The Sun.
London, England, 1858-06-22 00:00:00

paper, be was not opposing tne house going into corn- i
mittee of supply. It was immaterial whether his resolu-
tion were carried or negatived, so fares regarded the sub- 1
sequent going into committee of supply, at lie believed, I
should it be the house's pleasure to adopt the resolution,
a motion could be made immediately afterwards to go
into supply, There had been some difficulty with re-
gard to propositions such as he had put upon the paper.
He knew that many experienced members of this house
entertained of jections to unofficial persons presuming to
thatthe
on 9
rpermopisossiein thef xta teers. nis of a
weremotionis fiscal
who le h
thoughtangesor
There those
taking
such propositions should be left to the financial mini,ter,
and that private members coming forward and
such a course as he took was not conducive to the public
1 welfare. He remembered, when this objection was
-
I urged on a former occasion, that the present Chancellor
of the Exchequer held that to say that unofficial went
bars were to be precluded from making propositions of
this kind was a very dangerous doctrine, and one that
the house ought not to sanction. Therefore, recollect-
ing well the right hon. gentleman's feelings upon this
matter, he approached this question on the present occa-
sion with more than usual confidence. He might be
asked why he had not brought forward this questi m as
a substantive motion, but bad preferred to connect it
with a vote of supply, and his reason was, that he
thought that the subject to which this re-olution related
was intimately connected with the resolution about to he
moved in committee of supply, "That a sum of money
should be voted for the purpose of promoting education
in England and Wales." He believed that the repeal
of this duty, which stood in he way of the diffusion of
knowledge, was a proposition fur promoting education
througeout England and Wales. (Hear, hear.) If he
were to say that he bad high authorities in favour of
such a motion as he now submitted, every hon. member
wool i feel the truth of his statement ; in fact, if he were
to mention the distinguished persons who had voted for
such a proposition he should have to detain the house too
long. He was overwhelmed with authorities. The diffi-
culty he had felt was this, that he could not get anybody
to agree to place his opinions in the form of a minute
on their journals ; to take the first step towards carry-
ing his views into practical legislation. He knew the
Chancellor of the Exchequer to be ie favour of this motion,
and the right hon. member for the University of Oxford
had, on many occasions, expressed opinions favourable
to such a proposition as was now made. In fact, he
had not found any enemy—perhaps enemy was too
strong a word—openly avowing himself to be such, to
this proposal except the right hon. gentleman the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer to the late administration. He
went, he thought, the length of saying that he con-
sidered the paper direr a good tax in itself, thereby im-
plying that it should be continued as a Government
oranch of our revenue. He was not asking the
house to vote the repeal of the tax at this moment, cr
to disturb the financial arrangements of the present year ;
he was only asking the house to contradict the pro-
posal that the paper duty was a good source of taxa-
,ion, and that its maintenance was inconsistent with the
publics welfare. If be were to bring forward this motion
siropts as alfinancial proposal ; simply one for relieving
the community of so much taxation, and also of a mis-
c'lievous kind of taxation, he should have a very good
case, putting aside altogether those important educa-
tional views which were connected with the subject. He
believed he could prove by past experience that taxation
was one thing and revenue another, and that it was pos-
sible to repeal taxation, if done judiciously, without per-
manently injuring the public revenue. (Hear.) No
one had more lucidly explained that doctrine to the
house than the right hon.2gentleman the member for
the University of Oxford, for he remembered him telling
them that Sir R. Peel, during a period of eleven years,
had repealed many taxes and had put on other taxes,
but the balance of remission of taxation amounted to
7,000,0001. per annum. But at the end of the eleven
years (here was not a loss of 7,000,0001. a year, there
was a gain of 5,000,0001. a year, thus showing that by
judicious selection of taxes to be repealed, he had re-
lieved the industry of the country from oppressive
burdens without injuring, the revenue of the state—
(hear, hero)—and, indeed, in the particular matter of
the excise duties that eminent statesman repealed
at the same thee about 1,000,000/. of excise duties, and
at the end of the period of eleven years the revenue
from the excise duties was 1,500,0001. more than before.
Thus he proved incontestihly that taxes starved one
anotuer. And though they might be told that Arthur
Young was in favour of multiplicity of taxes, he thought
that you could get a larger revenue by a few large prin-
cipal duties, and that you could raise your money with
the least po-sible injury to trade, commerce, and manu
factures. The paper duty was a most pernicious tax in
every point of view, and from a return which he moved
for a short time ago as to the number of paper mills in
England, it appeared that during the last 20 years the
paper wills in England had diminished in number from
525 to 393. He bad bad the honour of waiting with a de-
putation on the Earl of Derby, and when that fact was
mentioned to the noble earl he said it was owing to the
fact of advanced civilisation which caused trade to be
carried on by large capitalists, and so reduce the number
of manufacturing establishments. He spoke of congestion
from advanced civilisation, but he (Mr. M. Gibson)
thought, with all respect, that the noble earl was mis-
taken, because, if he were right, we should see the same
effect in other branches of industry. We did not see the
same thing in silk, cotton, or other mills; they were not
diminished, hut, on the contrary, they went on con-
stantly increasing, whilst with regard to paper the manu-
facture was falling more and more into few houses ; and
the whole supply of the United Kingdom must, if they
continued this obnoxious excise system, fall into the
hands of a few large capitalists. The trade required more
capital to carry on the paper manufacture than if it were
free, and this gradually created that congestion of capital 1
which was complained of. It must be remembered that
the manufacture of paper was carried on in rural parts, it
was carried on beside the pure streams, and employed the
peasantry ; but if this system was continued, they would
destroy ail those small rural paper mills, and would drive
tee whole paper manufacture into the manufacturing dis-
tricts, and it would oe placed in the hands of persons
who used steam instead of the pure water power of the
rura, districts. The immediate object of his motion was
,o show the great inconsistency of asking Parliament to
Licrease the vote for education when they maintained
this tax, which stood in the way of the diffusion of know-
ledge among the masses of the people. flow did the
fluty press ? Nut on a large book, where it might be
-aid that it was imperceptibly minute, but on a cheap
book, for the amount of duty was large, just in propor-
tion as the publication to which it was applied was ex-
tended in its circulation. A cheap publication, with a
large circulation, was what they required should exist,
and that it shou n be good, if they desired to spread
knowledge among the great classes of the community.
