The Sun.
London, England, 1857-01-16 00:00:00

LONDON, FiiIDAY EVENING, JANUARY 161 1857.

LIVERPOOL REVISION OF TAXATION.

To the Middle, Commercial, Manufacturing, and Indus
trial Classes of the United Kingdom. '
Fellow-Countrymen, —ln redeeming our promise to point
out more distinctly the evils of the system of taxation
which prevails at present in this country, and to suggest a
better, we adopt the heading prefixed to our first address
by the editor of the Times, though we have no intention
of replying seriously to the bantering commentary with
which he has been pleased to accompany it. To do this
would be sheer supererogation, since you are able to judge
for yourselves how far that commentary applies to or is
justified by our remonstrances. To some portions of it
we shall allude, because they embody and foster very
common prejudices; as to the rest, we shall only ob-
serve that if our critic thinks the present system a
good one he ought to have defended it ; while, if he
deems it bad, it was his duty to state what he would
substitute for it. Having neglected to do either he
has only wasted time, perverted talent, and mocked
the public, by indulging in burlesque misrepresen-
tations of those who do suggest reforms which, in their
judgment, will be most beneficial to all classes of the com-
munity.

There must be taxation. The sole question is, whether it
shall be direct, indirect, or a combination of both. Now, we
are firmly convinced that a system of direct taxation only is
that which will best promote the interests of this country.
It is not true, as the Times suggests, that we contem-
plate "the abolition of every impost whatever, except one,"
or that we are so foolish as to imagine that such a tax, how-
ever just and equitable, can be levied " in a manner which
shall be perfectly inoffensive and agreeable ;" or, as it is else-
where worded, " both pleasant to all palates and harmless
to all constitutions." What we do contemplate is, the
abolition of all imposts on commodities and materials of
manufacture, and the substitution of a tax on property,
income, and earnings of all kinds, fairly assessed, according
to their capitalised value ; retaining, if necessary or advis-
able, the succession duties, and some others, direct in their
operation, cheaply collected, and unexceptionable in their
nature as any taxes can be. We also believe that much, if
not all, that is annoying and inquisitorial in the proceedings
of agents now irresponsible may be avoided under the plan
suggested by one of your body—Mr. J. R. Jeffrey—in his
evidence before the select committee of the House of Com-
mons. It may suffice here to state that one part of that plan
4mbodies great improvements in the machinery for working
the tax, the effects of which will be to secure fitness and re-
sponsibility in the agents, and to prevent all unnecessary
publicity. We confess that we are not sanguine enough to
imagine that, by any process, taxation can be rendered either
pleasant or palatable to all parties. It is at best a necessary
evil, but we see uo reason why the evil should be aggravated
by gross injustice, preposterous waste, or most unwarrantable
exposure of private affairs.
It is not true, as the Times states, that our " plan" in-
cludes a tax of " not less than 6s. a pound, more probably
7s. or Bs., on the estimated income of all the property in
the kingdom." Supposing that incomes and earnings of all
kinds only amounted to 650,000,0001. a year (a moderate cs
timate, considering that much more than a tenth of this sum
was raised by taxes last year), the Editor will see that a tax
of 2s. in the pound would raise the revenue he mentions,
paying the cost of collection besides, even on the present ex-
travagant scale ; and also that, retaining other direct taxes,
a smaller rate per cent. than this would be sufficient.
It is not true that we propose to tax " the fortunate pro-
prietor of a house, or a farm, or a bank, or a gallery of
pictures, a service of silver plate, a diamond necklace, or
anything that can be sold in the market, only 1 per cent.
annually, or, at the most, 11 per cent." We would assess all
such things at their marketable value, and charge one uniform
rate on the interest of that value.
Neither is it true that the " Liverpool Financial Reformers"
contemplate exacting from persons having an income of less
than 1001. from the Funds a contribution of "30 or 40 per
cent. of the annual dividend ;" but, inasmuch as an income of
55/. from the Funds has a present marketable value of about
2,9701., which may be realised any day, while the clerk or
artisan's income of 100/., supposing it to be worth fully five
times that amount, only represents at the utmost a capital of
