The Sun.
London, England, 1861-04-29 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY

TILE PAPER DUTY CONSIDERED.

From a fifth letter by Mr. Bolin, the bookseller and pub-
lisher, who has just issued .a second edition of his
letters on the paper duty.

After the concession made to the Ministry, last August,
of the penny Customs on paper, and the recent declaration
of Lord Palmerston that there would be no remission of
taxes this session, the public, and especially those imme-
diately concerned, aro taken by surprise at the renewtd
attempt to abolish the paper Excise. The budget, too, is
this time so ingeniously compacted that the Lords" are all
but divested of the power of interposing a rescue ; it must,
therefore, remain entirely with the Commons to save or
fling away what, if left alone, would speedily produce an
annual revenue of two millions ; awl which, once abandoned,
can never be recovered.
But it seems that politics, not policy, are to govern ; and
as our leaders all but hold office at the nod of a selfish band
of demagogues, they have no choice but to obey. A majo-
rity which should relieve our Chancellor of the Exchequer
from these dangerous friends would, no doubt, be a great
boon to him, although he is not in a condition to proclaim
the fact.
That a determined struggle is to be made to obtain a vic-
tTy this time is seen in all the preparations. The paper-
makers having already been crippled by the abolition of the
penny Customs duty, in subserviency to the French treaty,
have little left to fight for ; and their agents, the wholesale
stationers, havi,•g been gagged by a promise of drawback
on all their stock (which will amount to at least a quarter
of a million sterling), have no longer any serious stake at
issue. It is now therefore left with the general public to
consider how far they will be sold in this fashion, and sur-
render for ever the easiest and least felt of all taxes at the
cost of maintaining others, such as the income tax and the
tekiffstiorflatietclobiehnre really Oppressive, and being
mere war imposts, are now unconstitutional.
Having indulged in this exordium, I will now recapitu-
late what has passed since my last letter (Aug. 4tb), and
therewith close, I hope, all I have to say on the subject of
paper duties.
I will premise by stating that everything affirmed or
predicted in my former letters has thus far been verified.
I had said (Feb. 27th) that the paper duty amounted to
twelve hundred thousand per annum, and even this was
publicly contradicted as an over statement, but when the
returns were published in March, 1860, the amount for
1859 was f )und to be £1,429,490 19s. Bd., and for 1860 it
no doubt exceeds a million and a half, although squeezed
down to £1,300,000 in the present budget figures, by a full
deduction for drawbacks and the expenses of col-
lecting. And I will here incidentally take leava to ob-
serve that, as these drawbacks and expenses are, on
the one hand, promotives of export trade, and on the other
sources of home employment, they are, instead of an ex-
pense, an indirect revenue, and ought not to be incautiously
abandoned.
I have constantly said that the removal of the paper
duties would not cheapen literature of any kind to the pub-
lic, and we have already had an instalment of the proof.
The penny Customs duty, for example, has now been sur-
rendered more than six months, and several newspapers
obtain their supplies from France, Belgium, or Germany,
but the public have received no beneficial return, although
the abrogation of this tax has been very prejudicial to the
manufacturing interests of the country as well as a material
loss to file revenue. And it is an unmistakable fallacy to
suppose that the public will receive any more benefit by
the repeal of the three-halfpenny Excise ; for if paper
should lower for a time in consequence of the immediate
effect of the drawback allowance on stock, and the first
effect of foreign competition, the profit will go to the whole-
sale consumers, whether publishers or packers, Manchester
warehousemen or grocers, and rot a fraction of it to the
actual consumer.
In the small majority of 33 gained in a full house (Aug.
7) for the repeal of the customs duty, many were influenced
by what they considered a high-principal view of responsi-
bilities to Mr. Cobden's French treaty ; others by the fear of
a general elect ion, which was threatened ; and some by a mis-
conception of the importance of the Customs duty, in rely-
ing too implicitly upon certain allegations in the summing
up. And here it may be observed, that between the open-
ing and closing of the debate the house was comparatively
empty, and therefore many of the members did not hear all
the arguments and refutations, or more of them would pro-
bably have voted against the repeal. Lord Palmerston as-
serted, up in evidence seemingly furnished ty official re-
clans, that the " paper manufacturers of England, while
labouring under all the difficulties as to obtain ng the raw
material, aro able to compete successfully and advantage-
ously in foreign markets with the manufacturers of the very
country in which it is said that the great advantage of pro-
hibiting the export of the raw material exists."
This telling argument took the louse by surprise, and had
a palpable effect, but the converts made by it were not aware,
and there was nobody at hand to tell them, that a great pro-
portion of the paper which created an apparent preponder-
ance in our favour was really French, or other foreign make
merely bonded in our warehouses for the convenience of
being shipped in English bottoms to parts of the world
where the consigners could not send direct. We can scarcely
sell a ream of printing paper in competition with foreign
manufacturers, where we have not some accidenttl advan-
tage. Since the abolition of the so-called protective duty,
and the prospect of a repeal of the Excise duty, the French
have by an official circular advised the small paper-makers
of Brittany, Auvergne, and other places, to surrender their
little rural mills and homesteads and join in the establish-
ment of factories on a large scale, observing that machinery
and co-operation must now supersede detached labour, to
have any chance of competing effectively with the manu-
facturing forces of England. They suggest the employ-
ment of women and children more extensively, and include,
according to their established habits, Sunday labour. So
much for rural mills and the advantages of this movement
to society anywhere.
I have endeavoured to confine myself to the few matters
which have not been considered in my four previous letters.
If I were to answer all the childish and shallow arguments
raised by the advocates for the abolition of this important
revenue, I should fill a volume. What is thought to be one
of the most formidable, that of not distinguishing between
felt and paper, and the like nonsense, is really unworthy of
our age. Let the Government put the r ight man in the
right place, and they will find no such difficul, y.
Lot us hope that our rulers will be induced to change their

