The Sun.
London, England, 1857-02-14 00:00:00

Service.

Customs
Excise
Stamps ..
Taxes ....
Property and Income tax
Post-ofllce
Crown lands . .
Miscellaneous • •

23,850,000
17,170,000
7,185,008 '
3,110,000
16,355,000
2 810,000
260,000
1,000,000

£71,740,100

Actual and Estimated
Receipts to
31st March next.

23,600,600
17,600,000
7,263,000
3,1 10,000
16,250,000
2,800,000
260,000
1,000,000

£71,885,000

The expenditure for the year 18:56-7, including the loan of
1,000,0001. to Sardinia, and a vote of credit for 2,000,0001.,
was estimated at 82,113,0001., showing, therefore, as com-
pared with the estimated revenue, a deficiency of 10,373,000/.
That sum represents tho estimated deficiency of the pre-
sent year, including the contingent margin which I allowed.
of 2,000,000/. ; but, deducting that margin of 2.000,000/.,
the deficiency for the year will be 8,373,0001. In order to
cover that deficiency certain loans were effected. In the
first place we received 1,499,0001., being part of a loan of
5,000,0001. effected before Easter last year; a second loan
of 5,000,0'87. was effected after Easter, and there was an
issue of 1,000,0001. of Exchequer-bills, making the total
money borrowed (luring the current year 7,499,0001. The
power conferred upon the executive Government of bor-
rowing by Exchequer-bills went to the extent of 4,000,0,-o'.
but they have only exercised it to the extent of 1,000,0001,
and the service of the year will not require any further
exercise of that power. (Hear.) The act of last session was
intentionally drawn in such a manner that the power will
expire on the lit of April next, and I have therefore to
announce that the Government will then surrender the
power of borrowing 3,000,0001. for the service of the pre-
sent year. The total receipts from revenue and from
moneys raised by loans and by Exchequer-bills for the year
1356-7 may be set down at 79,334,000/. The actual expen-
diture of the year, including the payment of the loan to
Sardinia, will probably amount to nearly 78,000,000 e,
leaving a balance of 1,334,000/. to be carried to the service
of next year. (Hear.) On the first night of the present ses-
sion the right hon. member for Buckinghamshire stated that
we are now in the extraordinary position of being subjected
to war taxation during a time of peace. If that epigram_
matic sentence has any very distinct meaning, I apprehend
it must be understood to mean that we have war taxation
during a year of peace expenditure; for if it has not that
meaning it involves no objection to the course taken by her
Majesty's Government. But lam desirous of impressing
upon the committee that this has not been a year of ordi-
nary peace expenditure, but that it has been a year of
extraordinary expenditure, that extraordinary expendi-
ture having been directly caused by the war which termi-
nated only about a year ago. That this state of things was
fully within the cognisance of the house—that they were
aware, when they agreed to the financial plans of last ses-
sion, that this would not be a year of ordinary expenditure
—must, I think, be admitted by every hon. gentleman ;
but lest there should be any doubt upon a matter of such
great importance I will, with the permission of the com-
mittee, read an extract from the statement I made last year
at the time I prvposed the plan of annual taxation. I most
reluctantly refer to my own words, but Ido so to show what
was the understanding on the subject, and to satisfy the
house that, so far as I was able, I brought the state of the
case clearly under their notice. On the 16th of last May,
in addressing this house, I said—
" Although peace has been happily concluded and ratified,
and although we are not now in a state of war, nevertheless
the present year, for all practical purposes, must be looked
upon to a great extent as a year of war expenditure. The
preparationswhich have been made for acampaign, both by
land and sea, during the winter and early part of thisyear,
were such that, had the war continued, we were in a con-
dition to carry on this year's ceinpaien most effectively,
both with our land and sea forces. That expenditure, I
rejoice to say, has proved unnecessary ; we have not been
called upon to enter a third campaign ; but, nevertheless,
the expenditure was incurred, it will beceme payableduring
the present year, and we shall not reap the entire benefits
of a return to a state of peace until another year. There
will also be the expense of transporting our troops home
from the Crimea; there will likewise be the expense of
paying off the troops, and all the other expenditure con-
nected with :disbanding the army and navy, the whole of
which will have to be defrayed during the present year.
To these must be added the expense of the retransport of
the Sardinian troops from the Crimea, which, though not
necessarily part of our war expenditure, is yet connected
with it, and is an expense which we ourselves undertook
and will be effected by our ships." ,
I think these remarks distinctly brought under the notice
of the house the fact that the current year would not be
a year of ordinary peace expenditure, and, as my statement
was acquiesced in at the time, I assume that no doubt could
be entertained as to the difference between the circum-
stances of the current year and those of an ordinary your.
In addition to the extraordinary payments to which Ihave
adverted, a sum of 1,090,000/., which falls entirely upon
the revenue of the current year, has been paid as the
second instalment of the loan to Sardinia. A payment of
91,000/. has also been made, under the authority of an act
passed last session for the redemption of an hereditary
pension, but this may be regarded as the redemption of so
much debt, and in the nature of an extia,ordinarypeynient.
In addition to the extraordinary charges of the year, there
has also been a loss its the war duty on malt, which was
fixed to expire on the sth of July next after the ratification
of a definitive treaty of peace. The definitive treaty of
peace was ratified on the 27th of April, 1856, and the war
duty on malt expired therefore at the beginning of the
following quarter, which was theearliest period at which its
expiration could take place. There is always a long credit
given on malt, and tho whole revenue is not lost, therefore,
on the first year, so that the loss in the revenue on malt in
the last year was only 220,0001. But what forms the prin-
cipal defalcation in this branch of the revenue is the pay-
ment of a drawback upon the sto, kin hand which became
necessary, and this amounted to about 800,00.1., so that the
loss upon the article of malt during the current year some-
what exceeds 1,000,000/. sterling. That is a reduction from
the revenue of the year which has already taken place in
anticipation of a peace expenditure, and therefore it is not
correct to say that no reduction of war taxation has been
made in the present year. I am desirous of calling the
attention of the committee to a few facts which I think im-
portant as illustrating the elasticity of our national resources
and the spring which the industry and trade of the country
.
have taken immediately after the removal of the pressure
of war. We know that even (luring the war the energy of
this country showed itself undiminished, while that of um:
rival underwent a perceptible decay :
"Gene quee cremate fortis ab Ilio
Jactata. Tuscia requoribus, sacra
Natosquo maturosquo patres
Pertulit Ausonias ad urbes ;
Doris ut ilex tons a hip ansibue
Nigrm feraci frondis in Algid°,
Per damns, per =des, ab ipso
Ducit opes animuniqum fel ro.
Non Hydra recto corpora firmior
Vinci dolentem crevit in Herculern."
