The Sun.
London, England, 1869-02-25 00:00:00

THE SI3N, LONDON, 71111RSDAY EVENING, PIIIIIMART 25, 1869.

age was about to bring reform into this the Na
atronghold 'of antiquated customs and the abode
of the prejudices of past days. We "have all
heard enough and to spare of the untiring zeal and
energy with which thl members of the new Adminis-
tration are about to institute improvements and to
inaugurate changes into their several departments ;
but they may not after all appear so great in the per-
formance as the promise, and it may turn out that
the public will think some alterations are not im-
provements. This will not apply to the army, how-
ever, for owing to causes, in some respects beyond the
control of any Minister, the efficiency of that
branch of the public service has not been ,
above par, and indeed hardly up to it.
Mr. CARDWELL spoke out well, and we have no fault
to find with his remarks, but at the same time it is
well known that those in official positions are gene-
rally more ready with their words than their ac-
tions. It must be understood that the question of
Army reform is one in which the country takes an
especial interest, and that its complete and effectua
realisation ha I better be accomplished. It may he
suggested to Mr. CARDWELL that in consider-
ing the items of improvement and retrench-
ment he could with great advantage decrease the
number of general officers, whose incomes take im-
mense sums, and who are really not required in such
numbers. It is surprising how people overlook the
fact that one decided cutting off in the topmost rank
is worth innumerable driblets of saving in the inferior
Places. " What millions died that CASAR might
be great" is true of more circumstances and plans
than those of _whom it was said, and it would.he
good study for a political calculator to find out how
many clerks must be decapitated to effect a
saving of two thousand a year to be spent in
the creation of a new want in the shape
of another Lord of the Treasury. This sort of
thing irritates some and disgusts others, and the
disciple of innovating changes finds in it an un-
answerable argument for the promulgation of his
doctrines. At any rate, Mr• CARDWELL seems to
have put his hand to the plough, and as he must
have counted the cost of his undertaking before-
hand, we may confidently expect that he will work
out some comprehensive change in a master ly style
and he may rest assured that the public expect
such a course of action to be pursued, and will
not be content with anything short of it.

SIR MASSEY LOPES is to be congratulated upon
having obtained the first important success of the
session. He has elicited from the PREMIER the
distinct promise that so soon as the Irish Church
question has been disposed of the important subject
of local taxation shall be taken in hand by the respon-
sible advisers of the Crown. Mr. GLAnsTosE inti-
mated in his election speeches his willingness
to consider this question ; but he was then
a private member, and his words had not the
weight or binding obligation of those which he has
uttered as Premier. It was fortunate for Sir
MASSEY LOPES, though scarcelyfair to the PRESIDENT
of the Poon-LAW BOARD, that the member of the
Government who spoke first on the question should
not have been instructed to speak definitely as to the
Ministerial intentions. Mr. GOSCUEN might have
been spared the necessity of sonie feeble logic if he
had been commissioned to make the promise wjlich
Mr. GLADSTONE subsequently made. As it is, the
member for South Devon has received the pledge
of the First Minister of the Crown, and even political
opponents will admit that the evasion of pledges is
not a fault for which Mr. GLADSTONE is conspicuous.
The case which Sir MASSEY LOPES brought for-
ward was indeed too strong for the Government to
resist. There were three separate counts, and each
of them was fully sustained. The amount of local
taxationhas during the last ninety years risen beyond
all proportion to the increase of the population. A
large portion of this taxation, though levied locally,
is really for imperial purposes; and whether properly
local or not, this taxation is laid unfairly upon the
lind. Assurnin:2; that the figures given by what we
may call the council for the prosecution are correct
—and they were not materially disputed—the poor
rate and the county rate have risen from less
than 11- millions in 1770 to nearly 11
millions in 1867. The whole amount of local taxation
is now 21 millions just one-half of the imperial
expenditure, setting aside the National Debt ; and
this amount is assessed solely upon real property—
upon only one-seventh of the property of the
kingdom. The continued increase of these burdens
has had the unavoidable effect of reducing the real
value of land. Its price may be maintained by
reason of the keen competition that there always
will be for a commodity limited in supply
among a rapidly-increasing population ; but the
profits upon the working of land are smaller than
they were. Land is worth more to the seller,
for there are more persons willing to take it, not as a
pecuniary investment, but for the social status it con-
fers. Land is worth less to the tenant who invests his
money in it in a business way. Ex-Professor ROGERS
will no doubt say that land has its peculiar privileges
with regard to 'taxation. Too much has been said
about this. The farmer is, indeed, free from duty on
insuring his stock and premises against fire, but this,
since the recent reduction of the duty on otherkinds of
stock, is a mere bagatelle compared with the local
rates which he has to pay. The succession duty has
for the last fifteen years been extended to the land.
Moreover, the way of putting one item against
another is most unbusinesslike and unfair. The
same burdens should be borne by all interests
equally, and there would then be no room for these
vague set-offs, which on examination are generally
found to do anything but balance. The fact that six-
sevenths of the property of the kingdom are exempt
from local burdens is in itself a condemnation of the
present system of taxation. There is no need of
further evidence.

