely and virtuously, but that
he must first find the means to live. Every tax that pressed
upon human fJod detracted from knowledge. Suppose a
man had not to pay 2s, 20. upon a pound of tea, he
would buy a Dickens's Household Words, or perhaps
would buy a newspaper. Then there was the tax upon
the newspapers which must come off, but as they were
met to consider only the repeal of the duty on paper,
be would Dot pursue that subject. Every other tax
might be considered at other times and places, but it
must be remembered that a penny tax on newspapers
only pressed upon one class of knowledge—(No, no)
—while the paper tax was a burden upon all. Be was
told by Mr. Crompton, the paper manufacturer, that a
meeting had been held in Manchester for the repeal of
the tax, and that 2001. had been collected to carry out
the movement. He hoped they would all unite to effect
the repeal of the obnoxious tax. Let them direct their
energies upon this object alone, and when it was abo-
lished the other taxes on knowledge would soon give
way.—(Hear.) It was stated by Mr. Crompton that the
paper was detained in the mill by the Excise longer than
it took him to buy the raw material and manufacture it
into paper.—(Hear.)
The resolution was put and carried unanimously.
Mr. PEDDER moved the next resolution :—" That
this meeting is further of opinion that the duty on
paper, by adding to the cost, and consequently in-
creasing the price of books, newspapers, and periodi-
cals, impedes the progress of knowledge, and education
of the people." He regretted that there were any per-
sons amongst the paper trade and wholesale stationers
who opp_ed this motion, as it appeared from the open.
ing observation& of the chairman that some of them
did. But any class interest of that kind would give
way before the perseverance)! of the people.—(Bear,
hear.) The resolution which he proposed referred
particularly to the injury done by the tax on paper to
the dissemination of knowledge. There was no doubt
it had such an effect, and it was en that ground he
opposed the tax. The injury of the tax to labour, im-
portant as it was, sunk into insignificance as compared
with the injury of the tax as it affected knowledge. Let
but the people get access to knowledge of a sound kind,
and they would then be able to take care that no taxes
shou!d seriously interfere with their comforts.—(Hear.)
A higher class of literature would be prosided for the
people, and the vile class of literature on which they
now fed would be pushed from its place.—(Bear, hear.)
At present but few respectable writers would run the
risk of the responsibility of entering upon the field of
cheap literature. But do away with this tax, and the
higher class of writers would then be induced to cater
for the letter tastes of the people.—([fear, hear.) Mr.
Pedder concluded by reading an extract from
Knight's recent pamphlet, showing the evils of the tax
on paper as it affected the spread of knowledge amongst
the working (laws.

Mr. INGRAM, p:op ie:or of the Illustrated London
News, seconded the resolution. He considered that the
evils of the taxes on paper had been much understated.
On the resolution being put,
Mr. HOLTOAEE rose to move the following addition
by way of amendment:—" That this meeting is further
of opinion that the stamp duty on newspapers and the
advertisement duty, by adding to the cost, and conse-
quen'ly increasing the price and deteriorating the qua-
lity of books, newspapers, and periodicals, impedes the
progress of knowledge and education of the people."
this was an addition rather then amendment, and he
hoped it would not be considered as being offered for the
purpose of opposiVoa. Ho was ready to endorse every-
thing that had beeu said with regard to the tax on papa-,
but every word that had been uttered applied with
greeter force to the two taxes name! in the amendment
than to the tax which was alone referred to in the reso-
lution.—(hear, hear.) The resolution, with the amend-
ment a!Oched, -was more likely to enlist the
eeneral suipathy of the people. (Hear, hear.)
It would prevent, this from being considered a class
inurement, and would eleva:e it to the dignity of one
reposing on public principle.—(Hear, hear.) He be-
lie ved that thee-e who originated the resolution meant
well to the working classes; but, aie 1)r. Johnson said,
then the in ire they me a-it the better.—(clear, hear, and
laughter.) Of late years the public interest had suf-
fered from there being ti o many parties.—(clear, hear.)
lie wanted that this question should not suffer from
there being too many parties. There was no necessity
fir f amiug a separate party to carry this question in
its larger aspect, for the people of this country were al-
ready on one side.—(Cheers.) He believed that the
stamp on newspapers not only kept knowledge from the
people, but it caused their political terms to be imported
from France. There was no room for the free growth
of their genuine national language. Some gentlemen
said that this measure would give the people employ-
ment, but the fact was that the people had too much
work to do.—(flear, hear.) It they looked well at the
question it would be found that by proper com-
bination less work might be done for the
same payment, and then the surplus might fairly fall to
the share of the unemployed. There were certainly
good cheap publications---as the Household ords
bet a hat the people wanted was the political knowledge
which would save them from degredation.—(Cheers.)