These are facts which do nob rest merely upon general as-
aertiens—they admit of being reduced to numerical
eproofs. With the permission of the committee, I will
briefly call their attention to some of the most remarkable
results of the tables recently laid upon our table. It is
materidal t
hat we should bear in mind the
present state of
onr trade as compared with its state in former years, espe-
cially as
_r,,,w,eare told that the pressure of war taxation ha<i
been so
productigve fort upon thei """"try as sensibly to diminish, its
o energies. I will first call the attention
of the committeet to the increase which has taken. place iu
the
value o
thf our ex ort• The declared value of British
exports in e yearlBsl;:eier icried that of all previous years,
and reached the suns of
crease of 20,202,030/. .113, 116,000,00 W., being an in-
and of 16,957,000/., or 17 over those of 1853,
,per
"I,loL;er those of 1853, the
y( ar immediately preceding theenwt.
e‘xchpoicritis,. The de-
there was an unpreeeaented increase isn moreover,
Glared value of the British and o
years was as follows : 1853, e-jr,Fts for thesethree
avae sshrllmfienclof thu
9 i,683,000/. 115,890,000/. weli:)°01. ; 1855,
encouraging. The exports of textile the
pi incipal branches of our manufactures
result equally
factures and yarns for
.these three years wore 1-nann-
-52,299,000/. 1850, 51,123,000/. ; 1856, 59,915,060 1-53,
the same way we tind that thc exports of metal eebrit in
all kinds were :----1853, 19,563,000/. ; 1835, 17,892,0C0N0tc!
1876,
.23,538,000/. These we may take as fair east:lloe,,
f
the general increase which will be found to pervade th,
whole commerce of the country. I shall only take one at.
tide of our imports—raw cotton., and in this we find the ia-
crease. to have heels-as follows e---1853, 746,709,0001 b.; 1855,
...767,406,0001b. ; 1856, 877,811,0001 b. The general result is
that our exports have.dou bled in value since tho year
1819, amid if we compare this year with the year following -
the conclusion of the last great European war, we shall
find that we commence this /scred of peace with exports
- three tilies greater than they were in 1816. The imports
of grain were leas in 1855 than in 1853, but greater than
in 1855. The imports of grain from Russia fell to less thsli
- a half in 1854 awl were suer ended altogether in 1855, but
reached 1,208,000 qrs. in 18'so, andwere 14 per cent. of the
_total imports against 16 pea cent. in 1853, showing the ra-
pidity wills which a suspended branch of trade was m-
etered on the reetolation of peace. lam sorry to weary

the committee with these details, but, after all that has
been said, after the gloomy view which some persons have
taken of our present prospects, and the extent to which
war taxation has diminished the energies of the country,
I think it is important that the committee should be put
in possession of all the material facts bearing upon the p ,-
sition of the great branches of our trade and industry. If
we turn now to the shipping of the country, taking the en-
tries and clearances together, we find that the tonnage of
British vessels with cargoes in 1856 shows a considerable
increase over all former years. As compared with 1855
there is an increase of 1,760,000 tons, or 19 per cent., and"
of 1,906,000 tons in comparison with 1853. In order to
comfort those gentlemen who some few years ago antici-
pated the ruin of the shipping of this country by the alte-
ration of the navigation laws, I will venture to read the
figures for three years representing the tonnage of vessels
with cargoes entered and cleared. They are as follows :
British. Foreign, Total.
Tons. Tons. Tons.
1853 ... 9,061,000 6,316,000 15,380,000
1855 ... 9,211,000 6,156,000 15,367,000
1856 ... 10,971,000 6,933,000 17,901,000
The committee will remark that though 1855 was a year of
war, still it presents an increase, and also that the in-
crease in all the three years has been to a great extent on
British shipping, and only very slight on foreign shipping.
It is not a little remarkable that the large amount of ton-
nage taken up by the Government during the war, corn-
prising an aggregate of about 200,000 tons, should have
fallen back for employment upon the ordinary demands of
trade without any perceptible embarrassment to the ship-
ping interest, and this is another proof of the elasticity of
the demand and the rapidity with which the country has
adapted itself to the change from war to peace. There is
only one other point to which I wish to advert, and my
object in doing so is to prove the demand for labour which
now exists in this country, and which has not been dimi-
nished even by the disbanding of the troops and seamen after
the war. The total number of emigrants from the United
Kingdom in the year 1852 was 368,764, and in the last year
1856, it was 176,554, showing the great reduction which has
taken place in the emigration of the country since 1852,
notwithstanding the transition from war to peace. I shall
now proceed to call attention to something which may,
perhaps, appear of more pressing interest—l mean the esti-
mates, or accounts of the actual expenditure which has been
caused by the war, and of the manner in which that expen-
diture has been or will be incurred. The expenditure of the
three years of war, 1854-5, 1855.6, 1856.7, including the
loan of 2,000,0J0/. to Sardinia, was 228,721,0001. ' • while
the net expenditure of the three years 1851.-2, 1852-3,
1855-4, immediately preceding the war, was 152,323,0001.
If you deduct the expenditure of the three years of peace
from that of the three years of war, you must arrive at a
pretty close approximation of the expenditure for the war.
Ido not know a fairer way of coming at it. This gives us
76,398,0001. as the war expenditure in the three years
185i-5, 1855-6, and 1856-7. The net revenue of the three
years of war—that is to say the revenue arising from the or-
dinary branches of taxation, independent of loans, was
192,bee,000e, and if you deduct from that the net peace
expenditure in the three years 1851-2, 1852-3, 1853.4,
which was 152,323,0001., there remains a surplus revenue
applicable to war expenditure amounting to 40,362,0001.
That represents the war revenue derived from war taxa-
tion. Then I add the money raised by additions to the
funded and unfunded debt, amounting to 41,041,0001. Ad-
ding these two sums together, the total sum applicable to
war expenditure over and above the sum applied to peace
expenditure would be found to be 81,403,0001. But as the
excess of war expenditure was not more than 76,398,0001.,
the difference between those sums exhibits the more
flourishing state of the revenue at the end of the war as
compared with its state at the beginning, and shows that a
portion of the money borrowed for the purpose of war still
remains in the Exchequer. I now proceed to a more practi-
cal part of the subject—namely, the estimated expenditure
for the ensuing year (1857-8). The interest of the fun ied
and unfunded debt will be 28,550,0e0e, and the permanent
charges on the Consolid sted Fund will amount to 1,770,0001.
The charge for the army, including 400,000/. for the militia
(the estimate of which is not on the table, though that will
be the probable amount), will be 11,625,000/. ; the charge
for the navy, including the Coastguard, 8,109,0001. The
packet service will cost 965,0001., and the civil services
7,250,0001. The collection of the revenue, which is now
brought into the annual charge, though it was formerly
excluded from it, will amount to 4,215,000/. The superan-
nuation of revenue departments, removed from the gross
revenue by the act of last session, and now brought into
the annual statement for the first time, will be 475,0001.
For the Government portion of the expense of the Persian
expedition, which will accrue before the Ist of April next
year, I take 265,0001. That is all I propose to ask for that
purpose, the awn being calculated according to the agree-
.ment entered into with the East India Company, to the
effect that the Exchequer should boar half the extraordi-
nary expenses of the war. The total of these supply charges
will be 32,904,000/. which added to the charge for the
debt, and to the charges on the Consolidated Fund, will
make a total expenditure of 63,224,0001., independent of
the repayment of debts. I now come to that portion of the
burden for the year which is consequent on the late war--
namely, the repayment of loans contracted during the war,
and made chargeable on the revenue of an ensuing year.
