The Sun.
London, England, 1857-02-02 00:00:00

LONDON, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 18157.

BOMBA is at length making conoessions (!) and
with a grace peculiarly his own ! Now that the
representatives of France and England have with-
drawn in disgust from his territories he origi-
nates a movement, or more probably listens to
the remonstrances of his fellow despots of St.
Petersburg and Vienna. It appears that certain
political prisoners are to be liberated from the
strict incarceration they have hitherto endured.
But for what purpose ? There is nothing in any
degree approaching to an amnesty. Such an act
is so wholly opposed to the vindictive nature of
the Royal Neapolitan that it could not for a
moment be anticipated. No, imprisonment is
merely to be exchanged for perpetual banishment,
and the unfortunate exiles are not even to
be allowed an option as to their future
residence. Those who have been seized on mere
suspicion are to be drives from their native land ;
all the associations of home and family for ever
severed ; their properties most probably confis-
cated or taken, care of by the police, in the same
manner as Mr. SQUEERS took care of the boys'
pocket-money at Do-the-boys' Hall. And all this
without the semblance of a trial. The highest
secondary punishment known in any nation is to
be inflicted at the mere will and pleasure of the
inhuman despot ; and all this in the name and
exercise of the pretended attribute of " mercy I"
as an act of beneficence towards the sufferers.

It appears that a convention has just been con-
cluded between the Neapolitan Government and
the Argentine Confederation for the reception of a
certain number of persons, whom BOXIIs has been
pleased to send as involuntary colonists to South
America. The Argentine Government promises fairly
—so far as it is concerned--a grant of laud on the
Parana or Uruguay, with some amount of stock
in order to start fairly, and immunities from local
taxation for a specified time is to be awarded to
each of the exiles'; and the Confederation also
pledges itself to do its best for their progress and
prosperity ! So much awaits the parties on their
arrival ! But up to that time they will still ex-
perience the tender mercies of Boma. They are
to be conveyed—of course as prisoners—at the
cost of the Neapolitan Government to the South
American shores. It is impossible to predict
what may be the horrors or the mortality of the
passage, whether all the atrocities practised by
the slave dealers may not be paralleled so
far as the victims are concerned. A hint
to the Captain will be quite sufficient to
insure the death of any particularly obnoxi-
ous person, so that the craven terrors of the
Sovereign of the Two Sicilles may
for
' terminated, and that without shockingtrheevteenrdbere
sensibilities of his brother despots. Before, then,
-we congratulate those truly unfortunate indivi-
duals on their escape from the grinding tyranny
to which they have been exposed we must know
what will be their ultimate fate. Until they are

safely landed and comfortably settled, it will be
impossible to understand the full extent of the
magnanimous concession (!) to public opinion.
Nor can we congratulate those, who, for a brief
period, are still permitted to breathe their native
air. BOMEA might only have wanted additional
prison accommodation. His dungeons were al-
ready crowded to suffocation with political pri-
soners—space was required for more, and the
sailing of one detachment may only prove the signal
for the arrest and incarceration of a new batch of
victims, who have only been permitted to remain at
liberty until a place of detention and punishment
could be procured. Already, as stated in our
impression of Friday, more than " five hundred
persons had been arrested since the explosion of
the powder magazine, and the arrest of MILANO"
—while in Sicily " the prisons were so encum-
bered that it was found necessary for the prison-
ers, twenty-five of whom were embarked in the
night between the 20th and 21st January, on
board the steam corvette the Miseno, to be trans.
ported to the rocks of Utica and Pavigleano, desert
islets off the west coast of Sicily," while several
others were " garotted," in order to procure th•
required vacancies.