They were not refused their rights, because they bad
not read the Penny C y lopeedia or Chambers' s
Journal but because they had not the necessary politi-
cal information for legislation. They ought, therefore.
to be given information in connexion with the events of
the day and hour.—(Hear, hear.) The gentlemen on
the platform well knew that the poor man could not
now obtain a newspaper. Only the rich max could have
a newspaper, and was the working man, when he was
condemnial to feed upon garbage, to be blamed for the
depravity of his taste ?—(Cheers.) Mr. Milner Gibson
would put the whole question before the Government
and the House of Commons, and it would be shown pre-
sently there was a chance of all three of these proposi-
tions being carried. He deprecated confining the move-
ment to the repeal of the paper duty alone, and advo-
cated the inclusion of the repeal of the other two duties
in their demand, because it would make the question
more general and natural.
Mr. COLLET seconded the amendment, for the reason
that a tax was laid on the working man by the opera-
tion of these duties. The working classes of this spun-
try would meddle with politics.—(Cheers.) Rightly or
wrongly, wisely or foolishly, usefully or mischievously,
they would have something more to do with the laws
than to obey them.—(Cheering.) At the risk even of
their interests, and even of their lives, they would inter-
fere with matters of law and government, and it de-
pended upon the Government, and upon Parliament,
whether that interference should be for good or for evil,
for they could not put it down.—(Cheering.) lie be-
lieved with Mr. Charles Knight, that if the people had
a perfectly free press, they would not listen to charlatans
and quacks. After some remarks upon the unatamped
press, and giving the history of a paper called the Fret
holder, and showing what an enormous amount of duty
would be due from those to the Government were it en-
as wise to appeal for
of the paper duty only, without including
with it an application for the repeal of all the taxes on
faonrcaebdr,oghaetqiounes questioned whether it w
knowledge.
The Glummest said that he believed all concurred in
the opinion that the proposition of Mr. Holyoske was
rather an addition than an amendment. As he and the
meeting generally approved of the object it had in view,,
there would be no objection to its forming part of the
resolution.—(Cheers.)
Mr. MILNER GIBSON, M.P., said ho had been called
on to explain his presence at that meeting in support of
the movement for the repeal of the simple duty on paper.
whilst in his place in Parliament ho had appended to and
united with that object the repeal of the newspaper
stamp, the advertisement duty, and the duty on the im-
port of foreign books. He wished to state that he was
guided in his conduct by what he believed to be the best
course to be adopted in reference to what the country
required for its welfare—the repeal of all the taxes ote
knowledge?. He brought forward the question as a
whole bee eu4e he saw something like a priuciple in it:—
(llcar, hear ) lle did not put it as a
question of surplus
or no surplus; but he said that the impositiou of a tax
on knowledge was not sound in policy, and that, there-
fore, whether there was a surplus or no surplus, it was
the duty of those who bad the conduct of public affairs
to make such financial arrangements as would enable
Parliatnent to dispense with a description of taxes which
were unfit to remain a permanent sGurce of revenue.—
(flyer, hear.) He knew from experience, also, that it
was a good plan to ask for all yoti want, but to take
what you cxn
get, without giving a release in full.—
(Laughter.) Le would not refuse an instalment, but
he would not in consrqeence forego the right at all
times to demand payment of the whole debt. Those
three questions—the paper duty, the newspaper-silimP
duty, and the advertisement duty—had usually b‘sen
more or less linked together.—(Hear, hear.) When Sir
Edward Lytton Bulwer brought the question before Par-
liament, though not intending then to (include the paper
duty, he moved generally to the effect that the taxes on
knowledge were injurious to the public interests. If be
succeeded in that motion, he would afterwards have to
move resolutions refereing to each specifically.—(ffear,
bear.) He (Mr. Gibson) pursued nearly the same
course, as that which was most likely to enlist the •