The Sun.
London, England, 1851-04-22 00:00:00

tax. He took advantage of the circumstance that
the duty on light and air was technically a house tax,
and that the windows or orifices only affected the
assessment. This argument was about of equal value
to that which declared " that persons were not im-
prisoned because they happened to be in debt,
but for contempt of the SOVEREIGN, or the
Court in which proceedings were instituted, in
refusing to obey the order for satisfaction."
It, however, proved effectual for the time being. It
was proposed that the duties granted by certain Acts
of Parliament upon dwelling-houses, and levied and
assessed according to the number of windows or
lights therein, shall be levied and assessed upon in-
habited dwelling-houses, according to the annual
value thereof, in manner therein set forth.
Now, if this resolution were affirmed the house-tax
would be imposed, if rejected the window duty would
be continued in its present unequal, oppressive, and
impolitic form. We believe that there cannot be a
second opinion that the proposed tax, although bad in
itself, is a decided improvement on that previously in
operation. It is an " instalment of justice," and it
would be an act of but scanty wisdom to forfeit all
by grasping at a full measure of relief. The Liberal
Members, if they had pursued such a course, might
have been praised for consistency, but it must have
been at the expense of their judgments and under-
standings. It was, however, distinctly and unequi-
vocally stated that the very first opportunity would
be taken to ascertain the feeling of the House on the
question. Indeed, Sir BENJAMIN HALL gave notice,
that if it were not competent for him this session to
do so, he should certainly on as early an occasion
as he could, move for the repeal of the house tax,
This candid announcement, while it gave warning to
the CHANCELLOR Of the EXCHEQUER of the unmiti-
gated and inextinguishable hostility of the Hon.
Baronet to that unjustifiable impost, should have
fully satisfied every fiscal reformer, and prevented
the utterance of the complaints and reproaches to
which we have already alluded.
As to a house-tax, per se, it is unnecessary for us
to repeat our views on the subject. We are, and
ever shall be, the strenuous advocates of direct
taxation equitably and fairly imposed. We desire
to do away with all indirect taxes, that
press unduly on industry, compel persons to contri-
bute to the support of the national establishments, not
in proportion to their means, but in proportion to
their necessities, and extract much larger sums from
the pockets of the people than find their way into
the Exchequer. We desire to see the glorious prin-
ciples of free trade fully and fairly carried out—that
England should become the emporium of the world,
and this object can only be attained by gradually
reducing, until we ultimately abolish, all import
duties. We desire to increase our native
productions, to stimulate every description of
manufacture, and these can only be achieved
by repealing the excise laws, and rendering every
Englishman's house, in point of fact and truth, as it
is now in theory—" his castle." But taxation is a
necessary evil Unless we would repudiate the national
debt, we must provide for the liquidation of the
liabilities imposed on us by the extravagance of our
forefathers ; unless we would see our native land
hurled from the lofty position she has achieved, we
must maintain our establishments in full efficiency.
There must, then, be direct taxation, but it should be
equitable, and the house-tax is not equitable. For,
in the first place, the exemption of all under
20/. value will exonerate many persons well able to
defray the impost. And again, why should house
property be more heavily charged than any other
description of real, or even than any kind of personal
property ? This is the real question to be answered,
and we have never heard a satisfactory response even
attempted. If a substitute for the window-tax were
necessary, why not have increased the charges under
Schedules A and C ? This would have satisfied all
parties, and been an additional step in the right direc-
tion ; but Sir CHARLES Woo]) cannot, even by acci-
dent, blunder into the right course, or do anything
calculated to lessen the odium or diminish the load
of unpopularity which he has brought on his unfor
tunate colleagues.

THE FRENCH REPUBLIC.

We have received the National, the only journal
published yesterday in Paris, Easter having been
kept as a close holiday at all the other newspaper
offices.
The National has a long article on the chimerical
and illegal nature of all attempts that may be made
to prolong the powers of the PRESIDENT contrary to
the provisions of the Constitution, and warns all those
engaged in them of the consequences.
General CAVAIGNAC will, it is announced, be
a candidate for the Presidency of the Re-
public, and his chances of success are
considered rather flattering, as from his known up-
rightness of character no one doubts but that he will
implicitly obey the provisions of the Constitution,
and at the end of his four years' service retire, without
seeking to be re-elected. It is therefore probable
that all, whether moderate Republicans, I4egitimatists,
or Orleanists, who dread the ambition of the Impe-
rialists, and who are not strong enough to bring
about their own solution, will rally round CAVAIGNAC
and the Constitution.
Algiers journals to the 15th have arrived. The
Governor-General returned to that city in the
evening of the 14th, from his excursion to Phi-
lippeville. During his trip the Governor saw
all the authorities, and other persons who
wished to communicate with him, visited all
the public establishments, reviewed the national
guards and troops, and inquired into the state
and wants of the province. The Akhbar says :
A small column, consisting of two battalions of
Zouaves, of a squadron of Spahis, and of a detach-
ment of artillery was sent to the district of the Beni
Mansour, in Kabylia, and on the 9th it was sharply
attacked by a numerous band of Kabyles, under the
Cherif MOULAY-BRANIM. In the engagement the
French had fifty men placed hors de combat, and
amongst the killed was M. Hussos, Lieutenant of
Zouaves. It is announced that General BLANGINI,
on hearing of this event, and on learning that agita-
tion is rapidly increasing amongst the Kabyles of the
Jurjura, left for Aumale, where he will establish his
head-quarters , and the disposable reinforcements are
to follow him so as to enclose the insurrection within
the smallest limits.
The Bourse was firm, with little business doing. The
Five per Cents. opened at 92f. 25c., and closed at
92f. 40c. The Three per Cents. closed at 57f. 30c.
Orleans Railroad Shares, 825 f.; Rouen, 632 f. 80c.;
Havre, 260 f.; Great Northern, 475 f.; Avignon, 206 f.
25c.; Vierzon, 437 f. 50c.; Basle, 146 f. 25c.; Bordeaux,
400 f.; Paris and Strasburg, 370 f.; Tours and Nantes,
277 f. 50c. Exchange on London, short, 25f. sc.
BUSINESS DONE IN FOREIGN RAILWAYS AT THE
LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE, Aram 21.
Boulogne and Amiens, 9% Central of France (Orleans
and Vierzon), 1714 ex div.— Luxembourg, 33;—Northern
of France, 1434—Orleans and Bordeaux, 4—Sambre and
Meuse, 4—Tours and Nantes, 6,4 —West Flanders, 314,