The Sun.
London, England, 1856-01-21 00:00:00

Government of Great Britain more sincerely desire to
live in intimate and friendly relations than that of the
United States. It is in accordance with the spirit which
her Majesty's Government thus distinctly avows that
her Majesty's Government proposes to that of the United
States that the two Governments of Great Britain and
the United States should at once endeavour to come to
some friendly understanding as to the Government
which should be definitely formed at Greytown, in order
to admit of the Mosquito authority being withdrawn
therefrom ; and as to the engagements which such Go-
vernment should enter into with regard to the claims of
Costa Rica and the future non-molestation of the Mos-
quitos ; and that the two Governments should endeavour
in the same manner to come to some friendly under-
standing as to the mode by which protection may be
most effectually afforded to the Mosquito Indians.
" It is the desire of her Majesty's Government not only
to maintain the convention of 1850 intact, but to consoli-
date and strengthen it, by strengthening and consolidat-
ing the friendly relations which it was calculated to
cement and perpetuate. Her Majesty's Government re-
grets that any misunderstanding should have arisen
with respect to its terms, but it entertains the firm be-
lief that by the explanations it has now given, and the
proposal it makes, that misunderstanding will be com-
pletely removed."
The elaborate " Remarks" of Mr. Buchanan upon this
statement occupy five olosely-printed columns of the
American journal, but the demands upon our space ren-
der it impossible for us to give any summary of his
reply. Mr. Buchanan says, at the conclusion of this
lengthy document, " the Government of the United
States most cordially and earnestly unite in the desire
expressed by her Majesty's Government not only to
maintain the convention of 1850 intact, but to consoli-
date and strengthen it, by strengthening and consolidat-
ing the friendly relations which it was calculated to
cement and perpetuate." Under these mutual feelings,
it is deeply to be regretted that the two Governments
entertain opinions so widely different in regard to its
true effect and meaning.

INCOME TAX BEFORM.

GREAT MEETING IN BIRMINGHAM.