First of all there is the series of Exchequer-bonds issued in
1854, and payable on the Bth May, 1857. They amount to
2,000,0001., and I propose to move a formal resolution for
the repayment of those bonds. There is also the sinking fund
for the second loan of 5,000,0001. contracted last year, and
made chargeable on the Consolidated Fund, which amounts
to 250,0001. The amount of debt, therefore, repayable,
partly by specific engagement under act of Parliament, and
partly by distinct charge on the Consolidated Fund, which
therefore it is incumbent on the Government to make pro-
vision for, is 2,250,000/. The total outlay tee be provided for
in the ensuing year will be 65,474,030 e The committee,
however, should bear in mind that the estimated expendi-
ture for the coming year includes an amount of nearly
5, 300,000/. for the collection of the revenue, which was not
included in the estimates of former years. Now, I will la)
before the committee as shortly as I can some explanation
in reference to the charges of the ensuing year. I lab Air
under some disadvantage in this respect, inasmuch as the
committee will probably expect to hear some explanati,n,
however general, of the sums which I estimate for the
charges of the army and navy ; and those estimates have
not yet undergone any consideration before the house. I
do not know that I could take a fairer view of the army
and navy estimates than by comparing them with the
amount of the same estimates before the war. As compared
with the reduced estimates cf last year, there is an absc.
lute diminution in the army and navy estimates of the pre-
sent year, amounting to about 17,000.000/. The committee
must of course be aware that however desirous the Go-
vernment may be to bring the war establishment to a peace
standard, the change cannot be made by magic. It cannot
bo made in an instant, as if by the stroke of a wand, and
some time must necessarily be allowed to the departments
to make those changes by which the transition can be
effected. Therefore, in instituting a comparison with the
three years of peace immediately before the war, I take a
comparison which everybody must admit to be fair, and
which in fact bears rather hardly against the executive,
because it is not possible at once to bring the army and
navy down to the condition in which it stood immediately
before the war. (Hear.) These are the amounts for the
army, navy, and packet service for three years before the
war. In 1851 the estimate for the army was 8,95 ~0001. ;
in 1852, 9,403,.1001; ; and in 1853, 10,113,0001. The esti-
mate for the army for the ensuing year is on the table,
and will be found to be 11,625,0001. (Hear.) The esti-
mate for the navy in 1851 was 5,734,0001. • in 1852,
5,835,0001. ; and in 1853, 6,285,0001. For the ensuing
year the estimate, exclusive of the Coastguard, which would
disturb the comparison if taken into the calculation, inas-
much as the transfer of that item to the navy estimates was
only made last year, is 7,623,0001. I think that the com-
mittee on comparing those estimates with the estimates
voted for the three years immediately before the war will
admit that no charge can be more unfounded than that
made against the Government, that they wished to perpe-
tuate extravagant war establishments during a time of
peace, to alter the old constitutional system of the coun-
try, and by an enormous augmentation of our military
establishments to overawe the country and threaten the
liberties of the people. To such crl extent did some of the
assertions go which were made on the first night of the
session. (Hear, hear.) As the estimate for the packet
service enters into the navy estimates, the committee
will see that not every charge in those estimates is needed
fur military or belligerent purposes. The estimate for
the foreign packet service in 1851 was 809,0001.,
in 1852 it was 870,0001., and in 1853, 835,000/. It
has increased this year to 965,000/. Now, the foreign packet
service, though of great importance to the mercantile in-
terests of this country, has nothing to do with our military
affairs. Whenever there is a question of the increase in the
number of ships employed in that service, or of a more fre-
quent and rapid delivery of letters, the Treasury is urged
by the strongest representations from various gentlemen
engaged in foreign and domestic trade to increase the ex-
penditure under that head, and is only restrained from
going too far by a fear that the estimates will be objected
to by this house. The estimates for the army and navy
have not been considered in a committee of supply, aret it
may therefore be convenient that I should, without under-
taking to anticipate the labours of my right hon. friend
the First Lord of the Admiralty, or of my hon. friend the
Under Secretary of State for the War Department, briefly
mention some few of the causes which have led to an in-
crease in them for the ensuing year over those for the year
immediately preceding the war. In the navy estimates
there has been an increase in the marines and in the
Coastguard force. The increase in the latter force was
ac mat dew aui:uttoponulersrsetuaoatto that
a aetroe,fsfeatrnhveeact of Parliament, passed last ses-
sion, c
n, by which it was transferred from the department of
Admiralty,naval
force, .
Those The object
w who
oo f
weretlilt
mast qualified to form an opinion upon the subject ap-
proved the creation of that force. Two gentlemen of great
authority in this house, who have filled the office of First
Lord of the Admiralty—viz, iz.,
was more than assented to b
members for Carlisle and —my right hon. friends the
Portsmouth, assented to it, and it
e d
asy tah e
legitimate opposite
ohne utshe.
,
The scheme was regard
whole, an economical means of
time of peace. It,
however, led
and part, therefore, of the increase
expenditure,
toin i
e ai eni nthe
o up rr
ens
ea
iv,
ty
nianv
va,
eesstsirmlat.ee
Tmhuestinbeereraesgeadrdpendoass
of the result of the act of last
s
'revisions, as compared
seinewith
increaset h ayears b
immediately r precedingmy aand
navy
theestiwmaart, e
gleads e
rt ,e,
ie mite) an increase in the scientific vote for the nav'er. That
surely cannot be regarded as likely to lead to results den-
gerous to our liberties. Then there are contracts for tim-
ber, which wore made during the war, which have not yet
been fulfilled, but which will cause some additional ex-
pense during the ensuing year. The committee must be
well aware that, as it was impossible to foresee the termi-
nation of the war, it was necessary that the Government
should provide for its possible continuance; and, there-
fore, while the war was raging, the Government had to
enter into contracts upon the assumption that it might
last for some years. Peace being happily concluded, the
Government must either allow those contracts to be ful-
filled or pay a forfeit. Either of these courses will en-
tail seine expense. There is an increase in the item of
steam machinery for the screw fleet, and also in the item
of coals, in consequence of the progressive introduction of
steam in the navy, That, I fear, must be considered
asl a permanent charge in the navy estimates, inas-
itwuf:e:
thenavigation by *team is itself more expensive
pteliaJgocf:noirgaactiithijoen
orbeyotisoanils.of Therena%,al
fiLtaolrsioesan increased
estimatee an machinery and of large steamers; for
and like-
amounting to
h enlargement of clocks, basins, and slips to
o.l3r,Bt,eo4(loooo,,b,aooragine the re-
nachieedtintgietehs! increased size of ships. The result is, that in-
ieaostguard force, there are in the present navy
for dockyards 2
altogether a sum (')°(11. 19, for manning and victualling
for works about
amounting to ab
the estimates for 1852 increased charge for stores
kff;or miscellaneous 30,0001.,3 makingo,o'
ereetest
army estimates, about. ~
,000/., which is the increase above
• . And now with regard to tl e
which hon. gentlemen, no doubt,
apprehensions of the designs nt
out the militia, the army esti-
mie haaattee6l::fvoi entertained
relndBmste3hi-le4t . t:mLoeiathvitne 'd
ensuing y.ear amounted to 11,2259'592'°". ; those for the
explanation of the pri-
showing an increase
place there '
of 1,633,0001. Now, this isa;l43l"
In the first oipal soul cc of the increase.