The mode of remedying the grievance involves
many considerations. At present a man living in a
rural parish, but deriving an income of, it may be,

£lO,OOO a year from funds or shares, is wholly
free from local taxation so far as that £lO,OOO is
concerned ; be pays only on the house which he
inhabits, and which may be rated at £lOO. On the
other hand, the farmer who rents a farm rated at
£SOO a year, and derives his profits from the
produce of that farm, has to pay rates upon £5OO,
which is, perhaps, considerably more than his whole
income. In fact, the farmer may be assessed
on twice his income, while the fundholdeJ
may be assessed on only a hundredth part of
his. To adjust this most real grievance would,

under the present mode of levying rates, involve an
inquisitorial investigation into the private resources

of the fundholder, which is bad enough when con-
ducted by the income-tax commissioners, who may
be strangers, but would be far worse if conducted by
near neighbours. Nor is this the only difficulty.
The fundholder may have several country houses.
In that case how are the various parishes to decide
upon the quota of taxation which each is entitled
to demand ? These difficulties manifestly point
towards an imperial rather than a local taxation ;
shew that the State rather than the parish should levy
the impost. The St tte already possesses the information
which it is so unpleasant to acquire. The State would
distribute the money on a broader basis than is
possible so long as every parish levies its own taxes.

A further reason for the partial substitution of impe-
rial for local taxation is to be found in the fact

that many of the objects for which this taxation is

levied axe of a really imperial character. As Mr.
LIDDELL well pointed out, what could be a more

purely national object than the care of the insane ?

The danger-of-emtravagance argument does not apply

here.

No amount of pressure on local taxation

can prevent the birth of a single lunatic; yet there

is no item of local expenditure which has been-more

largely increased than this; fairly increased so far as

the increase, ispausedtby, more huma,n,q treatment of
the insane ; unfairly, so far as it is a charge upon
that o7ertaxed class, the owners and the
occupiers of land. The punishment and preven-
tion of crime is another matter only less purely
national, and therefore the maintenance of
the police and kindred charges ought to be borne by
the nation. The fundholder has just as much inte-
rest in having his person protected from robbery
and assault as the landholder, and the first
ought to pay as much in proportion to his
income as the second. Altogether the case
is as strong as it can be, and we are glad to see
that Mr. GLADSTONE refused a Royal Commission,
not because he did not wish to be convinced, but be-
cause he is convinced already—not because he wanted
to delay, but because he wished to accelerate legisla-
tion. He believes that the matter is not so compli-
cated but that he can master the details. If we
should find on Monday that he has mastered those
of the Irish Church, we shall believe that this con-
fidence is not unfounded.

• -71. r".
41.
11
c• •
Veit
Ll/11. '
414-Jl4i .1

HER MAJESTY.

OsBORNE, Feb. 24.

The Queen, accompanied by Princess Louise,
and attended by the Dowager Duchess of Athole,
drove out yesterday afternoon.

Her Majesty, accompanied by Princess. Beatrice,
walked in the grounds this morning.
Prince Leopold is rapidly improving in health.

LATEST INTELL MENGE

R E U^'E R'S TELEGRAMS.)

CORRESPONDENCE PROM PARIS.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)
PARIS, WEDNESDAY, February 2

The " Haussmann battle" went on yesterday with greal
vivacity, and is resumed to-day with scarcely less fervour.
M. Thiers's appearance in the Corps Ldgislatif was suffi•
dent indication that he was about to speak, and he did
speak, and very ably too. It is hardly too much to say
that the great Opposition deputy has seldom made a
greater effurt. It made the Right as uncomfortable as the
Left was hilarious. I may notice one very happy touch.
Speaking of the many works of no public utility upon
which the money of the city of Paris had been spent, M.
Thiers said : " Why construct an avenue from the Tuileries
to the new Opera ? Cannot his Majesty go to the theatre by
one of the most beautiful of streets, the Rue de la Paix,
which would permit him to pass by the foot of the column
on which stands the statue of his uncle." This sally
caused the most uproarious amusement. M. Thiers turned
up his face, and elevated his band as high as possible, as if
to indicate to what an elevation the mental vision of
Napoleon 111. must ascend in order to attain the level of
Napoleon I. Like M. Gamier-Pages, M. Thiers took a
moderate tone. He did not refuse his approbation to all
the works ; but he declared that many were of little
utility, and some of none whatever. I cannot enter into
the details of the speech, for they would be hardly
intelligible ; but it may suffice to state that M.
Thiers divided all the new streets and improve-
ments into three great networks, one of which was
altogether useful, the second only partially useful, the
third wholly useless. It was a masterpiece of clear expo-
sition, but I confess that I should have liked it better had
it been a little more fruitful in its result. Beyond doubt
the finances of the city are in a deplorable state, but M.
Thiers had no remedy to suggest. Apparently he thinks
the case as nearly hopeless as possible ; and so it is.
What would the London ratepayers say to eighty millions
sterling spent by the Board of Works ?
The point-blank question as to whether the Government
intends to retain or abandon the system of official candi-
datures is to be put shortly. If the Bureaux allow the
interpellation, the question will be embarrassing, but it
will be evaded as usual.

There was a concert at the Tuileries the night before last.
Murska performed, and was complimented by the Emperor
on her brilliant execution. After the concert, the attrac-
tion of the evening was the ball in celebration of
Washington's birthday. This was entirely succcessful.
Amongst other musical items I may mention that Gounod
is struck with amazement at the magnificence with which
his " Faust " is about to be put upon the stage in the Rue
Lepeletier. The reports of the rehearsals " savour
strongly of fairyland." There was a great rush to see
Murska in hose and doublet in the " Ballo in Maschera."
The Hungarian was thoroughly successful. As for Mdlle.
Minnie Hauck, the opinion that she had better have been
kept to tuition a little.longer is confirmed. The ramshackle
old Vaudeville Theatre is coming to the ground.

The Prussians are taking the lead in hippophagy.
3.300 horses were eaten in Berlin during the past vear.

THE WEATHER TABLE.-THIS DAY.