The Sun.
London, England, 1860-05-18 00:00:00

PAPER DUTY.

In all discussions on the paper duty no one has
yet suggested how the amount that will be sacri-
ficed by its abolition is to be made up. But it is on
this that the whole matter should turn. Grant
everything that may be said against it, the neces-
sity remains for some new tax to take place; and
when that is mentioned we shall be able to weigh
if the new evil will be lighter than the old. It is
vain to lo'ok only at one-half of the argument.
When Mr. Gladstone brought in his budget he
showed an estimated surplus of £461,000; but it is
known that the greater part of this, if not the
whole, has since been lost in remissions and modi-
fications which have been forced upon him. That,
however, constitutes a very inferior item of the
difficulty to be considered. The £464,000 was not
a surplus of legitimate revenue. By new arrange-
ments with regard to the periods of payment of the
malt and hop duties Mr. Gladstone obtained a sum
of £1,400,000, which will never again figure in any
annual return. Then there was the wonderful re-
ceipt of £500,000 from Spain. At the same time he
declared himself unable to provide for the £1,000,000
of Exchequer bonds falling due in November. In-
stead of a surplus, therefore, he showed, as far as
fair yearly income is concerned, .a deficiency of
considerably more than £2,000,000. Since that
period the country have been informed that
£7,000,000 will be required during the next
three years for dockyard fortifications ; the
probable expenditure for the China war bas
assumed greatly increased proportions ; the san-
guine anticipation of elasticity to be imparted to the
revenue by the French treaty has subsided ; there
are signs in the money-market that the interest on
Exchequer Bills may have to be raised ; and the
political affairs of the Continent have become more
threatening in their bearings on England than at
any period in modern memory. Under these cir-
cumstances, to fancy that we can let the paper duty
go without providing for the gap it will create
would be to display a degree of recklessness perhaps
unparalleled in English finance. Next February,
even supposing this source of revenue to be allowed
to remain undisturbed, the personage who may hold,
the unhappy position of Chancellor of the Exche-
quer will have to face a positive' deficiency of
£12,400,000. The income-tax expires in April ;
for Mr. Gladstone announced that for 1861 he
" wished to reserve to Parliament the fullest and
freest discretion ;" while at the same time he pre-
pared the way for a renewed agitation against the
present scale of the tea and sugar duties, by holding
out a prospect that they would be lowered at " no
distant date. There will also be the question as to
the money required for fortifications, and the extra
bills from the East will then be dropping in. It is
to be hoped Parliament will not only appreciate the
privilege reserved to them of dealing with this po-
sition untrammelled by a single act of foresight on
the part of the present Chancellor, but that they
will be able to see their way through it. The in-
quiry for the moment is simply whether their re-
sponsibilities arc to be increased by an extra mil-
lion or two. In 1858, when our fiscal prospects
were comparatively free from complications, Mr.
Milner Gibson deemed it indiscreet to venture be.
vond a theoretical condemnation of the tax.. To
posterity it will seem almost incredible that the
sacrifice which was then admitted to be imprac-
ticable should have been made amid the anxieties
of 1860, and in the face of the obvious fears of both
Houses of Parliament. That the Coinniens would
have thrown out the measure but for their desire
to avoid causing embarrassment to Lord Palmer-
ston, in whom there is undiminished confidence,
had been plainly evinced. That the Lords dread
nothing more than that their party should
at this moment be made responsible for
a Ministerial crisis is also evident. The much-
needed million of revenue coveted on all sides must
therefore apparently be sacrificed, like the Spanish
King, who was roasted to death, because it would
have outraged Court etiquette to remove him, ex-
cept by the hands of an absent official. The attempt I