18 all

increase in the number of men. It is there, it anywhere,
that the d tegerous designs of the Government must be
discovered] The number of men, exclusive of Queen's
regiments in India, was 119,881 in 1853, but it will this
year be 126,746, being an increase of 6,915 men. That
increase is principally owing to augmentations of the
artillery corps— (hear, hear)—and to the creation of two
new corps—the Military Train, or Land Transport, and.
the Hospital Corps, which is a body of orderlies to at-
tend to the military patients of the hospitals. This
explanation ought, I think, to relieve the Government
from the charge that they are anxious to introduce,
during the present transition from war to peace, an
entire innovation in our military system. There is an
item of 225,000/. for warlike stores, which is owing to the
purchase of the new pattern musket and the fulfilment
of contracts for gunpowder entered into during the war,
and with regard to which the same remark as that which
I have already made as to the contracts for timber applies.
Gunpowder is an article which cannot be obtained in a
moment. It is necessary that the manufacturers should
have some notice before it is required. If the war had
continued, and the Government had been found not to
have made the necessary provisions for obtaining such an
article as gunpowder, I have no doubt that they would
have received the well-merited censure of this house. The
war being fortunately at an end a loss must be sustained
on that article. There is an increase of 240,000/. in the
item with respect to artificers' wages on account of addi-
tions to the manufacturing departments. Under the head
of works and buildings there is an increase of 243,000/.,
which is owing to the increased barrack accommodation
which has been provided for the army—(hear)—and to the
great military hospital at Southampton and works of de-
fence in progress upon the coast. There is also another in-
crease in the educational vote of 67,000/. These are the
principal items of increase in the army estimates. (Cheers.)
I now come to the civil service estimates, in which like-
wise there is an increase. The amount of these estimates
is 7,250,000/., which exhibits an increase of about half a
million over the estimates for the current year. There are,
as the miscellaneous estimates will inform the house, aug-
mentations under certain heads and diminutions under
others which may be set off against each other, but the
general result is an increase of about half a million, which
is accounted for in the following manner :—There is an
entirely new charge for the County Courts, now for the
first time brought into the estimates, in consequence of an
act passed daring the last session. That bill was.received
with great favour in this house, and there was manifested
by many gentlemen a disposition still further to increase
the charge, (Hear, hear.) This charge for the County
Courts, which was previously defrayed by fees, will
amount to 180,000/. There is also a charge for county
constabulary—no doubt a most useful expenditure, but
one to which a similar observation applies—viz., that it
was proposed in this house that the sum granted from the
Exchequer for that purpose should be increased. The sum
estimated for the county constabulary is 146,000/. These
will be an increase in the amount of the vote for public
education in England, arising from the extension of the
operations of the Committee of Council, an extension
which I hope will not be other than acceptable to a large
majority of the members of this house, who appear to think
that it is in this manner that assistance can best be given
to voluntary efforts for the improvement and extension of
education. (Hear, hear.) The addition to this vote will
be 123,000/. (Hear, hear.) I shall also propose to take a
vote for purchasing a site on which to build certain public
offices, a matter which has now become one of necessity.
I shall ask for money sufficent for the purchase of land on
which to build a new Foreign-office—an office for the
War Department, which is now scattered under different
roofs, and a new Colonial-office. The amount which I
shall require will be 80,000/. These four items, taken
together, make the sum of 535,0001., and therefore I
have fully accounted for the increase of half a' million in
the civil service estimates, the chief part of which arises
from two new charges which are now for the first time
brought upon the votes of this house —viz., those for County
Courts and county constabulary. There will also be an in-
crease in the charges for the collection of revenue amount-
ing to 111,000/. That is, I believe, principally owing to
the increased facilities which have been given for the trans-
mission of letters and the consequent augmentation of the
charge for the Post-office. Having thus called the atten-
tion of the committee to some items of the miscellaneous
estimates, I must be permitted to refer with some feeling
to a remark which was made by my right hon. friend the
member for the University of Oxford (Mr. Gladstone) on
the first night of the session. He said that he had ob-
served both in the country and in this house a disposition
to increase expenditure and to diminish taxation. Now, sir,
it was remarked, I think, by Dr. Johnson, that it rarely
happens that more than one-half of an antithetical sentence
is true ; but I can confirm to the very letter the exact
truth of my right hon. friend's antithesis. I can from per-
sonal experience bear witness to the fact that there is at
present a very great desire to increase expenditure—a de-
sire not less strong than that which appears to prevail for
the reduction of taxation. Well, sir, we hear a good deal
of complaints—made sometimes in this house, but more
frequently at public meetings in the country and through
the medium of the press—of the jobbing tendencies of Go-
vernments, of public men, and even of the members of this
house ; and it is affirmed that the great cause of the in-
crease of expenditure and of the demands made upon the
national Exchequer is this tendency to corruption. It
seems to me that the gentlemen who make these complaints
take their opinions of the existing state of things from
books such as "Horace Walpole's Memoirs," " Dodding-
ton's Diary," or other well-known historical works of the
last century, but fail to observe facts and events passing
under their eyes. There is no real danger of the Exchequer
suffering to any serious extent from jobbery or corruption.
(A slight laugh.) That is my firm belief. However I may
puffer a loss of the good opinion of hon. gentlemen for my
supposed innocence and simplicity—(rene wed laughter)—
I must nevertheless venture to reassert my opinion that,
looking at the publicity which surrounds public men, look-
ing at the discussions which take place in this house, and
at the vigilance of public opinion and of the press, the Ex-
chequer of this country is in no great danger from personal
jobbing and corruption. (Hear, hear.) The real danger
to the Exchequer comes from a totally different quarter.
It arises from the useful projects and the ardent philan-
thropy of various persons, each intent upon realising his
own plan for the good of the country. (Hear, hear.) I
speak with some feeling upon this subject, inasmuch as it
is my lot to receive a great variety of representations either
from deputations or in writing, the larger proportion of
which are prompted by filo boot motirca and situ at the
most useful objects, but all of which it would be impossible
to satisfy if the taxes of this country amounted, not to
;60,000,0001„ but to 120,030,000/. a-year. No moderate
!amount of taxation would be .sufficient to provide for all
Ithe useful objects which are suggested. It is not long since
an application was made to me for the advance of four
millions to the Metropolitan Board of Works. (Laughter.)
Hon. gentlemen may treat the matter with levity, but I
can assure them that that is by no means the spirit in
which it is regarded by the gentlemen who made the ap-
lication to me. They were extremely unwilling to receive
the answer which I gave, that the matter should receive
the consideration of the Government, and seemed to be
surprised that 1 did not at once enter—l presume on behalf
of Parliament—into an engagement to effect a loan to the
extent of 4,000,0001. for the object which they have in
view. I merely mention that as an object in which a very
largo portion of the population of this metropolis takes an
interest, and which many persons consider to be a national
' object of no ordinary importance. There is also a plan
which was recommended by a committee of last session for
the concentration of all the public offices. That committee
recommended that there should be a large purchase of land
in Westminster,—intending, I presume, that public offices
should, without loss of time, be erected upon it. I believe
that the lowest estimate for the purchase of the land was
about 1,500,0001., and I suppose that for the erection of
buildings in accordance with the views of those who pro-
moted this plan a sum of not loss than 6,000,000/. or
6,000,000/. sterling would be required. There are nu-
merous plans for museums, for collections of science and
art,—all of them highly useful, and tending to the im-
provement of all classes of the community,—not confined
to London, but proposed for Edinburgh and Dublin, and
even for other large towns in the United Kingdom. There
are plans for the laying out of parks in the metropolis and
other large towns (I need not say that the purchase in the
neighbourhood of London of a sapce sufficient for a
public park implies a considerable outlay of money),
and also a plan for the purchase of Hampstead-heath.
