The Sun.
London, England, 1851-01-06 00:00:00

extittiplL

LONDON, UONDAY, JANUARY 6, 1851.

THE QUARTER'S REVENUE.
The Revenue Returns for the
year and quarter, end-
ing the sth of January instant,
another part of this day's impression will be found in
'on
They do not af-
ford any great cause for congratulation, or the reverse.
For while, on the one hand, they do not fulfil the
sanguine anticipations that had been indulged in as
to the financial condition of the country, and the sur-
plus which it was supposed would remain at the dis-
posal of the Chancellor of the Exchequer,
they do not, on the other, exhibit any great,
deficiencies which cannot be accounted for by
the fiscal changes that have occurred during the
last twelve months. The Customs, Excise, and
Stamps have been, to a certain extent, affected by
these alterations, which has led to a falling off in the
ordinary revenue of the country ; but, as we have
already stated, not to a greater extent than can
be fairly accounted for.
The diminution of the ordinary revenue for the
year is 126,089/. ; as, however, the extraordinary
branches have been more than usually productive, we
find that there is au actual increase of receipts, on
the same period, of 164,9221. On the quarter
the deficiency, under the permanent heads,
exceeds by a few hundred pounds the falling off on
the year—it being 126,794/. The increase in the
extraordinary branches for the same period, although
not sufficient to change this deficiency into a surplus,
yet reduce its amount to 109,4981.
On looking more closely into the various items of
which the amount is composed, we find that in the
Customs there is a falling off on the year and quarter
—on the former of 80,9181., and on the latter of
123,925/.; the reduction of duty on "the corn
of the tropics" which came into operation last July,

must not, however, be forgotten, and this will go far
to account for the reduced returns from this quarter.
In the Excise, where the greatest reduction of
taxation took place, by the total abolition of the brick
duties, the returns are of the most satisfactory cha-
racter. Although the extinguished impost produced
nearly half a million sterling per annum, we still find
improvements on the year and quarter, and those of no
ingtnsiderable amounts—the former being 250,1461.,
the latter 90,859/. This is, perhaps, of all others the most
important branch of the national resource to have in
a flourishing condition. It indicates the degree of
comfort enjoyed by the labouring population of the
country; it is the barometer which shows the amount
of wages received for labour, and consequently the
amount of production that has taken place. Its satis-
factory appearance would be a sufficient equivalent
for the falling off in other respects, and affords real
cause for congratulation ; for we may feel assured
that when the working classes are well off,
that the remainder of the community will be in
a state of comparative prosperity. The welfare of
the nation is based on that of the numerous body
who earn their daily bread by the sweat of their
brow. They are the base of the great pyramid that
represents the state of society, and the stability of
the whole superstructure depends on the strength of
the foundation. A portion of the improvement may
be ascribed to the collection of the arrears of hop-
duty, the Board of Inland Revenue having recently
"put the screw" upon the planters, by issuing Ex-
chequer processes against many of that much ag-
grieved body, but notwithstanding the sums so realized,
there remains sufficient to show us how thankful we
should be for the improvement under this item of
the national balance-sheet.

In the Stamps there has, of course, been a falling
off—on the year of 269,8341., and on the quarter of
50,1391. The recent alteration of duties was quite
sufficient to explain these deficiencies. We had hoped
that, owing to the demand for the new denomina-
tions of stamps, the return for the quarter might
have been something better. We do not, how-
ever, despair of finding that, before the
termination of the year, the more equitable
arrangement of these imposts will produce a more
favourable result than was anticipated by the Chan.
cellor of the Exchequer, who anticipated the loss of
300,0001. per annum in consequence thereof.
In the Assessed Taxes there is an increase of 56,3291.
on the year, and of 25,2921. on the quarter. This
is the branch of revenue in which there is usually the
least variation, and any increase or deficiency is ge-
nerally ascribable to the stringency with which pay-
ment is enforced from the debtors to the
Exchequer. An increasing population must, however,
require a corresponding addition of house-room. The
builders do not remain idle, and, therefore, there
must be a regular addition to this source of revenue ;
we trust, however, that the abolition of the tax on
light and air during the approaching session will en-
able us to announce a large falling off under this
head for the quarter ending the sth of January, 1852,
The Property-tax returns, we regret to say, 'are
calculated to qualify our feelings of satisfaction. There
is a falling off on the year of 25,121. ; and on the
quarter of 30,6641. This latter would represent a
reduction in the incomes or profits of the middle
classes of society, for it is in them that the variations
are chiefly to be sought for—equivalent to more than
4,000,0001. sterling per annum. That tax will expire
on the sth of April. It must, however, be renewed
in some shape ; but not, we trust, without very con-
siderable modifications, so as to render the apportion-
ment more equitable and less oppressive than it is at
present.
In the Post-office there is an increase on the year
of 14,0001., but there is no change on the quarter.
The Crown Lands are, strange to say, exactly the
same on both year and quarter, but in the Miscel-
laneous we find a decrease on the former of 70,6901.,
and on the latter of 38,017. The Imprest and other
Monies show an increase of 131,9901., and of 7,1591.

on the quarter; while under the head of the Repay-
ments of Advances there is an addition of 159,0211. on

the year, and 10,2071. on the quarter. On the whole it
will appear that there is no great cause either for
rejoicing or lamenting, but that the state of the
nation has nearly remained in statu quo, the condi-
tion of the less wealthy classes being something im-
proved, and that of the middle classes something dr...
teriorated within the departed year 1850.