to raise a popular cry against the Lords for the
objections they hate offered, and which, after all,
are but an cebo of thoie upon which the Lower
House, so far as the intrinsic merits of the question
were concerned, would have been glad to have
acted, plainly calls for reprobation. It -is fair
enough to discuss the expediency .of ;their. mode of.
proceeding ; but to represent it as an intolerable
instance of faction, or. au effort to over-ride the
popular will, is mere bombast. Should the finances.
otthe-country be found next year in the position
• that seems threatened, the damage to the Liberal
party from Mr. Gladstone having been allowed to
• prodeed without check will be far more disastrous
than any that'could now be inflicted upon it by an
adverse vote that would simply enforce caution.
Even on the qizestioni) of precedent, too, there is
much to be said. The furor against the Lords for
having manifested a disposition to stretch their
constitutional privileges may be considered very
vvliolcsonie ; but would it not be equally fatal to
establish the rule, not only that loans may be raised
in .order to enable revenue to be surrendered, but
that the step may be pursued so as to necessitate a
loan and leave a deficiency at the same moment ?
The neglect of any provision for the payment of
the Exchequer Bonds falling due in November
must be met by their renewal ; or, in other words,
by a fresh loan. So that actually.we.are to bor-
row money to compensate for the sacrifice of the
paper duty this year, and to leave for the next year
a still larger deficiency to be supplied by fresh
borrowings, or -by any other means which the
House of Commons, in -their " fullest and freest
discretion," may have the wit to devise. A con-
tinuation of the income tax at 10d. may fall far
short of. our needs. Presentealculations would
indicate at least. an additional 3d. Mr. Glad-.
stone prepared to propose that course ? If not, is
it moral—it might almost be asked is it constitu-
tional—to leave. the exigency to his successor ?
Manchester Guardian.

TEE REFORM BILL-WORKING CLAk'S

D STRATION.

Last night a public meeting was held in St.
Martin's Hall, for the purpose of protesting against
the recent Parliamentary insults to the unrepre-
sented, and to support the Reform Bill as an instal-
ment of the people's rights—Mr. Richard Moore
presided. -