There are numerous plans for widening the streets arid
improving the approaches and communications of the
metropolis. There aro plans connected with bridges
in the metropolis and elsewhere. There are plans for
electric telegraphs connecting the most distant regions of
the earth, passing, however, under thousands of miles of
sea. There aro also numerous and undoubtedly most bene-
ficial plans for the extension of education, and for the
erection of schools of different sorts and for different
classes. Furthermore, there are all those plans and pro-
posals, of which we used to hear so much last session, for
the increase of half-pay and superannuation allowances and
fer allowances to widows and other persons who have suf-
fered from the consequences of the war. I dare say that
the experience of hon. members would easily enable them
to increase this list. But it is from proposals of this kind,
and not from proposals for the benefit of individuals or for
purposes of corruption, that the real difficulties of the Go-
vernment arise at the present time, inasmuch as it is ut-
terly impossible, however wealthy the country may be,
however willing to submit to any reasonable load of taxa-
tion, for it to provide the funds required for all these dif-
ferent projects, and therefore the task of selecting those of
them which are the most useful, the most urgent, and
most deserving of the attention of the Government and of
this house is anything but an easy one. Let me now call
the consideration of the committee to the debt which has
been created by the war, and which has imposed obliga-
tions on the nation which it is now necessary to fulfil. The
total addition made to the funded debt during the war was
30,266,0001., involving an increased annual charge of
907,000/. There were also terminable annuities granted to
the extent of 116,000/. Next, there were Exchequer-bonds
issued to the extentof 7,000,000/. ; also Exchequer-bills to
the extent of 5,041,000/., bearing an annual interest of
191,000/, The annual charge on the Exchequer-bonds is
245,0001. The annual increase of charge upon the revenue
on account of the dobtcreated during the war, exclusive of
certain items to which I shall presently refer, amounts
therefore in round numbers to a million and a half sterling.
I have now completed the explanationwhich I have to offer
on the subject of the expenditure; but before I come to the
committee
l of
x at
nh
some
tole
remarksonsuin gu
pyoeba r
expressions
must trouble t t
fellhe
from my right hon. friend the member for the Universityta
taxation
wf ors
of Oxford on a former night, lam not quite sure b
folly collected the purport of his observations, butnl
trhee-
member that he alluded to a compact entered into
year 1853 between Parliament and the country with r
that
session. the permanence of the financial arrangements of
made at the union between Scotland and England, or 11
Elusion. Now, I can understand an agreement such as
ttlitialot
time of the union between Ireland and England, and am
bodied in an act of Parliament, by which one of the con-
tracting parties may be said to be extinguished; I can un-
derstand an arrangement of that kind having the sacred
nature of a contract, which cannot be disturbed with-
out a manifest breach of public faith. But
in order
to establish the doctrine that a financial arrange.
_
ment entered into for a particular year or series t?it,
years has the qualities and incidents of a compact's 1,
is necessary, it seems to me, to show that the state o.
things which was assumed as the basis of that compact
has not been varied by subsequent events, but still remains
unchanged. In the first place, then, the plan of 1853 was
framed on the supposition that peace would continue un-
broken. I need not say that that part of the supposition
unfortunately did not prove to be correct. War, in its
actual expenditure, as well as in its consequences, is un-
happily a disturbing cause in the matter of finance of the
first magnitude ; and it is only necessary for me to refer to
the facts which I have just narrated in regard to the large
increase of annual charge on account of the debt, owing to
the recent hostilities, in order to show that the foundation
of the arrangement of 18.53 has, in the most important re-
spect, been overturned. Yet not only has the annual charge
of the debt been augmented, but there are also certain pay-
ments in the nature of the redemption of debt which take
effect in the years included within the period of that settle•
went. The settlement,*xtended from 1853 to 1860. Well,

according to the obligations fixed by acts of Parliament
new in force, there are Exchequer-bonds to the extent of
2,c00,0001., which become payable in 18W ; an equal
amount is also payable in ISS 4 ; an equal amount likewise
in 1859 ; and a further sum of 1,000,0001. in 1860. In ad-
dition to this there is a sinking fund for war loans, for
which the charge on the Consolidated Fund in 1857 will
amount to 250,000/. ; in 1858 to 1,500,0001. ; and in each
of the two following years the sum will also be 1,500,0001.;
making for the four years between 1257 and 1860 the fol-
lowing total amounts :-2,250,0001. for 1857, 3,500,0001.
for 1858, 3,500,000/. for 1859, and 2,500,000/. for 1860.
Besides these repayments in the nature of a sinking
fund, there is also, as I have said, an additional sum
f r interest of 1,460,0001. in 1857, 1,360,0001. in
1858, and 1,220,0001. in 1859. Now this series of obli-
gations in the shape of annual interest and repayments
of the principal of the debt has, unfortunately,
disturbed the settlement entered into in 1853—a settlement
which had every prospect of a satisfactory issue if we had
remained at peace, but the basis of which was altogether
deranged by the stern reality of subsequent events. Since
the year 1853 not only has a large additional charge in the
way of interest :on debt and repayment of the principal
been imposed on the resources of the country for the next
four years, but during the same interval large remissions
taxation have been made, materially diminishing the
public revenue. So that, while we have increased our
expenditure, we have concurrently lost part of our income.
In 1854 an alteration was made in the duty on bills of ex-
change, by which a reduction of 150,0001. was effected. In
the same year there was a diminution of 200,0001. in the
produce of the assessed taxes. In the following year an
annual sum of 260,0001. was sacrificed by the abolition of
the newspaper stamp duty, after making due allowance
for the increased receipts derived by the Post-office in con-
sequence of that remission. In 1855 another remission
which was much pressed on the Government, and had many
advocates on both sides of the house, was made by the Go-
vernment in compliance with the general wish expressed
on the subject. I allude to the reduction of the duty upon
stage carriages, involving a loss •f 60,0001. per annum to
the revenue. The total amount, therefore, of the remis-
sions of taxation made since 1853 is 760,000/. I conceive,
then, that the hands of this house aro perfectly free to deal
with this question at the present time, and that Parliament
cannot deem itself in any way tied up by an arrangement
made on an assumption, which I wished as sincerely as any
one had been supported by the result, but which was un-
happily falsified by the subsequent course of events. I
now come, Sir, or rather I approach more closely—(cheers)
—to the arrangements of taxation for the ensuing year, and
I will trouble the house with some explanation oa the subject
of direct or indirect taxation, upon which those arrange-
ments mainly turn. I think there is an exaggerated idea as
to the amount of direct taxation which is now levied upon
the country. The current of feeling runs strongly, as it
seems to me, against any form of direct taxes. (Opposi-
tion cheers.) Such a feeling appears to be expressed in
many quarters. One mode of trying the justice of that
feeling is to examine what are the relative amounts levied
by direct and indirect taxation. I think this is an impor-
tant matter, bearing in a most direct and practical manner
on the solution of the question which is about to engage
the attention of the house. (Hear, hear.) The amount of
those taxes which constructively bear the name of direct
taxes is not large, if we put out of view the war income
tax. The war income tax is no doubt principally owing
to the exigency of circumstances ; but, that being put out
of consideration, and reverting to the income tar as it was
originally imposed by Sir It. Peel, the house must, I
think, be of opinion that the amount of direct taxes,
strictly so called, is by no means considerable. I have
divided the taxation of the country into three classes. I
have taken first those direct taxes which are paid at fixed
periods—that class of taxes to which alone French finances
give the ileum of direct taxes They do not give the
name of direct taxes to those taxes which seem to me to
deserve the name, though they are not paid at stated and
fixed periods. The land-tax produces 1,150,0001., the as-
sessed taxes 2,000,000/., the income tax 7,100,0001. ; mak-
ing altogether 1 1,250,000/. That is the total amount of
the direct taxation of this country where taxes are paid at
fixed periods, assuming the rate of income tax to be as it
existed before the war. There is also another class of
taxes, which, although direct taxes in point of incidence,
are not complained of as being oppressive, inasmuch as
they are not paid in the same compulsory manner, or at
stated periods, but according to the wants of the taxpayer.
