The Sun.
London, England, 1851-02-12 00:00:00

FEBRUARY 12, 1851

'UN CONDITIONAL RE PEAL OF
-

THE WEN D 0 W- TAX.

MEETING OF THE INHABITANTS.OF WEST.
MINSTER.-(THIS DAY.)

A public meeting of the inhabitants of Westminster was
held this morning in the Theatre Royal Drury-lane, for the
purpose of adopting a petition to Parliament praying for the
immediate and unconditional repeal of the window-tax.
The house was moderately full, and amongst the audience
was a tolerably large.spriokling of the fair sex: The stage
.was occupiad by deputations from the various metropolitan
parishes and the gentlemen who were to take part the
proceedings- of the day.'
Viscount Duncan, '1‘1.1):, took the chair at 12 o'clock.
The other Membera of the House of Commons present were
Lord Dudley Stuart, Sir De Lacy Evans, Mr. C. Lushirigton,
Sir B. Hall, Mr. Wakley, -Mr. J. Williams, Mra W. Williams,
Mr. Mowatt, &c. . .
The CHaniairme, in opening the business of the morning,
thanked the meeting for having placed him in the chair, a
position which he had no right to expect ; but, being placed
there, he would use'his best ability to 'promote the cause they
had in hind.— (Heat, hear) He knew, the value of time,
and as he had for six consecutive years proposed the repeal
of the window-tai, he need not'go over the arguments Which
could be urged in favour of such a ,anotion.—(-lear, hear.)
He had again placed his resolution on the books of the
Hou-saad Commons, and should the Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer abstain from proposing the abolition of the tat on
Friday night, he should certainly persevere with it.—(Hear,
hear.) lie had fought the battle of repeal in a time of ad-
versity,. but do not let them, now that there was a prospect
of success, relax in their exertions.— (Loud cries of "Hear,
hear."). It was yet very doubtful whether the repeal
would be accomplished this session, notwithstanding the
silence with which the Chancellor of the Exchequer received
the deputation the other day, and which was, according to
the old adage, suffered to give consent to what was proposed.
—( Hear, hear, and cheers.) That was, however, a delusive
notion.—(Hear, hear.) He belonged to a country where
the inhabitants had some credit for'shrewdness; now it was
said, when a Scotchman was asked a question which he fotuid
a difficulty in answering, he generally met it by asking
another question.—(A laugh.) That was just the • course
which had been pursued in Downing-street, for. when they
asked for a repeal of the window-tax, they were met witti
the inquiry "why, do you wish to have a house-tax?"
For his part he wished for nothing of the soit--I(Hear)
nor was anything of the Sort necessary.—(Hear, hear.) The
unconditional repeal of the tax had hitherto been opp,•sed on
the ground that it would endanger the yublic credo, but that
cry would not do now-a-days, since there was a surplus in
the revenue, and the tax could be aboashed without in the
least breaking faith with the national creditor.--(Hear,
hear.) And what was the prescnt prosperity of the country
owing to?'
,TO'nothing more liar lesa :then those tree-trade
measures which they bad heard .) andch .of at one time
viithitithette walls,, and which had brought.the eaasting Mi-
niatry into office.---(Cheers.) then, he said, if this
were so; and he—really-believed it waa, they had a right to
call upon such 'a Governmeht not to
.stop al,tovt in those
principles; but give them ~ free-trade in light and air as
well as in bread and provisioes,—(Cheers,) The window-
tax was an iujestiee committed at, :the expense of the -poor
man; it was a disgrace to the nation, and ought 'not to be,
longer continued.—(Hear, hear.) It was, not only unequal,
but absolutely unfair in its operation*, and if he had no other
argument to 'urge in favour of its repeal, he should,still feel
justified in persevering with his otion.--(Cheers.) He
was confident in
this movement.would ultimately triumph, and
in the full hope that' the, time was not far distant when
every Englishman . would be able 'to build for him-
self a Crystal PalaCe, if he were so minded, he would
resume his seat with the urgent request that, as this was an
open public meethig,
_bath sides of ;he question would have
a fair hearing.—(Cheers.)
Mr. WILLIAM GEESIN, churehWarden of St. James's, moved
the first re.aolution, which was as follows :--