present detetmination, and give us instead of the paper excise
the extra sd. off the tea duties, which is about the equiva-
lent, and will make 6d. or 7d. to the consuLsaer ; or another
id. or even 2d. off the income tax, bearing in mind that the

penny now proposed to be taken off was one that, according
to their own showing, ought never to have been put on.
The first remission will make them very popular with the
poor, the second even more popular with the middle classes.
lIENRY G. BORN.

POSTSCRIPT.
While these pages were in the press I was present at the
debates on the Budget, and will take leave to add a few jot..
tings in reference to what occurred in respect to the paper
duty. Mr. Black, the Edinburgh publisher, who was ori-
ginally to have seconded Mr. Puller's motion against the
repeal of the Customs duty on paper, but suddenly ratted,
made some assertions so contrary to the notions of his pro-
f,,ggienal brethren that I feel it my duty to answer them.
He said that, " supposing the amount of tax upon tue pap.,
used for a book was Is., the manufacturer charged interest
upon that Is., the wholesale dealer did the same, and also
the retailer, and the publisher, who reckoned three years as
a moderate period for disposing of an edition ; so that by the
time the book reached the hand of the reader, the ls. tax
became 25." This is utterly fallacious. The manufacturer
generally makes his paper to order, or takes care to sell it
as soon as it is made, and the duty is not chargeable till it is
sent out of the mill, and even after that he has a reasonable
credit. The wholesale stationer then steps in to supply that
part of the capital in cash; and charges only the same profit
on it as on the paper itself, which rarely, if ever, exceeds
10 per cent. ; consequently the shilling becomes only four-
teenpence to the consumer, and not two shillings. Cheap
literature and publications which concern the million never
require three years for a return of duty, seldom three
months, and often not three days, therefore Mr. Black's
calculation of compound interest, which is part of his argu-
ment against "taxes on knowledge," goes for nothing. He
takes for the basis of his calculation a book which weighs
81bs., no doubt having in mind his " Encyclopredia Britan-
nica," the heaviest book of the present age ; but as the
volumes of this are published at 245. each, and the set
costs £25 45., ho cannot fairly instance this formidable
work as one which concerns the great mass of the people.
lam certain he would not publish it for any less were
paper ever so cheap, nor would it help his sale if he
did. Then Mr. Black says, that "in wrapping paper,
which costs about 245. per cwt., 14s. was for duty, and
that amount was paid by the persons who bought
the articles which were wrapped in the paper, or the
small tradesmen who :old them. There,are here as many
mistakes as lines. Wrapping paper of the lowest quality is
sold at about 365. per cwt., and not 245., and the better qua-
lities are somewhat higher, as any stationer will tell him.
But whatever the cost to the small tradesman he does not
lose it, as he always weighs it to his customer at consider-
ably more than it cost him. Besides which he may buy, as
Mr. Black knows, almost any quantity of printed paper, the
result of unsuccessful publications, at 3d...0r 4d. per lb.,
and wrapping paper can never be had cheaper ; the people,
therefore, who are likely to gain by cheap wrapping paper
are not the small dealers, but the great trading houses, such
as Morrisons, Leafs, Swan and Edgars, the Manchester,
Sheffield, and Birmingham factors, &c. One more obser-
vation and I have done with Mr. Black. He says that the
paper tax.does not yield more than £1,200,000, after deauct-
ipg the cost of collection, awl *face of pis lvtder's