5001., they think it a crying injustice that one should be liable
to the tax and the other wholly escape it.
But the most invidious of the many misrepresentations of
the Times is, perhaps, that which, for the purpose of exciting
prejudice, seeks to identify us with the town dues' question.
Our reply is simply that, inasmuch as we are neither the
makers, supporters, nor advocates of taxes on trade, and have
nothing whatever to do with them beyond paying them, the
sneers of the Times fall wholly beside the mark in this matter
as they do in others,
We now proceed with the general question, and in the first
instance we beg to call your most serious attention to the
mode in which indirect taxation operates.
From the official " Finance Accounts" for the year ending
March 31, 1856, page 8, we find that the nett revenue from
taxes was 69,808,9961. 2s, 2d., and that of this sum Customs
and Excise duties yielded 40,345,1804 3s. 3d., or very con-
siderably more thp.n half. Of this amount no less than
36,607,7941. 10s. bid. appears to have been levied on 15
articles only—viz., butter, cheese, coffee, corn, currants,
figs, malt, pepper, raisins, rice, spirits, sugar, tea, tobacco,
and wine (see Finance Accounts, pages 21, 22, 23, and 26).
Enormous as this sum may seem, it is not half, or anything
like half, what these duties actually cost the country in en-
hanced prices to cover expenses and profits of importers and
dealers, and charges for collection in the shape of actual
payments, and in restricted or utterly prevented trade, in
the way of loss, to say nothing of an enormous military and
naval expenditure, now, it may, more or less necessary for
the defence of our coasts against neighbours whom the Cus-
tomhouse makes strangers, and whose alliance with us, now
at the mercy of the first diplomatic squabble about some
matter of equal importance with a Spanish marriage, or a
Syrian invasion, would soon be made enduring by open ports
and free trade. Now, we ask you to consider seriously whe-
ther anything can be more preposterous than a system which
imposes upon the country a burden of 2s. at the very least
for the purpose of realising Is. ?
Here you see what trade and industry contributed. What
was the quota from land ? You know that all the land of
this country not retained by the Crown was parcelled out at
the Conquest, on condition of military service, and that this
condition was afterwards commuted for a tax of 4s. in the
pound, " at a rack rent, and according to the true yearly
value thereof." We find from Sir J. Sinclair's " history of
the Revenue" that, during the reign of William 111., from
1688 to 1702, the whole sum raised by taxes was 72,047,3591.
to which the land tax contributed 19,174,0591., or consider-
ably more than a fourth part. Now, last year the nett
amount of the land tax was just 1,157,5251. Os. 11d. (" Fi-
nance Accounts," p. 28,) being less than a 62d part of the
Lett revenue from taxes only. It is not worth while to con-
sider by what sort of legislative juggling this transfer of the
burden, from land to trade and industry, has been
effected, and whether the injustice cannot be redressed ?
Is it rational to seek the repeal of a tax which does reach
laud, though inadequately, and leave it liable only to the frac-
tion of a farthing in the pound, to which the "45." have
dwindled, thus inevitably making the burden, so ingeniously
shifted to your shoulders, still heavier than it is '1 We think
that nothing can be more irrational ; but we are sure that
such is the tendency of the present agitation for the immediate
reduction and early abolition of the present tax.
We have stated our reasons for believing that the gross
produce of Customs and Excise duties is not half of what they
actually cost the country. It would be well if this doubling
of the burden were all the evil occasioned by indirect taxa-
tion, but it constitutes only a small portion of that evil. We
crave your attention to other consequences which Row una-
voidably from it.

It is demonstrable that the effect of such duties as those on
butter, cheese, and corn, is to raisethe price of all the butter,
cheese, and corn consumed in this country, whether of home
or foreign growth, by at least the amount of those duties, and
thus the consumer, even though he never uses an atom of the
foreign articles, to which the tax is ostensibly limit* does,
in reality, pay that tax, not to the State, but for the benefit
of the home producers. They are, in fact, protective duties
imposed upon the whole community for the advantage of one
particular class, and that not the working agriculturists,
whose interests are most strictly identified with the prospe-
rity of commerce and industry, but of the owners of land,
who are our legislators.