- The CHAIRMAN, in opening the business of the
meeting, explained that it was deemed necessary
the working men should meet and enter their
solemn protest against the insults which had been
passed upon the unrepresented portion of the work-
ing classes in the course of the long And protracted
discussions on the Reform Bill which had been in-
troduced by Lord John Russell, and which, it was
believed, would settle the question of. Reform for
some years to-come. It was much to be regretted
that among those who had uttered these unfounded
charges against the working classes was to be found.
Sir Bulwer Lytton, to whose abilities they all owed
so much. Mr. Black; too, of Edinburgh, seemed to
be labouring under a perfect nightmare on the sub-
ject of extending the franchise to a certain number
of the working classes, and Mr. Sidney Smith, he
had been credibly informed, was at present giving
evidence before the select committee of the Lords
against the propriety of extending the suffrage to
the working classes. (Hear, hear.) Now such was
the feeling amongst the working classes that he
believed if Mr. Gladstone should by any chance be
thrown out of the University of Oxford, the work-
ing men would be but too happy to have an oppor-
tunity of returning Mr. Gladstone to Parliament.
(Loud. cheers.) He also knew that the constituency
of the Attorney-General were proud of having him
as their representative—(cheers)—and their best
thanks were due to Mr. Denman and to Lord J.
Russell for their • speeches in the debate on the
Reform Bill. The bill of Lord Derby's Government
was a mere delusion, and Lord I. Russell had nobly
redeemed his pledge of offering a £6 franchise,
though in other respects he (the chairman) thought
the bill fell short. (Hear, hear.) In conclusion,
he said he should be happy to hear any gentleman
express his opinion oh the business of the meeting.
M. J. KENNY then rose to move the first resolu-
tion, which was as follows :—" That this meeting
indignantly protests against those insults to the
unenfranchised working men of England which
have recently, in coarse and vulgar language, been
repeatedly uttered in the Leoislature, and which
'represenVrtitorn as destitute ofrknowledge, honesty,
and patriotism, and therefore disqualified from be-
coming the citizens of a free country." While he
repudiated the unfair and unfounded language
which had been used against the working classes,
he at the same time would as strongly object to
abusive and unfounded language being used against
members of the aristocracy, and it-was upon that
ground, however radical he might be in his opi-
nions, that he could not join in the course which
was so frequently pursued by Mr. Feargus O'Con-
nor. (Hear, and cheers.) Mr. Kenny then quoted
remarks which had been made by the limes, its -
suiting to the honesty and the intelligence of the
working classes, and remarks which he believed
the writer in the Times knew to be untrue and
unfounded at the time he penned them. (Hear.)
He (Mr. Kenny) would be unwilling to give to the
working classes the power of swamping the other
classes bf the country, as he would hesitate to give
any particular class such a power. (Hear, hear.)
He then referred to the opinions which had been
expressed by several of the speakers in the course
of the debate, and proceeded to cite instances,
which, he submitted, amply proved the intelligence
of the working classes, and concluded by moving
the adoption of the resolution. (Cheers.)
Mr. B. LUCRAFT seconded the resolution, and
said he had no hesitation in characterising that
man as a scoundrel who would dare to call the
working classes, as some of the speakers on the
Reform Bill had done, the scum of the
population. (Loud cheers.) The possession'
of a vote he contended to be a right, and as to
bribery, why, let the Parliament make such an
offence a felony. (Hear, hear.) He was amazed
at the House of Commons cheering such a speech
as that which was made by Sir Bulwer Lytton, in
which he so libelled the working classes of this
country. (Loud cheers.) The time would come
when those who laboured would be more honoured
than those who did not labour. (Cheers.) He
wanted the meeting to understand that if the peo-
ple now remained lukewarm they never would have
any reform. (Hear, hear.) He believed if they got
Lord John Russell's bill the working classes would
be able to show their intelligence, and to prove that
they were real conservatives of order. (Cheers.)
He had great pleasure in seconding the resolution.
(Cheers.)
Mr. HOLYOAKE spoke in support of the resolu-
tion. Whatever apathy there might be among the
people with reference to the Reform Bill, there
should be no apathy exhibited as regarded their own
reputation. (Hear, hear.) He believed that the
£6 householders of 1860 were as intelligent and re-
spectable as the £lO householders of 1831. (Hear,
hear.) He was glad that the present meeting had
been called, not only to defend their own reputa-
tion, but to support their friends in the House of
Commons. (Cheers.) He, therefore, cordially sup-
ported the resolution.

Mr. MALLESON also spoke in support of the reso-
lution, and contended that if the working classes
had come forward, as they ought to have done years
ago, they would now have received a much more
extensive measure of Reform. (Hear, hear.)
The resolution was then unanimously agreed to.
Mr. HENRETTE moved the second resolution,
which was as follows :—" That while advocating
Parliamentary representation on the basis of man-
hood suffrage and the ballot, this meeting resolves
for the present, to accept and support, as an instal-
ment, the bill introduced by Lord John Russell, the
provisions of which, in connection with a lodger
qualification and the abolition of the rate-paying
clauses, will confer the franchise on a considerable
portion of the working population." He believed,
ho said, that the success of the bill in its future
stages depended a good deal upon such meetings as
the present. lle admitted that the present mea-
sure was an insignificant one, and far below i
what.
they had a right to expect; but he was of ()p-
-nion that the working classes should accept it as
an instalment. (Hear, hear.) -It had been assertt'd ,
in the House of Commons that the people did not '
want this measure ; but he contended that there•
could not be a grosser misrepresentation. (Hear,
hear.) He believed that if this measure should be
refused, a much more extensive measure of reform
would be demanded, and which Parliament would
find itself unable to refuse. (Loud cheers.) lie
was of opinion that the present hill would effect a
much more important and extensive change in the
representation in the counties and boroughs than
many supposed. He therefore trusted that they
would approve of this resolution.
Mr. W. WILES seconded the resolution, and in
doing so, spoke at great length in its support. The
people of London, he contended, should meat and
petition and organise as they were doing in the
north. (Cheers.) He rejoiced at,the hostile spirit
which had been manifested in the House of Lords,
for he felt certain it would.rouse a feeling through-