"'That the window duty is a tax upon light, and air; that
it is unequal, unjust, and detrimental to health and comfort;
that it is opposed to sanitary reform and architectural im-
provements; and that it. is a mode of levying taxation that
never ought to have been adopted, and in the opinion of this
meeting, should no longer continue." - •
In support of the resolution he maintained that while the aris-
tocracy paid only two or three per, cent. of the tax upon their
gross rental, the labouring man paid between twenty and thirty
per cent.—(Cheers.) The tax was decidedly and essentially
a war tax, and its continuance was 'not only unjust, but very
unconstitutional.—(Cheers.)
Mr. GEoitGE, churchwarden of St. Anne's, seconded the
resolution,.. and also illustrated the inequality of the tax
" with a round, unvarnished tale." The St. Anne's Court-
house, which yielded a rental of only 221. per annum, paid
the same amount of window-tax as the mansion of Soho-
square, namely, '54 14s. Id. ' per yeara--(Shame, shame.)
Again, Ireland was exempted from the tax. He did not
wish to see it extended to the sister kingdom, but surely the
poverty of,England ought not to be taxed for the wealth of
Ireland.—(Cheers.) Then the universities were exempted
from itauperation, but for what he did not know.—(Hear.)
A Vorcx—Why, to. make Puseyites, to be sure.—(Cheers.)
Mr. GEORsiE concluded by stating the startling fact that
the tax curtailed the life of the poor man by twenty years,
and it_was therefore nothing less than murder to continue it.
—(Cheers.) If the. present Government did not do their
duty, therewere other men fit for the office, and to that
office they, should be called.'--I(Cheers.)
A Voroa—epOwn with the Whigs.—(Cheers.)
The CatAIRMAN obierved that. this was not a political
meeting, and he therefore hoped nothing would be said which
could hurt the feelings of any one present.—(Cheera.)
Mr. GEoatait resumed, amidst some confusion, and in-
sisted that it was the duty of a Government to exhaust the
taxation of property before it attempted to hamper labour.
Sir DE LACY EVANS, M.P., spoke in support of the reso-
lution, and hoped that before another week passed they
would learn that the window-tax had been doomed by the
Chancellor of the Exchequer. (Cheers.) But its aboli ion
must not be carried only to be replaced by another burden,
such as a house tax, which would take 150 years to remove
it.—(Cheers.) In no country in Europe had the houses so
few winthiwa than in England, but then no other country in
Europe hada window-tax. That was a significant fact, and
now that they made so much of sanitary improvements, he
trusted the window-tax would not be lost sight of, for, with-
out freedom of light and air, the extension of sewers and
the closing of churchyards in populous districts would be
robbed of at least half their utility.—(Cheers.) He
recommended that thee supplies should be stopped
till the tax was repealed, for it was objectionable.
both on fiscal and constitutional grounds, and if the course
he had suggested were approved of. by his constituents he
should be ready to adopt it in spite of past experience
against such a proceeding.
Mr..- °HARI.= LUsHINGToN, M.P., also tpolre‘hriettY to
the resolution; and said if the tax' were abOlished the Country.
would be indebted for it to the exertions of the metropolitan
districts, whose energy and deterinination he, had.aritnessed
with admiration.--((heera) The tax must be repealed
without delay, without compromise, and withoueaubstitute,
and so far as his voice and 'vote would go, they should be
employed in obtaining that wished!for result of this great
movement—(Cheers.) He too,, was for stopping the sup-
plies, but he'believeil such a course would be unnecessary,
for it was fully expected, and he could almost stake his ex=
istence for it, that on Friday next the Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer would announce the entire and uncenditiotal repeal
,
'of the tax.—(Cheers.) „
Lord Dynasty STUART, .a
few words expressed his
hearty coocurrenca in the object of, the meeting; that was all
he had to do, since the time had gone by when, it was re-
quired of a man to urge arguments in support of the repeal of
the window-tax, and he looked at the destruction of the tax
as certain.-4 Cheers.) He had not the same confidence that