The duties on commodities not produced in this country,
whether levied by weight or measure, are equally objection
able in another way. Being precisely the same in amount
whatever the price and quality of the article, they, of
course, press most heavily on the description of goods in
general use —that is to say, on thoso used by the poor—
and most lightly on those which aro only accessible to the
rich. Thus, whether the actual value of tea be 10d. or 6s.
per lb. ; that of spirits is. or 10s. per gallon; that of
tobacco, 6d. or ss. per lb ; or that of wine 6d. or lOs. per
bottle, the duties, in all cases, are the same, the poor paying
several times over snore per cent, than the rich. The effects
are to limit consumption, to restrict trade, and often to pre-
vent it altogether. For example : a paltry revenue of 26,2311
appears to have been extracted last year from figs. Now,
there is a description of figs suitable for general consumption,
and produced in large quantities, which, we are assured by
an experienced importer, might be introduced and sold at 4d.
per pound but for the duty, which altogether excludes them
from the market. We aro further informed that a trade
in this article, amounting to a large sum annually, might
speedily be developed but for this obstacle. You see, there-
fore, that a lucrative branch of trade, a new opening to
our manufactures, increased employment to the industrial
classes, and the introduction of a cheap and wholesome
fruit, are all prevented by an impolitic tax, which pro-
duces comparatively nothing to the State. And this is
but a sample, derived from one article only, of the effects
of that short-sighted and moot injurious system which so

many of you seem disposed at present to extend and aggra-
vate.

Another objection to indirect taxation is that, under it,
the working man, who has nothing but his labour to depend
upon, consumes, individually, of articles not produced in this
country, such as coffee, sugar, and tea, as much as the rich
man who is in the enjoyment of thousands of patrimonial
acres, and, if he be in good health and constant employment,
probably more. Thus he pays through his stomach at least
as much as the rich man, and he also pays, indirectly, the
protective duties on butter, cheese, and corn, which enhance
the prices of the rich man's produce at home, even though he
never use an ounce of the things on which the duties are
actually paid. Moreover, under this system, contribution to
national necessities becomes, in defiance of every sound prin-
ciple, a matter of choice or accident—the rich unmarried
miser need pay nothing ; the poor man, with a large family,
must pay heavily.

It is, in fact, almost impossible to exaggerate the injustice
inherent in and the evils inevitably resulting from our present
system of indirect taxation. The latter may be thus epito-
mised,—improvidence, fraud, political corruption, perjury,
adulteration, restriction of trade and industry, contempt of
revenue legislation, which soon leads to contempt of all other,
laws, smuggling, blooished, murder, and, in short, almost
every kind of villany. On the other hand, it is equally im-
possible to exaggerate the benefits which would flow from the
abolition of that system. We believe that, with perfectly un-
trammelled commerce, this country would soon become the
European depot for the produce of the whole world, thus
attaining a degree of greatness and prosperity suck as has
never yet been seen on earth ; and that, with all mankind
for our customers and friends, and our example spreading
daily throughout the nations, the bare idea of war would soon
be scouted by the common sense and common interests of the
whole family of man. Talk of diplomacy, of treaties of peace,
and alliance ! the best of all diplomatists, the most perma-
nent of pacificat3rs, will be perfect freedom of trade.
We are quite prepared to hear the'se anticipations de-
nounced as Utopian by many who will not give themselves
the trouble to reflect, and by others who find it easier, per-
haps more profitable, to sneer at reforms suggested by others
than to set seriously about the removal of abuses the existence
of which they cannot deny, even though those abuses are
preying on the very vitals of the country, crippling its re li
-
sources, and driving every year thousands of its best, brav'est,
and most enterprising sons to seek in foreign climes e liveli-
hood which, under better government, they might obtain at
home much more advantageously both to themselves and the
nation. We have, nevertheless, an abiding faith in the sound•
dreadness
of
o fthose
unreflecting anticipations.
censure,
interested Therefore,
opposition, or hollow uninfluenced by the
and heartless ridicule, we proceed to indicate the means by
which, according to our conviction, this great work of na-
tional regeneration may be effected.
The remedy we propose is the abolition of all indirect
taxes, and the substitution of a just and equitable system of
direct taxation, of which a real property and income tax
shall be the main feature. The present tax which, on so many
grounds, has so jnstly excited your indignation is not such a
tax at all. As the act originally proposing it properly alleges,
it is a tax "on profits arising from property, professions,
I trades, and offices ;" but, unfortunately the profits, whether
their sources be transitory or permanent, whether worth 2,
3, 10, or 30 years' purchase, whether held in perpetuity, or
entirely dependent on the health and life of the person re-
ceiving them, all are treated as if they were exactly equal
value, all are subjected to one truly Procrustean process by
the tax collector. What we suggest as a substitute for this,
and for all indirect taxes, is that all property, whether pro-
ductive or unproductive, and all incomes and earnings
above pauperism, shall be capitalised according to their mar-
ketable or their calculated value, and that the ordinary inte-
rest of that capitalised value shall be the sum on which the
tax, whether that be 5 or 10 per cent., or whatever it may
be, shall be levied.
Under this system perfect justice would be done to al
classes, and whatever statesmen and politicians, anxious to
avoid trouble or interested in the preservation of abuses, may
say to the contrary, there is no real difficulty in the way of
carrying out the necessary arrangements. There are in cont.
mon and daily use tables in which talogvalue of property held
in fee, on lease for years, or for lives, of terminable and per-
petual annuities, and of the expectation of life at different
ages, is calculated to a fraction. In point of fact, the obsta-
cles which our rulers and legislators choose to represent as
insuperable are daily encountered and overcome by every in-
surance-office in the kingdom.