There is no doubt, however, they are direct taxes, and fall
in direct incidence on property. The whole revenue
from stamps, probate, legacy, and succession duties is
7,450,030/. With regard to the succession duty, it seems
to me, great misunderstanding prevails. I have heard it
stated that the succession duty is a heavy burden on landed
property, that it tends to the confiscation of the estates
of landowners—(cheers from the Opposition)—that it
forms a great and material increase to the direct tax-
ation of the country, and that it may be considered almost
as another income tax. (Renewed Opposition cheers.) The
present amount of the succession duty is about 500,0001.
a-year. It is anticipated that, increasing by slow degrees,
it will rise to maturity aboutelB63, and it is estimated that
it will then produce 1,200,0001. a-year. Another tax un-
doubtedly direct in its incidence is postage. (Cries of
"No !") Well ;it must be enumerated among direct
taxes, but it is a tax for which every person gets an equi-
valent, and a very sufficient equivalent—(hear, hear)—and
therefore I only enumerate it among this class of taxes for
the sake of completeness. Postage produces 3,000,0001.
The second class of direct taxes gives this result :—Stamps,
probate, legacy, and succession duties, 7,450,0001.; postage,
3,0 JO,OOO/.—making together, 10,450,0001. The total of
these two classes of direct taxes is 20,700,C00/. The total
of the indirect taxes—namely, Customs and Excise, is
39,850,0001., and therefore the indirect taxes are about
double the amount of the direct taxes, assuming the in-
come tax at its original amount, and allowing 3,000,0001.
for postage. I regret to have to trouble the house with
many of these statements, but I need scarcely say this is a
material fact, bearing on the question before us as to the
relative magnitude of the direct and indirect taxes of the
country. (Cheers.) There are some gentlemen who, not-
withstanding the general desire to diminish direct taxes,
and especially to remove the war rate of the income tax,
ty that they would wish to keep up the income and other
direct taxes to a considerable amount, for the purpose of
reducing certain indirect taxes, pressing, as they think,
with great severity on the trade and industry of the coun-
try. One of these is the paper duty, and I received, net
many days agt a deputation headed by the right hon. gen-
tlemen th. uitubv. ftn. Manchester, who inommuct on rue
consideration of the Goverement the reduction of that
duty. The duty falls on three clan-es of paper
namely, paper used for printing, paper used for
writing, and paper used for packing—and being charged,
not accordihg to value, but according to weight, finan-
cially speaking the burden is by far the heaviest on the
large quantity which is used for the purpose of packing.
Instead of being more oppressive on that class of paper
which leads my right hon. friend to denominate it a tax
on knowledge, it falls more heavily on the two other de-
scriptions. But, with regard to packing and writing
papers, I confess I do not see that those descriptions, in
the present state of our revenue and expenditure, are not
proper subjects of taxation. (Cheers from the Opposition.)
With regard to paper used for the purpose of printing, we
must consider not merely the demands of the manufac-
turer, but what will be the probable advantage to the
' having carefully considered the sub-
ject, that the total abolition of the paper
dcouutylll alrwouldnot produceb. I celnoifeevse s
to the ordinary purchaser of books
and newspapers any appreciable advantage. (Cheers from
the Opposition.) Therefore, Sir, without at all denying the
claims of the paper duty being considered at a time when
our expenditure may be less and our revenue may be
greater, I cannot admit that at the present moment it is a
proper subject for reduction. (Hear, hear.) There is
another article the duty on which some persons wish to
see diminished. The hon. member for Pontefrah (Mr.
Oliveira) has given notice of a motion for a committee to
inquire with a view to a reduction of the duty on wine.
(Laughter.) I do not think it at present necessary to go
into that subject. From accidental and natural causes the
product is of wine has undergoae a great diminution. The
exports of spirits from this country have increased in con-
sequence. Instead of the continent being enabled to give
us a redundant supply of wine, we are exporting spirits to
supply their demands. This would not, therefore, be a
happy moment for the trial of an experiment which I am
sure my hon. friend himself must regard as somewhat
perilous. (Cheers.) There is only one other duty
to which I will refer. It is one which interested
many gentlemen last session, and which was brought
forward for discussion in this House--I mean the duty
on fire insurance. I have lately laid upon the table
a report upon this subject. I have caused it to be care-
fully investigated during the recess, and you will find
in that report the materials for arriving at a judgment on
the question, which did not exist in an autheet:c and official
form before. The result of a careful consideration of the
question has been to convince me that it is a duty which
falls exclusively upon realised property, for which reas
it ought t 3 receive the support of those gentlemen who
wish to transfer all taxation to realised property—that it
is a duty which adapts itself with singular felicity to the
circumstances of the taxpayer, which is heaviest when the
insurance is lightest, and lightest when the insurance is
heaviest, and which has advanced in its contribution to
the revenue with a steady progression for a great number
of years. I confess I can see no ground whatever for ac-
ceding to the propositions which have been made for• the
reduction of that duty, and, so far as lam able to judge,
I believe it to be one of the last duties which ought to be
relinquished. (Murmurs from behind tie Ministerial
benches.) lam sorry to differ from hon. gentlemen upon
this subject, but I must ask them to suspend their judg-
ment until they have had an opportunity of reading the
report to which I have referred, in which the matter is
treated at great length, and with great candour and ability.
At all events, if the conclusion at which I have arrived be
distasteful to hon. members behind me, I aseu.e them that
I have only come to it after a careful consideration of the
subject, and I think that they can hardly—at all events,
for the present—press for the abolition of the duty on fire
insurances. In dealing with the taxation of the coming
year I shall propose, therefore, to confine myself to those
taxes which were imposed during the war, and I shall not
make any modifications of any other portion of our tax-
ation than that which underwent revision during the war.