the repeal would be unaccompanied by a substitute, but he,
for oate, was of opinion, that thereavas no occasion for -a sub-
stitute; and If, therefore, the Chancellor of the Exchequer
proposed any new tax, he hoped the country would refuse to
pay it.—(Cheers.) The surplus in the revenue at present
exceeded 3,000,000/., and as it was calculated that the Great
Exhibitino would increase that surplus by another 2,000,0001,
they had a right to hope that the time had at length arrived
when the people ought to be relieved from some of their burdens.
He should, therefore, not be satisfied with the simple repeal of the
window-tax ;le expeeted also to see the paper:duty, the taxes
on knowledge, the tea and soap duties abolished; bat the first
thing to be done was to get the repeal, of the window-tax,
for what was the good of giving a man a cheap newspaper
if he had-no- light to read it with ?—(Cheers and laughter.)
Let them, then, get the window-tax repealed and then go
for the others.—( Cheers.)
Sir B. HALL, M.P., thought, after such a demoostration as
this, 'called almost at a moment's notice, . the window-tax
cotild.n6 longer' be continued and he hoped, within the next
48 hours, the Chancellor ofthe Exchequer would propose its
utter annihilation in the` 'House of Comnaons.—(Cheers.)
&mild the- Right. Hon. Gentleman not have the justice or
the towage to do so, then would' be the time to be -up and
doing in earnest; then mould be the time to tell the Go-
vernment that
.they would have the light and air which God!
had-given them,untaxed.—(Cheers.) What was the use of
that miserable humbug the Sanitary Commission so long as
this tax existed?--(Cheers.) A'multitude of foreigners were
about to honour the metropolis with a visit, and no doubt
many of them would ask how it was that we build such I
wretchedly small and cramped-up dwellings.-(Hear, hear.)
No* what-answer could they make to a question like that?
—(Hearahear.) What more could they do but hide their
diminished heads, and say, "we build by Act of Parlianient;
and our dimensions are 4 feet 9."—(Cheers and laughter.)
The tax was unconstitutional, unjust, obnoxious, and con-
trary to. every just proposition of God's nature, and it must
be unconditionally repealed at once---(Cheers.).
The reeolUtioa was then putand carried.by acclamation,
Mr ..Naution moved 'the second resolution as follows:
" That this meeting pledges itself to' use every legitimate.
means to cause the removal of this obnoxious tax from the
statute-book, and earnestly appeals to all MembersUf Par-
liament, in the event of the Government refusing its
total, immediate, and unconditional repeal, to offer such con-
stitutional opposition to the passing of the: supplies as' will
saow that the,present Ministers no longer . possess the con-
fidence of the people." He said they had assembled there,
not by command of her Majesty, but on the invitation of
the Prime Minister, who appeared to be'. like• a blushing
maiden, and waited, to be importuned before he consented to.
anthing.--(Cheers and laughter.) The Chancellor of the.
Exchequer had told the country that nothing would be ob-
tained. without an out-of-door agitation ; and if he did not
immediately repeal this ,tax he might depend
,upon it he
would have enough of his own specific.--(Cheero •
Mr. COLWELL, of St. Clement's, seconded the resolution.
Mr. .Wakatty, 1t1.P., spoke to the resoulution. lie
appeared there. , as.. an elector ef. Westminster, the an
dent cradle; of eur, liberties, and always ready te .promote.
with energy and liherality any cause that was for the public).
good.—:(Cheers.) He came ()tithe stage to tell his represen-
tatives hi ;Parliament: -who -were gone. —(A laugh )—that,
they would never more have his vote if they (lid • not
carry out their pledge, but -he felt no' apprehension on that
score, and he was mute confident that they would do their
dutya--(Cheers.) It.- very seldom fell to his .tot to
praise, Nohlo Lords.—(Laughter.). Generally speaking, it
had been his. misfortune to find Noblalaards mom ornamental
than useful—(A laugh)—but the Noble; Lard in. the their
was AR .e,xceptiou to, this r01e.,--(Cheers,) ale.,aad not for-
gotten. to be an honest man thougii he was a Noble Lord—
(Cheere)and if they got this tax repealed pinch of
the credit which would be, clairried for .that, result ~Iveyiti be

