The Sun.
London, England, 1856-12-29 00:00:00

L')NDON, MONDAY, DECEMBER 29, 1856.

Once more we avail ourselves of the invaluable
assistance of the " Shade of COCKER," by repub-
lishing, at the request of many correspondents,
the admirable " Dialogue on the Income Tax,"
which appeared in The Sun of Thursday last. The
gross iniquity—the palpable unfairness of the
present system is so clearly explained, that "he
who runs may read," and any man of ordinary
comprehension can understand the mode in which
he is plundered under " that masterpiece of State-
Graft," that contrivance of surpassing ingenuity
for extracting the largest possible proportion of
money from the pockets of the industrious and
intelligent creators of wealth, in order that a
proportionate immunity from taxation may be
enjoyed by the possessors of wealth, or, in other
words, " a tax upon the working bees of the
social hive for the relief of the drones." As the
clear-sighted Spirit declares, " the deep ingenuity
of the contrivance consists of two things—first,
the artfulness by which it deludes its victims into
the belief that they are taxed equally, or propor-
tionately, with other classes of society ; and,
secondly, the facility with which it extracts money
from the pockets of various classes in precisely the
inverse ratio of the amount of property possessed."
The accuracy of these assertions is fully established
by the carefully prepared tables, which show the
sums actually contributed by different owners of
accumulated and realised property—some, such
as the owners of Long Annuities, which are to
expire in 1860. We date from the sth April,
1857, from which day any change must take
effect, and assume the unit of 1501. per annum
taken by "the Spirit," are worth but 4161.,
while others go on to the full value
of 3,7501. ; the former paying at the rate of
21. Bg., the latter of only 53. 4d. per cent., or,
in other words, the former being charged nine
times as much as the latter.

The true principle of taxation is that defiled
by " ADA)/ SMITH," and quoted by "the Spirit."
It is that " the subjects of every State ought to
contribute towards the support of the Govern-
ment, as nearly as possible, in proportion to their
respective abilities." Nothing more equitable or
reasonable can be stated. There is nothing of
graduation in this, no special burthen on wealthy
men, no tax on prudence, every man pays for
protection; and he should do so according to his
means, and the value of that which he enjoys.
It is exactly the principle of fire insurance—and
it would be ridiculous to assert that the man
who insured Property to the value of 100,0001.
should be charged the same price which the man
who had only 5)0001- or 10,0001. was required
to pay. The latter Would speedily object to the
manifest imposition, and there is no possible rea
son why the defrauded contributors to the
national revenue should be more patient, under
the fraud by which they have been mystified.
There are, however, two classes of taxation,
the distinction between which must be fully re-
cognised. The revenue is required for the pay-
ment of the just claims of the public creditors,
and also for the maintenance of the national
establishments. Now, there is no possible rea-
son why the former should be a burthen on in-
dustry. No man has a right to mortgage the ex-
ertions of his children beyond the value of th e