In proposing the modifications which I am about to do I
would bear in mind the dictum of a writer whose opinion
I think should command some authority in this house—a t
writer who is in no degree obnoxious to the charge of
being a speculator or a theorist, but who is a practical
man, conversant with various branches of economy,
and particularly with agricultural economy—l mean
Arthur Young, whose travels in England, Ireland, and
France are doubtless well known to the members of this
house. After pointing out what are in his opinion the
principal attributes which a system of taxation ought to
possess, and dwelling especially upon the importance of
equality, he makes the following observations :—" The
mere circumstance of taxes being very numerous, in order
to raise a given sum,
is a considerable step towards equa-
lity in the burden falling on the people • if I was to define
a good system of taxation it should be that of bearing
lightly on an infinite number of points, heavily on none.
In other words, that simplicity in taxation is the greatest
additional weight that can be given to taxes• and ought in
every country to be most sedulously avoided." Now, sir,
that opinion, though contrary to much that we hear at the
present day, seems to me to be full of wisdom, and to be
a most useful practical guide in the arrangement of a sys-
tem of taxation. 1 will now go through the textile, to which
think it necessary to call the attention of the committee.
In ,;_be first place, there is the duty on spirits, in which a
permnont increase was laid during the war, and which
may be reckoned on as producing a permanent addition to
the revenue Of about 1,500,000/. a y ear. It was imposed
us a permanent tax, and it does not cease upon the termi-
nation of the war. I think that the committee will agree
that the rate of din;
time when a large reven‘s"" rugaired' subject to the con-
dition
with me that sphits :ire legitimate objects of taxation at a
ti is so great an
distil-
lation. (Hear, hear.) Illicit it prevails,-
evil, and it so demoralises the coueltr 3' which
y amount of revenue
by producing lawless habits, that ;4.' • •
tion. Hitherto, however, it has not t.
ing
is dearly purchased at the cost of prof
does not lead to illicit
aeon found that the
present rate of duty either in Ireland 05
mittee that this
to illicit distillation. I
• can assure the cone Iso long as I
is a subject to which I am quite alive, am.
Scetland has led

have the honour to hold my present office, it is one which I
shall most carefully watch with a view to discover any in-
crease in its practice ; but while matters remain in their
present position I nee no reason for proposing any altera-
tion in the spirit duties. The next duty which I must
a 1.,P rt to is the duty upon malt, Last ye it there w .s a loss
upon malt to the amount of 200,0031, The duty ceased
upon the sth of July last, but on account of the long credit
given a portion of the war duty became payable last year.
In the ensuing year the entire effect of the remission of the
war duty upon malt will be experienced, and it will occa-
sion a loss of about 2,000,0001. The additional war duty
is now removed. I now come to the income tax-(cheers)
-and I will first inform the committee of the present po-
sition of that tax. It was imposed for the purpose of re-
venue in 1842, at the rate of 7d. in the pound upon incomes
above 1501. a-year, for three years. It was renewed in
1.45, and again in 1818, for the two triennial periods, at
the same rate. It therefore continued for nine years,
being renewed at triennial periods, at the rate of 7d. in the
pound on all incomes above 150/. a-year,-incomes below
that amount being exempted. In 1851 a similar renewal
at the same rate and for the same polled was proposed by
my right hon. friend the present First Lord of the Admi-
ralty, but it met with a good deal of opposition on the
ground of the mode of assessment, and, in deference to the
prevalent opinion of the house, it was renewed only for
one year, and a select committee was appointed to inquire
into the mode of assessment. I ought to state that my
noble friend' the member for the city of London, was then
at the head of the Government, while he assented to the
appointment of the committee, objected to so large a por-
tion of the revenue being made to depend upon an annual
act. In 1852 the income tax was renewed at the same rate
by the Government of Lord Derby, but it was renewed for
only a year in consequence of the peculiar position of that
Government, which did not allow them to propose any
important renewal or change of taxation. I now come to
1853. In that year the income tax was fixed at 7d. in the
pound for two years from the sth of April, 1853 ' • at 6d. in
the pound for two years from the sth April, 1855; and at
sd. for three years from the sth April, 1857; so that if the
war had not intervened the tax now current would have
been 6d. in the pound, and for three years from sth April,
1857, it would have been sd. in the pound. Therefore, what
is called " the war 9d." is in fact the difference between
the tax as it stood at the commencement of the war and the
tax as it stands at present. By the same act of 1853 the
income tax was extended to Ireland, and it was also extended
to incomes above 110/. and less than 1501. at sd. in the
pound. The war now supervened, and the result was that
the income tax did not fall from 7d. to 6d. ; on the con-
trary, in 1854 it was increased from 7d. to 146. and from
sd. to 10d. in the pound-that is to say, it was raised to
146. on incomes above 150/., and to 10t1. on incomes between
150/. and 1001. It the same time it was continued at those
rates till the 6th of April next after the ratification of a
treaty of peace. But in 1855 the tax was increased to 16d.
and 110.-in other words, 26. was added to the 146. and
1 ',el. to the 10d. It was continued during the war " and
until"-these are the words upon which so many comments
have been made-" the 6th of April which shall first hap-
pen after the expiration of one year from the ratification of
a definitive treaty of peace." That, sir, is the present state
of the income tax. For the present year it stands at is.
4d. in the pound upon incomes above 1501., and at 111 l.
upon incomes between 150/. and 100/. and it is continued,
by the operation of the words which I have read, for ano-
ther year, commencing on the 7th of April next. It would
fall for the following two years to 56. in the pound, and
then altogether expire. That is the legal position of the
income tax. It has been supposed that there *as some
design or reason on the part of the Government for making
a distinction between the income tax and the duties on tea,
sugar, and coffee. I can assure the committee that the dif-
ference in the wording of the acts was not at all the result
of design ;it was the result a mere accident, and owes
its existence to a singular coincidence of dates, which it
was impossible for the Government to foresee when the acts
were passed. According to the act passed in 1854 the pre-
sent rates of the income tax were to continue until the 6th
of April next after the ratification of peace. Consequently
if the treaty had been ratified on the sth of April, the tax
would have ceased a day after the ratification. The com-
mittee must be aware from the statement I have already
made that war expenditure does not cease with
active hostilities, but that it is necessary for the Govern-
ment to be provided with funds, or else to appeal to Par-
liament to meet that expenditure which, though not fall-
ing within the period of hostilities, fairly and properly be-
longs to the time of war. Therefore, in raising the in-
come tax the words which I have read were inserted in the
act. It was intended to levy the tax at the increased rates
during the remainder of the financial year, whatever that
remainder might be, in which the treaty of peace might be
ratified, and for one clear year beyond that period. The
word " ratification" of a treaty of peace occurred in a
former income tax act, and was transferred to the act of
1854, but it did not occur in the Customs and Excise Act.