Justice being thus made the basis of all taxation and wise
economy, accompanied by holiest and intelligible accounts,
the rule of Government, we should expect soon to see such
an improvement in the tone of public morality that to cheat
the State, now too generally regarded as the merest pecca-
dillo in tie world, will be looked upon pretty mach in the
same light as the picking of pockets or robbing *a the high-
way. Thus the patriot, the moralist, the philanthropist, the
lover of peace, the friend of progress, and the taxpayer him-
self, have all the strongest motives and most direct interest
in bringing about that entire revision of our fiscal system
which we recommend,
There is one other point to which we must allude the
way in which this change would affect the industrial
classes.
To the working man in the receipt of, say 2)s. per week,
it may seem at first sirrht that it would be a great hardship
to have 2s. stopped weekly from his wages, if a tax so
high as 10 per cent, were found requisite ; which we by no
means anticipate. But, supposing that it were so, when he
comes to consider that ho will have all his necessaries and
luxuries untaxed; that in all probability the consequences
of the immense impetus thus given to commerce and manu-
factures will be constant instead of precarious employment,
and the raising of his wages from 20s. to 255. a week ; and,
lastly, that when receiving no wages, from sickness or other
cause, he would pay no taxes, as he now must do, whether
sick or well, working or idle, ho will see that nobody has a
greater interest than himself in the substitution of direct for
indirect taxation. In order still further to reconcile the
working classes to the proposed change, which may seem
hard to the unreflecting portion of them until its advantag es
are proved by their own experience, we would also sugge st
that every man paying this tax should have a vote for
members of Parliament, thus realising for the first time the
constitutional theory of the coincidence of representation
with taxation.
We have now, fellow-countrymen, indicated the principl e
on which a just system of direct taxation may be founded.
It is, as wo have previously observed, for our rulers and
representatives to work out that principle for you to
insist that this shall be done. The present tax "on profits"
is one mass of anomalous injustice, so well calculated to
disgust you with direct taxation' that it might have been
contrived for that especial purpose : but it differs most
widely from what direct taxation ought to be and might bo
made. Still the existing impost as it stands, with all its
faults, its iniquities if you will, is infinitely preferable to
the continuance and aggravation of restrictions upon com-
merce and industry, which will be the inevitable result of its
abolition.
We therefore counsel you, as you value your own true in•
terests and those of the nation, not to direct your efforts to
any mere tinkering of the property and income tax, so called
—still less to its absolute repeal—but to insist, with one heart
and one voice, on the adoption of the two fundamental princi.
pies of the Liverpool Financial Reform Association, which aro

these :
"1. To use all lawful and constitutional moans of inducing
the most rigid economy in the expenditure of the Goveru.
ment, consistent with due efficiency in the several departments
of the public service.
" 2. To advocate the adoption of a simple and equitable
system of direct taxation, fairly levied upon property and in-
come, in lien of the present unequal, complicated, and expen-
sively collected duties upon commodities."
On these principles the association was founded in April,
1818 ; it has since that period steadily maintained them, and
in their triumph we see a certain prospect of such a pitch
of national greatness and prosperity as cannot otherwise be
attained.