Neither is it known to whom the alleged boon
of expatriation is to be granted. It may be only
those against whom there is no particle of proof,
whose only crime that they incurred the suspicion
of the MONARCH. Those who would have just
grounds of complaint at even a temporary arrest
are to be forcibly transported to a different hemi-
sphere, with too much cause for rejoicing
if permitted to arrive safely at their place of des-
tination. This is Royal liberality in the Neapo-
litan sense—this is the mode in which Boatß♦
displays "the brightest jewel of his diadem." For
the victims it may be a happy change, for any-
thing must be preferable to living under a system
like that prevailing in Naples ; but most assuredly
they will not be indebted to the goodwill of
FERDINAND for any benefits arising from the
compulsory change.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer professes his
readiness to consider any " facts and arguments"
" that may be laid before him, bearing on the pro-
posed differential duty between permanent and pre-
carious incomes, and to take into consideration
any detailed plan for the purpose of carrying
these views into effect." He will at all events
listen to reason, although he will not pledge him-
self to accept a feasible proposition. With him "to
hear is not to obey," and it is perfectly clear that
he will not judge very impartially the proposals
for carrying out what he manifestly believes to
be impracticable. The hint is thrown out as
" the tub to the whale," as something that may
divert attention until the fatal blow has been in-
dicted, from which there is no recovery. Can any
one, however, suppose that there is any real inten-
tion of accepting any proposition, however feasible,
which has not been forced upon him by a decisive
majority of the chosen representatives of the peo-
ple ? If it soothes the public mind for the time
being it will have achie►ed its object. He has
clearly taken a leaf from the book of Sir CIAILLZS
WOOD. That incompetent financier contrived
to shelve the question of monetary reform by a
reference to a packed committee. He well knew
that the steam could not be kept up—that the
iron would speedily cool, and that if the hammer
were not applied while the material was in a it
state nothing practical could be accomplished.
The trick, however, having once been played,
is now stale. The nation cannot a second time
be bamboozled by a device so shallow. The
voice of public opinion has loudly proclaimed
the grievances of which it has complained. The
people have arisen in their majesty. Their
exertions will never relax until they have ob-
tained full and substantial justice. Should they
be quieted on any pretext, the cause for which
they are so earnestly struggling will be perma-
nently lost. But full and complete success must
attend steady and continuous efforts.
Let the people, then, earnestly agitate. Let
the excitement be increased to the boiling point,
and redress is certain. Whatever amount of
money may be required, Sir G. C. Lima must
find other ways and means of providing it. He
must greatly reduce, or materially modify, the
tax on industry. If he wants money it is his
business to suggest as equitable mode of obtaining
it. The opponents of the impost are not to do the
business for which he is so handsomely paid. Their
only duty is to protest against its continuance in
its present form ; it is for him to supply a suitable
remedy.

Besides, there is no use in procrastinating the
evil day. The question must sooner or later be
discussed on its substantial merits. It- must
be disposed of in 1858, if not in 1857.
If, as the Times declares, " Parliament would
take at least a whole session to elaborate a Pro-
perty Tax that would produce 8,000,0001.," there
is surely the greater reason for entering on the
point without a single day's delay, so as to be pre-
pared for the time when "the War Tax does really
expire." We recollect, however, the same Times
propounding something to the effect that any
skilful actuary, any clerk deserving a liberal salary
in a merchant's office, could solve the intricate
problem in a few hours, and supply a scheme that
would at least approximate towards justice. But
now when it suits its purpose the difficulty assumes
gigantic dimensions, and is calculated to supply
work for the Legislature during at least a whole

session.

Besides, as Major REED truly declar3d last
week at the great national demonstration at Exe-
ter Hall, even if the Government announced, at
the commencement of the Session, that they were
ready to relinquish the war 9d., " the work of
the Association would only be begun, they would
regard the concession as an instalment of what
they had to expect from further agitation." That
agitation can never cease until full justice for inq
dustry has been obtained. As the Honourable
and Gallant Member truly observed, " the ini-
quity of applying one scale to precarious and
permanent incomes was too palpable to need
proof." It commands universal assent—and, but
for the fact that it was " an aged vice, a grey
iniquity," that it had been adopted and enforced
by Parliament, and that the nation had groaned
under it for no less than fourteen years—
it would seem to be fighting against shadows
to adduce arguments against it. No sophistry,
however specious, can justify charging at the same
rate the business of a tradesman, worth at the
outside from 24 to 3 years' purchase, and an in-
come derived from the funds, worth at lease 31
years' purchase, that is to say with Consols at 93.
There is, however, no real difficulty in levying
a Property Tax that will at least closely approxi-
mate to equity. Every man possessed of pro-
perty, whether productive or unproductive, is
tolerably well acquainted with its actual value.
He knows the amount for which he would be pre-
pared to dispose of it. If he is honest he will
make a true return ; if not, the Gommissionoss
have the means of inquiry and emendation. They
may surcharge if there should be anything glar-
ingly wrong, and the investigation would be by
no means so vexatious or inquisitorial as that to
which the contributors under schedule D are

compelled to submit. Indeed the only difficulty
ould be in assessing the capitalised value of
industrial incomes, and that would be avoided
under a Property Tam deserving of the name.
It is perfectly ridiculous to speak of the con-
tents of the larder on a particular day. These,
in the hands of the consumer, are matters for
immediate use; they cannot be classed as savings or
permanent property. The butcher who supplies them
will, of course, be charged on the average of his
stock in trade and the goodwill of his business—
for these are matters that can at once be converted
into money, which he can invest at his will and
pleasure. It is indeed making mountains of
molehills to fancy that such over-strained objec-
tions can be regarded as of any real weight. On
the other hand we cannot conceive a more suit-
able object of the tax than the man who can
afford to invest, say 1,000/. in a picture, or a
statue, or any other work of art. The man who
can afford to do so can also afford to pay for its
use. It is purely a matter of luxury, and there-
fore, according to every financial writer, the best
possible subject for taxation. It is true it does
no harm. Far from it. Neither does the use of
tea or sugar, or malt liquids in moderation.
And yet the latter, being matters almost of
necessity, are heavily charged, while the picture,
or statue, or other work of art, a mere superfluity,
escapes scot free.