In that act the words used were that the duties on tea,
sugar, and coffee should continue during the war, " and
until the sth of April inclusive which shall first happen
after the end of Li months from the date of a definitive
treaty of peace with Russia." Instead of using the word
" ratification" as in the Income tax Act, the word!" date"
was inserted in the Customs and Excise Act. That diffe-
rence of expression arose from an inadvertence, not from
design. It so happened, however, that the treaty of peace
was signed on the 30th of March, but the ratifications were
not exchanged till the 7th of April, and therefore the sth
of April, the day mentioned in the Customs and Excise
Act, intervened between the signature and the ratification
of the teeaty--an event altogether impossible to foresee. I
have endeavoured to ascertain what is the exact import of
mu
reed,
tt
hh
at hprraospee, r
y‘ tshpee da
ice
ne
,f
ita nr eeaatnys, 't'
ha
en
dateel have bt
he ee ns
iianuf oa rt
and not the date of the ratification ; although the treaty
takes effect only from the letter period. Owing, therefore,
to this accidental difference in the language of the two acts,
it was held that the additional duties en tea, sugar, and
coffee would expire on the sth of April next, whereas the
income tax would last for another year. Such is the simple
explanation of a subject which has occupied so much of the
attention of the country. I will only add that although, in
answer to a question put to me by the hon. and learned
member for Wallingford, I stated what was the legal effect
of the accidental and undersigned phraseology of the In-
come-tax Act, I never for a moment entertained the idea
of asking the house to continuo the tax longer than the ex-
igencies of the public service would require it. (Hear,
hear.) Well, Sir, as the law stands at present the sum
e Lae, tem 8./V1...9,10r ..evil 100 ontitlod to roooivo from (ha
income tax would be 16d. for the ensuing year, and sd. for
each of the two following years; that is to say, it would be
entitled to receive 26c1., each of which may be taken as re-
' presenting 1,080,00/. sterling. Consequently, the total
sum payable under the Income-tax Act is 26,00,000/.
The proposal which I have to make to the Committee,
looking to the increased charges upon the revenue for some
years to come owing to the debts contracted during the
war, and to the remission of taxation in the same period, is
to fix the income tax as it was originally fixed by Sir
Robert Peel, and at two subsequent periods, taking it for
the next three years at 7d. in the pound. (This announce-
ment was received with some cheering, which was speedily
converted into roars of laughter, when a large number of
hon. members on both sides rose from their seats and left
the house. The noise occasioned by their withdrawal hav-
ing subsided, the right hon. gentleman, who had joined in
the merriment, proceeded with his statement.) I am
sorry, Sir, to have to continue my explanation to an audi-
ence so greatly reduced in numbers-(a laugh)-neverthe-
less, I must state to those who remain what will be the
effect of the proposed alteration. The number of millions
to which the Exchequer would be entitled under the exist-
ing law is 26, distributed over the next three years.. The
effect of the change which I propose will be that the Ex-
chequer will receive 21,000,030.., being a diminution of
.5,003,000/., spread over the same period. Another effect
will be that more than a-half of the tax will be remitted in
the ensuing year, for, whereas the present rate of the tax is
16d. in the pound, I'propose to reduce it to 7d. 166. in the
pound is equal to 6/.135. 46. per cent. ; 7d. In the pound to
2/. 18s. 4d.; and 5d to 21. ls. 811. The difference, therefore,
between the rate at which I propose to fix the tax and the
rate at which it would stand for the next two years, if no
alteration were made, is only iris. &I per cent. 56. being
equal to 2/. ls. 86. per cent. The committee will thus see
that, while the relief granted in the ensuing year will be
great and sensible, the additional charge in the two follow-
ing years will not be such as to be injuriously felt by the
country. The relief will not be confined to the class of in•
comes exceeding 150/. a-year. I propose to reduce the rate
of income-tax levied upon incomes between 100/. and le- 0/.
a-year to the rate adopted in the original measure of any
right hon. friend,-namely, sd. in the pound, which will
amount to 2/. ls. 86. per cent. I believe the high war in-
come tax has pressed with great severity upon the class of
small incomes, and I think I can explain why that has been
the mere. My right hon. friend. in proposing this exten-
sion of the tax, exprees,d an opinion that he would not as
he phrased it, " trench upon the territory of labour," for
he thought that by limiting the tax to amounts exceeding
1001. it would not affect any considerable number of per.
eons in receipt of weekly wages. I aria unable to obtain an
exact account of the number of persons receiving weekly
wages who are contributors to the income tax; but I have
reason to believe that it is not less than 20,000. Persons
in receipt of 2/. a-week are liable to the tax, and the sum
of 41. 15s. 101 per annum, payable half-yearly, must have
been extremely burdensome to individuals in such a posi-
tion. (Hear.) The tax would leceome still more burden-
some if it fell into airear, and if a person receiving only
2/. a-week was called upon to pay at once 4/. 15s. 10d.,-
more than double his weekly earnings. The effect of the
change I propose will be that a person receiving 2/. a-week
will only be liable to an income tax of 2/. ls. 86. per annul in,
which is about 1/. half-yearly, and therefore the reduction
will afford great relief to the possessors of small incomes,
and must have the effect of diminiehine +he -mentions felt
in many quarters to this part of the tax. There is, now-
ever, another war tax with which I shall propose to deal,
but with regard to which I cannot pursue the course I have
suggested in thecaae of the income-tax-I allude to the duty
upon tea and sugar. The duty upon tea is for the pre-
sent year Is. 9d. per lb., and by the existing law it would
fall to ls. 2d. on the Ist April next, and to Is. fcr the next
and succeeding years. The duties on sugar are also arranged
upon a similar plan of reduction. It happens that at this
moment the stock of sugar is very low, and it cannot there-
fore be expected that a reduction in the price of that article
consequent upon the diminution of the duty would be at-
tended with any great increase of consumption. The name
remark applies to tea, inasmuch as recent events at Canton
have imposed obstacles to future exportations. With re-
gard, therefore, to both these articles it cannot be expected
that a considerable reduction of duty would be followed by
any material increase of consumption in the course of the
next year. The diminution I propose in the rate of the
income tax will lead to a great reduction of the revenue,
not so much in the present year as in the two succeeding
years. The difference between a tax of 7d. in the pound
and one of 166. would involve a diminution of revenue to
the amount of 9,009,0001., which would leave a deficient
income as compared with the probable expenditure of the
country. I therefore intend to propose a new scale for the
reduction of the duties upon tea and sugar, rendering the
diminution somewhat slower than it would be under the
existing law, and thus providing for a more gradual ditni•
notion of the revenue. I will state what are the duties
propose to adopt :-The duty on tea now stands at ls. 9,1
per lb. I propose that for the next year, 1857-8, it shall be
is. 76. ; for 187;8-9, ls. sd. ; for 1859-60, ls. 3d-, and that
from that period it shall be Is. The present duty on re
fined sugar is 20e. per cwt. I propose that next year i,
p1p8056, l,
shall fall to 18e. 40. ; in the following year to 16s 86. ; it
5,1. in aso thato O
its. shall'
7cl
h e 33
1859 to 155., and in subsequent years to 13s, 4d. The dutyon brown sugar is now 13s. 9.1., and I propose that in 185'
and that after that period it shall be Os 6cl. The duty on '
ityellow
Isllhoawl.lisb oued. 12sgr
in
is at
5;7, i l
present
;lgBo7 8
t9l 5
. us . Bno,l. in
propose 9-
1858,
lie. 80. in 1859, and
subsequently 108. 6d. I will now state to the committee
the estimated revenue for the ensuing year. I estimate
the Customs at 22,850,00 R, the Excise at 17,000,0001., the
stamps at 7,450,030/., the land and assessed taxes at
3,1Z9,000/., and the income tax at 11,450,000/. The com
mittee must recollect, however, that owing to arrear
which are still due, a considerable amount of the high rat 4
of income tax will be receivable in the present year, atk
the full effect of the reduction will not t e felt until the
year ensuing. • I estimate that- the Post-office will yield
3,000,0001,:the Crown-lands 265'009/• and miscellaneous

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