wn figures, who, with the same reason for understating
them, admits £1,300,000. There is no question but that
the yield exceeds either of the figures, and if left to its
own progress svonld long since have been considerably
greater. I have taken the trouble to unravel Mr. Black's
statements, because the uninitiatad seem to look upon them
as authorities, but none are more flimsy. If he and his party
would apply the same ingennity to explaining the war taxes
on tea, sugar, malt, and haps, they would open the eyes of
the people. to what they aro unjustly suffering.
Mr. Milner Gibson, whtlas made the repeal of the paper
duty his stalking horse for the last seven years and more,
and seems resolved to carry his point, tolens volens, insisted
that it is " oppressive to trade and commerce," and this in
the face of every proof to the contrary. With like evidence
he told us that "exports and shipping are recovering from
their decline," glthough at thispoment foreign trade is as
bad as it can be, and ships to America are being freighted
with chalk for want of cargeeS. Then he prognosticated to
have paper mills all over the country,, some as adjuncts to
the farm-yard; whereas all who know anything of the sub-
ject, know that. farm-yard refuse would not make paper,
and that all the little mills now existing will be swept away
and absorbOd by leviathan establishments: Then he harped
on the old story.that the dnties stood in the way of cheap
literature, although the protioters of it, and I am not one
of the least, have generally insisted that it does not. The
taxes 'paid- cheap literature, independent of the news-
papers and periodicals are infinitesimal, and would be pro-
nounced much ado about nothing if the public knew the
exact figures. Out of half a million that Government be-
stows in aid of education, not £20,000 is spent in bboks, and
therefore not £-1,000 on the paper duties. And ordinary
school books bear no greater proportion to the general out-
lay for literature ; the rich ar.sl the middle el?sses pay the
tax without perceiving it in the slightest degree. The Stew
newspaper has told us for thhsJast six months that we are
paying nearly '.Es,oooper diem " Taxes on Knowledge,"
and everybocly.seems to have felt what delightful taxes they
must be to yield so much without the least perceptible pres •
sure. The whole pretence, as Judge lialiburton very pro-
perly described it, is the "veriest cant that ever was heard
of," and to this opinion 1 heartily subscribe.
The argument which seemed chiefly to weigh with mem-
bers who began to see through the fallacies which theyhad
before allowed to pass unexamined, iliks that Mr. Disraeli,
when Chancellor of the Exchequer, had given an abstract
promise to abolish the paper duty at some convenient
period. But those who read the declaration out of
which he was rather incautiously worried by the pressure
of a member of" the Association," and now of the present
Government, will find that it is much less of a pledge than
that given for the abolition of the income tax and the war
duty on tea, which at any rate ought to go first.

H. G. B.

ENGLA I'D All) ITALY;

The following is the letter of Lord John Russell
to Sir James Hudson, which elicited the important
despatch of Count Cavour

Foreign-office, Jan. 21.
" Sir,—l have not taken any official notice of the
decrees you sent me, annexing, not to Sardinia, but
to the Italian State, Naples, Sicily, Umbria, and
the Marches. In fact, the votes by universal suf-
frage which have taken place in those kingdoms
and provinces appear to her Majesty's Government
to have little validity. These votes are nothing
more than a formality following upon acts of popu-
lar insurrection, or successful invasion, or upon
treaties, and do not in themselves imply any inde-
pendent exercise of the will of the nation in whose
name they are given. Should, however, the deli-
berate act or the representatives of the several
Italian States who are to meet on the 18th of
February constitute those States into one State, in
the form of a constitutional monarchy, a new ques-
tion will arise. When the formation of this State
shall be announced to her Majesty, it is to be
hoped that the Government of the King will be
ready to show that the new monarchy has been
erected in pursuance of the deliberate wishes of the
people of Italy ; and that it has all the attributes
of a Government prepared to maintain order within
and the relations of peace and amity without. The
obligations of the various States of Europe towards
each other ; the validity of the treaties which fix
the territorial circumscription of each State; and
the duty.of acting in a friendly manner towards all
its neighbours with whom it is not at war,—these
are the general ties which bind the nations of
Europe together,4and which prevent the suspicion,
distrust, and discord that might otherwise deprive
peace of all that makes it happy and secure. It is
not without a purpose that I have made these gene-
ral observations. My despatch of the 31st of
August last need not here be repeated, but the
sentiments there expressed continue to animate her
Majesty's Government. After the troubles of the
last few years, Europe has a right to expect that the
Italian kingdom shall not be a new source of dissen-
sion' and alarm. You may read this despatch to
Count Cavour, and if he wishes you may give hem
a copy of it.
"I am, &c.