patriotism and com-
mon two inaccuracies in
Be fsoerne
sce nwc leu dtihnign
kt h
iits
right
e atl
ot oc your
our first address, though they affect the illustrations only, not
the argument. The provisions of the sth and 6th Victoria,
cap. 35, for ascertaining the full annual value of land, seem
to meet the case supposed—that of low rents and periodical
fines; and the 16th and 17th Victoria, cap. 34, did reduce
the agricultural boundary from 3004. to 2001., so that the
farmer paying the latter rent is liable to the income tax on
half of it.

~. ....
By order of the Council.
ROBERTSON GLADSTONE, President.
Financial Reform Association, 6, York-buildings,
Dale-strot, Liverpool, Jan., 1857.

OPENING OF THE NETV HALL OP THE
MECHANICS' INSTITUTION, HALIFAX.

The new building of the Halifax Mechanics' Institute
was formally opened on Wednesday evening by a public
soiree and meeting. The greatest enthusiasm was
manifested IT some days previous to the opening to
obtain tickets of admission. Within a day or two of their
issue all were bought up, and hundreds experienced
disappointment when they found themselves shut nut
from taking part in the event. Upwards of 600 persons
took tea together in the rooms of the building.
The building presents its principal front to one of the
new streets now being made through the centre of Hali-
fax.by Messrs. John Crossley and Sons, and wilt form
one of a group of public buildings (including the new
Swan Hotel, the Halifax Joint Stock Bank, the proposed
Exchange, and numerous handsome shops) now being
concentrated in that locality. As the institute will thus
he Surrounded in a short time by other buildings, the
front alone has been made the object of architectural
display. The new hall covers an area of 670 square
yards. The large room is calculated to Feat 700 persons,
exclusive of the orchestra, and is 400 square yards in
extent. Beneath the orchestra are retiring and refresh-
mentrooms, &c. The news-room is in front of the build-
ing, and Its area is 105 square feet. The drawing class

room is immediately over it and of the same size, and
lighted from the roof. The library-room, which includes
a reading-room, in 75 square feet in extent—ample for
the necessities of mail succeeding years. The small lec.
ture-room opposite, is the same size. The class rooms
are of varying sizes, are 12 in number, and will accom-
modate upwards of 300 pupils at the same time, and
will be used by both males and females, but on separate
_ _

floors. In addition to all these there is a room to the

front, in a line with the intended new street, hitherto
called the telegraph-room, and which it is intended to
let off on rent.

The plans and drawings from which the building has
been erected were by Messrs. Lockwood and Mawson,
architects, Bradford. The works were let on the 11th
April, 1855, as follows :—Masons' work, 2,0451.;
joiners' work, 1,4801. ; plumbers' work, 3411. 5,. 2d. ;
plasterers' and slaters' work, 4941. 10s. ; ironmongers'
work, 241. 17s. ; painters' work, 541. 17s. ; orna-
__.

mental masonry work, 1251.—together, 4,5651. 9i. Bd.
The price of the land, 2,0001. Extras—warming venti