BIRMINGHAM., Saturday.— A town's meeting for the
purpose of taking th,above important subject into con-
sideration was held in the Town-hall here last evening.
A few days since a requisition, numerously signed, was
presented to the Mayor (T. R. T. Hodgson, Esq.), and
his worship instantly signified his compliance with the
request made to him by convening the meeting.
The attendance was very large. In the unavoidable
absence of the Mayor, the Deputy-Mayor, ARTHUR
RvnaND, Esq., presided ; and in a few brief sentences
opened the business of the meeting.
Mr. MUNTX, who was very warmly received, said he
had had good opportunities of judging of the working
of the tax. Many of his constituents, especially those
who might be said to belong to the working classes, bad
called upon him, produced their books, and shown him
that repeatedly they had had to pay for what they never
earned, becalms, being charged with the tax, they bad no
remedy or redress except they exposed their books—
(hear)—and not only exposed their books, but exposed
them to men in the same trade who were commissioners,
exposed them to the very banker by whom they existed,
and who might find something in their books which
would induce hire to put an end to their career as trades-
men by not making the advances on which their credit
depended. (Hear.) This was what he called a denial
of justice to every man. He had seen cases in which
a man was surcharged three times, and yet not able to
have redress because he dared not show his books.
(Shame.) It was bad enough to rob a man at night in
the open air ; but to make a man rob himself by a vile,
in,quitous law was ten times worse. (Cheers.) The man
who was robbed by another had the chance of being
able to defend himself, but the man who had only the
choice of x obbing himself to prevent his being ruined alto-
gether
was infinitely more to be pitied. Thee, again, a
man with a casual income is charged every year accord-
ing to a certain estimate, whether he gets that income
or not. A man who hold annuities is el arsed the same
as the man who holds bona fide stock. (Hear.) Sush
a thing was a fraudulent transaction—he could not call
it by any other name—(cheers)—and any government
who supported such a law merely because it was an easy
way of extracting a large amount from the people's
pockets, part justly and part unjustly, was not deserving
the confidence of the people. (Applause.) He knew it
would be said, " Oh, these people want to oppose the
Government ; they want to get rid of the war." Now,
he thought every one in Birmingham ought to know that
he could not be chargeable with any such intention.
(Hear.) He had supported the war because he believed
it to he a war of justice, a war of necessity, upon which
the independence and existence of this country depends.
(Cheers.) No one would be better pleased than he should
be to see an honourable, a firm, and a lasting peace se-
cured to the world, provided the dignity of England was
preserved in securing it. Give him a peace of this kind
and he would accept it, but he should never submit to
one which would only give a little breathing time to our
enemies, and oblige us ere long to begin everything dc
novo. (Cheers.) A few men meeting together for a few
hours could make a just and equitable tax upon property.
Ile proposed in the House of Commons that, to get rid
, f the inquisitorial power, the wisest way would be to
al ow a man to take affidavit that his income amounted
to so much. "Oh, but you would be encouraging people
to swear falsely," said some one. No; he did not believe
anything of the sort would be the result. He would not
have a set of commissioners guessing at a man's income ;
Le would not call upon a man to disprove this guess by
fxposing his concerns to them ; but he would leave it
to the conscience of every honest man, and he had too
good an opinion of Englishmen so hAT;.va tr,o- ft,. oath
they took would he often a false one. (Cheers) He
considered, therefore, that at that moment they were
bound to call on Government to do away with anything
that was unjust. His presence there that night bad
nothing to do with the war, but he attended merely be-
cause he believed that a great number of his townsmen
and constituents were placed by this objectionable, un-
sound, and iniquitous law in such a situation that they
must rob themselves to an extent unknown, whilst
others are allowed to escape. The resolution he had to
propose was, "That in the opinion of this meeting the
present sy- tem of levying a tax on industrial incomes is
unjust, and that an equitable adjustment is essentially
ntcessary ; and that the inquisitorial powers under
which the tax is now assessed ought to be abolished."
W. SCHOLEFIELD, Esq., M.P. seconded the resolution,
and was received with loud cheers. He said, whether
we were to have a peace such as we all desired—an
honourable and a lasting peace, such as perhaps the cir-
cemstances which they had read within the last four and
twenty hours would lead them to hope for—or whether
we were to have a further continuance of that just and
righteous war in which we were now engaged—in either
case they might depend upon it the income and property
tax would remain for many years, even were it not re-
taintd as a permanent engine of taxation. Now, with
retard to the first part of that resolution which referred
to the tax as now levied on industrial incomes, as com-
pared with permanent incomes, one would have supposed
it impossible that there would be two opinions.. Here
was a man, on the one hand, with an income of 5001.,
derived from an investment in the funds or in land
5001. for himself, for his children, and for his posterity
for ever. Here was, on the other side, a man with
5001. derived from the exercise of his own industry
—an income which might fail to-morrow in con-
sequence of ill health, which might totally fail
in consequence of his death ; and yet they would
find men who were prepared to tell them that these two
persons were in precisely similar circumstances—that
the one man is not richer than the other mans—that a
man with 5001. a year which might cease to-morrow and
a man with 5001. which would be his own, his children's,
or his posterity's for ever, were equally rich and equally
subject to taxation under this act. (Cheers.) It really
seemed almost impossible for any man to entertain such
an opinion—(hear)—and he assured them that in meet-
ing arguments of that kind he was completely non-
plussed. He (Mr. Scholefield) had heard the late Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer, than whom ho did not know a
man endowed with more extraordinary powers of elo-
quence and argument, speak for two hours as to their
identity, but every man of good common sense would
agree that persons of precarious and permanent incomes
were persons of different circumstances, An d ought to be
taxed in a very different manner. (Cheers ) In what
way taxation was to be made equal in regard to the two 1
men referred to might be matter for difference of opi-
nion. The Income-tax Association, who had called that
meeting, insisted upon capitalisation of income as being
the best mode of arriving at a just decision on the sub-
ject. (Hear.) They concluded in their report and pro-
spectus that probably three years was the utmost value
which they could put upon an industrial income—(hear)
—whereas the value of a landed income' might be as-
sumed to be worth 30 years' purchase. He was not
going to decide whether three or five years was a proper
period for capitalisation, for it was of comparatively
small importance. All they wanted to arrive at was,
that they should draw a fair and reasonable distinction
between the two classes of income. He said that if the
Government would at once say, "We will acknowledge
the difficulty, and do our best to remedy it," but he (Mr.
Scholefield) would not call for a measure completely and
accurately just towards every class and individual of this
country—for this he believed was perfectly im possible with
the diverse interests at present existing. They did not
, want this, but they did want an approximation ; and
whether it was by capitalisation to extend over three
years, more or less, or whether it was by altering the
rate of taxation upon these incomes, was, comparatively
speaking, of little importance, although he most decid-
'edly gave the preference to capitalisation. It mattered
little what mode they adopted, but do for heaven's sake
adopt some means that the great disparity between these
two kinds of income should be remedied. As re,garde I
the inquisitorial powers under which the tax was now
assessed, the hon. gentleman said that it was well known
that individuals making a fair, honourable statement of
their income were after that surcharged and compelled
to pay. Now, when a man made a fair and just state-
ment of the income he was earning—to surcharge that
man was robbery and nothing else. They might qualify
the act of the assessor in any way they pleased, and use
milder terms, but he (Mr. Scholefield) could only come
to this conclusion, that if they did surcharge him they
robbed him, or compelled him to return an amount he
never earned, and thereby compelled him to rob himself.
He must pay or appeal, and they knew what the appeal
meant. It meant this, " You must bring your books,
and you must expose the whole of your trading trans-
actions to the individuals who themselves have commit-
ted the wrong upon you of surcharging you." The In-
come Tax Reform Association proposed a remedy that
upon appeal a statement of income, supported by oath
or declaration of the tax-payer, should be final. This
method seemed at the first blush to be a very sweeping
one ; it would manifestly open the door to a great
. amount of fraud, and every fraudulent man would
unquestionably avail hinnself of this method to return