tie to the Noble Chairman.-(Cheers.) After compliment;
[ng the 'fair sex for having taken up the question—which
essentially belonged to them for nobody was more interested
in making houses healthy and comfortable than the ladies
he went on to remark that it was an axiom that a law-

maker should not break the law; and it would, there-
fore, ill become him. if he said he would stop the sup.
plies.—(l..ond cheers.) But he was ,not- going to
break the law ; what he was going to do
was this, he should refuse after this year to pay the tax, and
leave it for the tax-gatherer to seize, and, he hoped the
meeting would follow his example.— (Cheers.)
Mr. BRETTINGitax, of St. Pancras, here interrupted the
speaker, but be was put clown, and
Mr. WAKLUY proceeded.. He hoped the gentleman who
had caused the interruption was not a supporter of the
tax; but if he was he wished he would give him 1114 body,

fir .he thought he could make more money by him
than would he made by the glass house in Hyde-park re an
exhibition.—(Cheers and laughter.) To conclude, he hoped
in a few days to be called upon to hold an inquest
on this odious tax, and he was convinced if he
did so he should behold the most monstrous, the ugliest, the
vilest, and the most infamous body that had ever fallen to
the lot of any coroner to sit upon.—(Cheers and laughter.)
Mr. BRETTINGIIAM said, when he interrupted Mr. Wakley
it was simply to explain that the Government did not
recover assessed taxes by-" seizing," but through.the me-
dium of the Court of Exchequer, where the suitor bad to
pav all the costs, no matter whether he won or lost.
.Mr. W. supported. the resolution.. It
Was an old iaying that there was nothing new under the
sun, and he could add -with equal truth that nothing
`riew • `could be said against this-' tax.—(Cheets. )
He had therefore only this to tell them, that he
cordially sympathised with the movement, and he should
take the advice of those who preceded him, and, stop the
supplies if the window-tax was not at once unconditionally
repealed .—(Cheers. )-
The reshlution was then put to thee vote and carried' in
the same manner as the first.

Mr. Wnsow, of St. Margaret's, Westminster, moved the
third resolution, as follows :—" That this meeting cannot anti-
cipate the possibility of 'any attempt' to re-impose tbe unpb-
pular house-tax, which *as repealed, in 1834, by
Lord Althorp, demanded by the unanimous voice
of the people, more particularly as since that pe.
nod houses have been, made subject to the property-
tax, which is in fact a house tax. Should any such attempt
be made this meeting pledges itself to give it every oppo-
sition in its 'power, being convinced that sufficient reduction
can be made in the expenditure of the country to meet this
as well as much larger reduction!.
Mr. BROWN, of St. James's, seconded the resolution, which
was supported by several other gentlemen, and afterwards
carried by acclamation.

A petition to Parliament, based upon the foregoing
resolution, was then agreed to, and thanks Were
voted to Viscount Duncan, M. R, and the other Members of
Parliament, who have already supported the repeal of the
window-tax, and requesting them rot to relax in their ex-
ertions till the repeal has been unconditionally obtained.
Thanks were then presented to the Noble Chairman for
his conduct in the ehair, and the meeting, which some time
before its chin became very crowded indeed, broke up.

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.

(THIS DAY.)

HOUSE OF COMMONS.

The SPEAKER took the Chair shortly after Twelve o'clock.
SECOND READINGS.
The following Bills were read a second time, and ordered
to be committed :
Dublin, Dundi um. and Rathfarnham Railway.
East Lancashire Railway.
Killarney Junction Railway.
Liveipool Docks (Alteration of Management, &c.)
rAndtai and. Bhick*all Railway (Branch to flaydon-square,
WhitechaPel, -&c.)
London and-Blackwall Railway (Extension of Time for the
—Widening, &c)—
Perth Petty and Market Customs Amendment.
St. Helen's Improvement.
South Stafforebhire Railway (Branches tq joiri the Birniing
him, Wolverhampton, and Stour Valley Railway; &c.)
South Wales Railway (No. 2). -
Ulster. Canal and Union Railway.
'Wicklow Harbour.'

On the motion of Mr. W. PAtTEN, the following Mem-
bers were appointed as the CoMmittoe of Selection :—Sir
Robert Ferguson, Mr. Evelyn Denisoin, Mr. Sotheron, Sir
John Yarde Buller, and the Chairman of the Committee on
Standing Orders.