The Sun.
London, England, 1860-03-31 00:00:00

440'

never heard that the tax on French wines, or even
on their silks and gloves, were immoral taxes. Even
the paper duty, though a tax on knowledge, or
rather on its diffusers, like us, of useful knowledge,
we never heard condemned as an immoral tax—yet
now we have the very man who proclaimed, amidst
the applause of the nation, the immorality of the tax
—boldly, it is called, shamelessly, we say—proposin g
to repeal taxes which no one condemns on that ground,
and reimposing and aggravating in amount the
tax whose iniquity and depraving tendency he
had himself so strongly asserted. We must quote
at length the just satire of Mr. DISRAELI on this
point :

" After all thesepromises of the reduction of the taxation
which is injuring the morality of the country, we have a
proposition that this immoral taxation shall be doubled, and
that by the same Minister who had obtained and engaged
the confidence of the country because we believed that it
was his policy to terminate this income tax. And how is this
proposition introduced to our notice ? Strange to say, by
a declaration that, so far as the right hon. gentleman can
judge, though there are great objections to the income
tax, these are objections to which every other tax is liable.
What, then, is the conclusion to whick we must arrive ?
Either that in 15.32 the right honourable gentleman
had not sufficiently considered this question—had not
gone into all the bearings of this tax, of which he spoke
in language so unmeasured, or—which I do not believe
—he must have adopted a course partaking of that immo-
ral character which he has so often athibuted to this tax.
This latter supposition is perfectly impossible. Therefore
we can only suppose that in that eager moment on the
memorable occasion in 1852 when the right hon. gentle-
man laid down the policy regarding the taxation which the
Government then, in a limited form, proposed for adop-
tion, he had not considered the subject sufficiently,
and spoke in a crude and unprepared manner."

As well have a good big bit of iniquity as a small
one, therefore Col. DUNNE'S proposal to lesson ini-
quity by one-tenth was dismissed without cere-
mony. But a different reason must be found for
resisting Mr. WILLIAMS' proposal to exempt in-
comes under £l5O a year. The reason was, " I
want the half million, or more, those poorest of
citizens pay me." The same " moral" argument
was the potent one against Sir M. FARQUHAR'S
suggestion—to commence payment of tax only on
the amount above the sum exempted—thus £lO5
would only pay on the £5. No—that would not
be worth the trouble of collecting ! So every
attempt to modify harshness, unfair pressure, or
inequality of any kind, was met by the one argu-
ment—l must have your money. ROBIN HOOD
gained part of his popularity by relieving the poor
with the plunder of the rich ; Mr. GLADSTONE
seeks popularity in just the opposite way—he says
to the poor clerk, who hardly knows how to
keep up a decent appearance on his £150;
how to pay his wife's draper's bill and his
children's shoe bill—"you must pull out, otherwise
my richer friends must pay the same legacy duties
as other people, or an advanced rate of income tax
on their enormous incomes, or, worse than all, I
shall be unable to consummate my treaty with
France, and then I shall lose all my Manchester
friends—no, you must pay, and your children go
without shoes, or your wife without a new gown,
and you must be content with your office coat." In
sober seriousness there is not a class of persons in
England more pressed to lire than the decent-look-
ing class who have to appear so on incomes ranging
between £lOO and £3OO a year. Mr. WALI'OLE
rightly drew the lines of income pressure there.
Any man with Mr. WALPOLE'S humanity and of
knowledge of life would do the same.
We hope the public will arouse itself before
next session. It may be hopeless to attempt
much now. But we shall pin Mr. GLADSTONE
to his immorality. The Income Tax is im-
moral ; no other tax so tempts people to equivo-
cate and make false statements—why all
the lies that would be told under the Ballot are a
trifle to the lies told to evade Income Tax. Let
the "conscience money," with which Mr. GLAD-
STONE is familiar, bear witness. If so many con-
fess, what must be the number of the non-confes-
sing ? The Income Tax is immoral, for it is, and
ever will be, immoral to tax the precarious incomes
of the professional man and tradesman at the same
rate as that of the proprietor of thousands otacres
or of tens of thousands in the funds.

We would direct public attention to a letter in
another part of our impression respecting the recent
terrible accident at Burradon Colliery. The number
of sufferers by that fearful explosion is very great,
since not only the unfortunate men who were killed
and injured at the time are the victims, but their
families, suddenly deprived of their support, have
the hardships of want superadded to the affliction
of their bereavement. The widows are 32 in
number, and the orphans, boys under 11 and girls
under 15 years of age, are no less than 72. These
are the chief losers, but there are many aged and
infirm persons on whom the loss falls heavily. It
is; therefore, only consistent with our national be-
nevolence that a project should be set on foot to
relieve the misery and destitution which awaits
these unhappy mourners. We trust that those
whose means give them the fortunate privilege of
assisting others will not neglect these truly deserv-
ing cases, and that those more especially who derive
any part of their income from our collieries will feel
themselves called upon for a liberal donation.
Messrs. Barclay and Bevan have kindly consented
to receive the subscriptions, which we may hope
will soon reach an amount that will raise the suf-
ferers above the reach of want.

LYCEUM THEATRE.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

SlR,—Permit me, through your columns, to in-
form the public that the drama of "Marie Ducange,"
announced for representation at this theatre on
Saturday next, has been withdrawn. I have just
received a letter from Mr. Sterling Coyne, inform-
ing me that Mr. Webster, to whom the right of
playing "Marie Ducange" in London belongs,
" will not permit its being played at the Lyceum
Theatre." The announcement having been out for
a week, it is a matter for regret that Mr. Webster
did not think it necessary to intimate his prohibi-
..

tion at an earlier period, instead of delaying it un-
til the eleventh hour, when all my arrangements
were made, and very considerable expense incurred ;
so compelling me, most unwillingly, to disappoint
my friends. I have determined to substitute
" Suzanne ; or, the Power of Love," for the with-
drawal piece,
and I trust to the kindness of my
friends for that indulgence which the circumstances
of the case requires... I remain, Sir, yours, &c.,

Lyceum Theatre, March 29, 1860 CELESTE..

SUICIDE OF A YOUNG- FEMALE.

Last evening Mr. Humphreys, the coroner, held
an inquiry at the Bricklayers' Arms, Gloucester-
street, Commercial-road East, respecting the death.
of Julia Louisa Baker, aged nineteen years, who
committed self-destruction by shooting herself
through the heart with a pistol, under the follow-
ing. circumstances :
It appeared froin the voluminous evidence that
the deceased had been in service, but was of a very
haughty disposition. She was frequently quar-
relling, and recently she had been discharged from
her situation, which gave her great annoyance.
The deceased had taken a lodging in Thurlow-
place, Commercial-road, Stepney. She c tiled to see
a Mr. Berkley, and remained until half.past nine
o'clock on Wednesday night. The landlord saw
her, and after taking a glass of water she went,
downstairs to the kitchen. She had not been ab-
sent more than a minute when the report of fire-
arms
was heard. The landlord ran into the apart-
ment, and found the deceased in the act of falling
upon the table. A pistol was lying by her side
and blood was issuing from a wound in her breast.
A messenger was sent for medical assistance, lnit
life was extinct before the surgeon arrived.
Verdict—" Temporary insanity."