" J. RUSSELL."

RAILWAY INIELLIGENCE.

The railway proceedings of the week have no
comprised many home undertakings, but there have
been one or two important colonial meetings. The
report of the Finn Valley line (Ireland) states that
the undertaking, 14 miles-in length, can be com-
pleted for a total cost of £43,112, or £3,080 per
mile, while the average cost of Irish railways has
been £6,600 per mile. Assuming the traffic to be
only half the average amount per week received on
all the Irish lines, the directors calculate on a net
profit of 11 per cent., the Dundalk and Enniskillen
Company being expected to undertake the working
of it at a charge of 35 per cent. The shareholders
of the Peebles have agreed to the proposed divi-
dend of 4 per cent. per annum. The least to the
Noah British came into effect on the Ist of Feb-
ruary, and that company have accordingly taken
possession of the live. The Exeter and Exmouth
Railway will be opened on the, Ist of May. A
meeting of the Metropolitan has been held to con-
sider some bills now before Parliament, when some
explanations were afforded as to the progress of the
undertaking. It appears that the line from Farring-
don-street to the Great Western at Paddington will
be opened for traffic next spring. The new line to
'the Great Northern will not be ready by that time.
A proposed extension from Smithfield to Finsbury-
circus was approved. At the Great Indian Penin-
sula meeting it was stated that a further portion of
53-1, miles of the company's line wis opened in
January, making a total of 3501 miles now being
worked. There is now with the exception of a break
of nine miles at the Thull Ghat, a continuous line
of 107 miles from Bombay in the direction of the
important cotton-fields of Berar. The general traffic
of the railway shows a marked improvement. The
net profit has been £35,536, being an increase over
the corresponding period of 1859 of £2,234. The
Bore Ghat works are making rapid progress. At
the Great Southern of India it was also mentioned
that the construction of the line is proceeding satis-
factorily. It is expected that the cost will be about
£7,000 per mile. The line is expo cted to be imme-
diately and extensively useful. The first section
from Negapatam to. Trivalore is now about being
opened for traffic. Favourable advices have been
ie:eivcd with regard to the progress of the Punjab
Railway. The Scinde was ready on the let inst. for
opening throughout. The directors of the East In-
dian state that the line to Rajmahal was opened on
the 15th of October, and that the progress made in
the North-Western Provinces justifies the expecta-
tion that the railway will be completed to Agra
early in 1862, and to Delhi by the end of the year.
The report 'of the Buffalo and Lake Huron an-
nounces that thereceipts in the half-year ending in
January were £36,596, and the expenses £27,296,
leaving a balance of £9,300, against £6,081 in Jan.,
vhe
eenr Gl
Grandhhr eea as
managers
nrwua `Westernanb ekereosnfoolf.
Canada,
tsaChpnaeeancdtat
wdv, Canada. 1860. The through business of all kinds, as com-
pared with 1859, has fallen off owing, it is alleged,
policy
feoottwwfhetee ye; Aetmnna--
meeting of the Belgian Eastern Junction, it was
tatpoegar intonrteehideeenis paeonnldti
stated that:the receipts have been £14,995 and
the expenditure £15,459. An increase has
taken place in the former under the head of
goods. An adjournment was ordered to enable the
directors to re port upon some negotiationspow being
• carried on with
the Government. At the Royal
Swedish meeting it was mentioned that, notwith-
standing the wet summer and severe winter, the
traffic of the past year has increased 11 per cent.
The working expenses have been considerably
augmented by the baaness of the weather. Every
charge, however, has been met out of revenue. In
the first quarter of the present year the traffic has
increased 50 per cent. A sum of £3OO was voted to
the directors who have given their services gratui-
tously for the past five years. With regard to the
London and North-Western line and its connexion
to the Colne Valley, a correspondence has been pub-
lished between Mr. H. R. Price and Admiral Moor-
som, the chairman of the North-Western, whence
it is to be inferred that certain recent statements
of the North-Western Company, that they had no
intention to support the Colne line, were in some
degree disingenuous.