What was the history of the origin of the paper duty ?
It arose in the time of Anne, and they would find it was
just after newspapers began to be party organs, and to
reflect on ministers of the time, and on different party
leaders. (Hear.) He remembered that Mr. Hallam
used the words, "the vivacity of the press attracted the
notice of the Ministers of the day." A message was
Commons
down from the Crown, informing the House of
Pi bres
ofr
awtihieterye 0 too free,
ef reiel,nti
Ministers
3 theyof
the
I:, cymt eauln odwn
'''it, with
heh ttthet3u
pc
institutionsahcountry, and it called on
the House of Commons
to take some steps to put
down these great evil-. Tee house replied that
they would endeavour to find out a remedy for
the mischief. And what was the remedy I Why, it
Was suggested that taxes might have all the effect that
censorship or actual licensing of the press had in other
countries ; and for the first time taxes on knowledge
were invented in oominittee in that hones for the express
and avowed purpose of restraining the newspaper press.
The taxes imposed were the stamp duty, the advertise-
ment duty, and the paper du'y, the two first of which
they had repealed. Their position was now reversed ;
they ware now advocates fur education, In the days
when these taxes were imposed there were objections
wads to the diffusion of knowledge, and therefore, though
the Parliament of Anne might he cmsietent in imposing
these duties, the Parliament of Victoria was inconeiss
tent to continue to retain them. (f-fear.) How did the
tax affect particular pubtcations ? He found a speech
in a public paper delivered by the Secretary for
t'e Colonies the other day iu Her fordshire.
(The honourable member then read an extract from
the speech of Sir E. B. Lytton, detailing the ad-
vantages cf having a penny Conservative newspaper.)
T,l:, conservative organ he ha I no doubt had a large
circulation, but if it were as large as was represented it
roust pay au enormous amount of taxation. If its cir-
culation was any,laing, like 50,000 a day, as was
netted,repre-
he should think that the ainoutit of taxation was
eUI. a day ; and if its circulation was 25,000, the tax
would be 251. a day. What a (Redaction was that to
make.
?
fromthe returns of thecon-ervVive cheap- news•
paper Why, it was impossible, if so large a sum were
thaucted, to carry it on. Io the instance of a cheap
paper, , hey could not add the tea to theprice ; they not charge a penny and fraction of farthing'
a a ;
and this deluctiug roust therefore ho wale from the funds
of tbo:e who were conducting that
that deduction Was that it rendered
iatper. The effect of
the paper on an inferior kind of materianlecaensds necessary t o
dp rri
.r.dt
the conductors of that paper unable to employ rendered
ewes t
literary talent, and in all respects prevented toe paper.
being wade as good as it would be. If this
duty were
repealed the conductors of such a paper would not put
the 501. or 251. a day into their pockets, for there were
other cheap papers, aid they would be compelled by
c enpetition to apply the money to the improvement of
the publication. The same argument applied to all clnap
literature. The tax made cheap literature bad litera-
tura ; it stood in the way of having the beat wri'ing and
having the best mi ds employed on cheap literature.
%Vas it jw.icious policy for them, when they were allew-
ing cheap periodic ale, not to take care chat this cheap
1 terature should be as good as it c iuld be ! Could any
paltry considerations of revenue stand in the way of the
moral :nap v me t and advancement of the great body
of the popul i rim of tbi.. country ! C ar es Knight was
of opinion that thee made bad literature LI , he epetatiou
of this most mischievous tax. He said :—'' Tne prubl-m
especially necessary to solve upon the principle that,
' Le bent of civilisation is to make good things cheap,
cannot be salved in England under the paper duty. All
literature is tending to cheapness ; taxed literature to be
cheap cnu,t lose some portien of excellence or involve a
lose. A revolution has Leen effected in which sound
literature might have higher encouragement in the
many than in the few, if the government did not stand
in the w,y," That put in very clear and forcible lan-
-1 guage the pernicious effect of the paper duty on the
cheap literature of the country. They had some qualms
of conscience when imposing this paper duty, for they
enacted that there should be certain exceptions. They
(ts:ii,id that the Holy Scriptures should be exempted from
ar,ie papee tax, and they also exernp'ed the Psalms books
the b-utch C nfession of Faith, and then they
'enacted that books printed in the Latin,,
Greek, Oriental
and Northern languages, at the Universities of Oxford,