Gaiety is once more restored to Greece. The
dance and the song are again audible in the salmis
of Athens. And these are the happy consequences of
that Palmerstonian policy which has been so long
and rancorously vilified. From a paragraph pub-
lished elsewhere, in cur impression of this evening,
and extracted from a fantastic periodical of Attica, it
will be observed that in lieu of the sinister estrange-
ment hitherto observable among the resident diploma-
tists of Christendom, a feeling of genuine accord
has latterly sprung up between the various classes
of the Athenian capital, and especially between
the Ambassadors accredited to the Athenian
SOVEREIGN. This is all highly satisfactory. It is
pleasant to know that the nymph of the agile foot has
descended once more from Parnassus to the violet
crowned city of the Acropolis—to learn that Terpsi-
chore has joined hands with her sister Euterpe in cele-
brating the success of British intervention. Such is
literally the gist of the announcement given elsewhere
as translated from the columns of a Greek newspaper•

Compared with the " balls" threatened by the ma-
ritime forces of England a few months since, the
" balls" given by the representatives of British diplo-
macy now-a-days must surely be allowed to present a
very agreeable contrast. The "great guns" intro-
duced to the notice of the Athenian multitude for-
merly, by Sir WILLIAM PARKER, have been fortu
nately replaced by "great gulls" of a difierent
description, introduced to the higher circles of Athe-
nian life by Mr. Wysx. The warm greeting promised
to the Grecian people at one period by the English
Admiral has been luckily superseded by the warmer
reception given to the heads of the nation by the
English Ambassador. And all this is attributable to
—what ? To the Earl of ABERDEEN ? To my Lord
STANLEY ? To the flaming and foaming an-
tagonists of her MAJESTY'S Foreign Secretary ?
As well might we attribute the rise in
railway stock to M. POITEVIN ! Or the scheme of
the great Exhibition to the Hippopotamus ! The
fact—most unwelcome of all facts in the world to the
little clique of intriguers who were baulked last ses-
sion by the gallant motion of Mr. ROEBUCK—is ra-
ther disagreeably transparent—disagreeably, we
mean, as far as the miserable pack are concerned who
have been again and again ineffectually hounded on
against the most patriotic and distinguished of Eng-
lish statesmen. To Lord PALMERSTON—the fire-

eater of Britannia, the firebrand of Europe, the

political emulator of HELENA, who is reputed by
poets to have " set the world in arms,"—to
Lord PALMERSTON—the organizer of revolutions, the
instigator of insurrection, the secret ally of rebels and
incendiaries—are attributable all these gala days of
the Athenians, these balls and reunions, these feasts
and masquerades. Little might one have imagined
that such would be the topics selected for celebration
by Athenian journalists in the winter of 1850, if the
future had been conjectured from the prophecies of
the anti-Palmerstonians. From the gloomy prospects
foretold in that quarter it might have been thought
that the city must by this time have been in ashes,
the Piraeus a scene of wide-spreading devastation,
the Parthenon possibly levelled with the very ground
it dignifies, and the remnants of that great metro-
polis once presided over by the cultivated genius of
PERIGEES, and animated by the sensuous intellect
ASPASIA, overgrown with darnals and grass, or
given over to the savage brutes cf the wilderness. Yet
the spectacle exhibited seems to be rather different
in spite of these most confident 4ictions. Toe
harmony of political opinions bas pre-
a.
have sb again been restored.
The rivalries of diplomacy
of
,ehn transferred from
the rancourous contentions
dcloset to the
amiable competitions of the e
of fair ladies has
The dancing r g-rooni•
necessity of warlike demonstrations. replaced the
Euterpe has
been promoted vice Discordia, and
Terpsichore
vice
Bellona, superannuated. And all this, we repeat—
thanks to Lord PALMERSTON. Thanks to that
bold and resolute policy which, while it be•
came the dignity of this great empire, be-
came also equally well its position as the
arbiter of the peace of Christendom. From
the course pursued on the occasion of the Greek
misunderstanding, it has been again proclaimed that

England is not to be paltered with by every trick-
ster in office, by every scribbler who can date
his lampoon from a ministerial residence, by every
speculative statesman who chooses to subordi-
nate the interests and the fame of his country
to the chances of his own paltry stock-
exchange combinations. From the length of time
which has elapsed since the claims of England upon
the Grecian Government had been disregarded, it be-
came evident that some such renewed assurance as
the one we have just particularized was to a great
extent desirable, and the good results of its
utterance by the lips of Lord PALMERSTON are as-
suredly by this time sufficiently apparent. In proof
of this, we need point not alone to the lively aspect of
Athenian society, now that the political atmosphere has
been cleared by the lightnings of English indignation,
but equally well might we direct attention to the
friendly relations re-established between this country
and the principal powers of the European continent.
Another illustration is hereby afforded of the accu-
racy of the charges so often directed against Lord
PALMERSTON—that his policy is destructive of the
interests of peace, injurious to commerce, and detri-
mental also to the advancement of civilization. After
passing through two or three years of almost unex -
ampled political excitement, and maintaining, in
spite of this, a cordial interchange of diplo-
matic relations with all the chief Govern-
ments of Christendom, it does eppear, in
truth, somewhat ridiculous to hearken to the
parroting of the old Aberdeen-cry, that Lord PAL-
MERSTON is a dangerous statesman, and that his
policy is baneful to the cause of humanity as well
as to the vigour and stability of the British empire.
Away, then, with these preposterous calumnies and
vituperations—away with them as tokens at once of
monstrous injustice and unconscionable ingratitude.