lating, draining, lighting, ate., 826/. 16s. 7d. —Total,
7,4921. 6s. 3d. ; which, together with architects' fees
and furnishing, &c., may be placed a gross total of
8.0001. To meet this large expenditure subscriptions
have been promised or paid to the amount of about
3,6001., leaving a debt of 4,4001.
At the soiree which followed the tea meeting about
1,000 persons were present.
John Crassley, E,q., the president of the institute,
took the chair, and the following, amongst others, we ob-
served present :—Lord Wharncliffe, tue Hon. E. Las-
celles, M.P., F. Crossley, Esq., M.P., M. Milnes, Esq.,
M.P., Dr. Sandwith, C. 8., Henry Edwards, Esq., E. B.
Wheatley, Esq. (Mirfield), and Edward Akroyd, Esq.
The report which was read stated that the number of
members and subscribers, male and female, at present
on the books, is—Adult members, contributing 10s. 10d.
per annum and upwards, 593 ; subscribers, that is, per-
sons under 18 years of age, and receiving instructions in
the evening classes mostly, 186 ; total, 779. The news
and reading-room attract the attendance of a large num-
ber of members. The library has 3,917 volumes. There
are evening classes for young people and adults, and
there is a penny savings-bank, established at the be-
ginning of last year, of which the following are the
remarkable and instructive statistics :—Gross sum
deposited from Feb. 23, 1856, 1,7461. 10s. lOd. ; gross
sum withdrawn in the same period, 468 f. 9s. 51d. I net
amount to credit of depositors, Dec. 31, 1,2781. la. 4id ;

total number of deposits made since Feb. 23, 1856,
17,669 ; average amount of each deposit, it. 51d. ; total
number of pass-books issued from commencement, 2,021.
On last Saturday evening the largest sum ever received
on one bank night, viz., 1077. 7s. 2d., was tAken, and
63 new depositors were accepted.
Letters from Lord Stanley, Lord Goderich, Mr. War-
ren, Q.C., Sir Jos. Paxton, and Sir E. Bulwer Lytton,
were read, excusing their non-attendance ; also the fol-
lowing letter from Sir It. Ptel :
" Drayton Manor, Jan. 2.

"Sir,—l am in receipt of your letter of yesterday'.
date, and owing to previous engagements much regret
that it will not be in my power to avail myself of the
invitation which you have forwarded from the directors
of the Halifax Mechanics' Institute.
" I am, Sir, yours respectfully,
" ROBERT PEEL.

"The President, Mechanics' Institution, Halifax."
The CHAIRMAN, after addressing the visitors present,
and saying some words of encouragement as to the pros-
pects of the institution, invited Mr. M. Milnes, M.P. for
Pontefract, to address them.
Mr. MONCKTON MILNEs said : I think that this is the

very first time I have had to address an audience like
this without a resolution. I asked the ch..irmau what

resolution I had to propose, and he said, " None at all.
(Laughter.) One difficulty of not having a resolution
is, that one is driven so much into generalities, and
therefore the best thing to do is, to treat upon national
and general education—but that is not a very general
subjeCt ; it may, also, be too particular—not that I
think that under general circumstances; there is not any
other matter which affects the great social interests of
this community, and which does not touch upon party
politics. Keep it in the minds of every one of you,
although it may be in the discretion of the Government
not to press this subject at the present moment, that the
question of education is one which affects every man in
this country of ours, that those who walk along our
streets see that there are children growing up in those
streets who know not the very foundation of education,
and that there are villages and towns at the mouth of a
coal-pit or at the terminus of a railway growing up in
the great conglomeration of mankind, and that it is a ques-
tion with us whether they shall grow up heathens or
Christian men. There are certain subjects connected
with this question which I think it not unadvisable that
I should allude to : there is one subject which demands
particular attention at this moment, and that is the
present condition of what is called our criminal popu-
lation. I will not, however, touch upon that question
in any political sense, because I think we shall have
quite enough of it in the approaching session of Par.
liament, and before many months are over you will
be so " bored " with the subject that you will think
it a greater evil than having your own houses broken
into. (Laughter and applause.) I touch upon this
question as having two matters comprised within it
which it is necessary to keep distinct—viz., first, the
general state and circumstances of a large number of pee•
ple in this country throw❑ up.in the population; and
second, the treatment of our criminals. You know not how
difficult it will be for any government to meet this matter,
and I feel that we shall take their measures into con-
sideration. Circumstances over which we have no con-
trol have done away with that system of transportation
by which a large portion of our criminal population was
absorbed into society at the other end of the world, and,
for their own good, got on very well, and, for our good,
we were relieved of their presence. Circumstances have
done away with that state of things, but I am sorry to
say that no provision has been made by the adminis-
tration of this country for that end.
The meeting was afterwards addressed by Lord
‘Vharncliffe, Dr. Sandwith, Mr. Frank Crossley, M.P.,
Mr. E. Baines, and others.