The Sun.
London, England, 1861-04-16 00:00:00

of the Exchequer. Under these circumstances we are con-
vinced that we are waking a proposal which will receive,
not the acquiescence only, but the approval and sanction of
the house. I trust there is no one here who thinks this an
improvident measure—what is called a sacrifice of the en-
tire source of revenue, and that the repeal of this tax leaves
behind it no reproductive powers. I have in my hand an ac-
count of the Excise duties. In 1844 these amounted to
£14,469,000; since then we have repealed £2,355,000, and
assuming that'll° reproductive power exists in measures of
this class, there should now remain of Excise £12,114,000,
instead of which they amounted, in 1859, to £20,224,000
(Hear, hear.) Of course, in that sum was included a cer-
tain amount—perhaps about £2,000,000—arising from the.
augmentations in Scotland and Ireland, but the great bulk
of that increase was derived from the augmented strength
and consuming power of the country, arising from the ex-
tension of its trade, industry, and enterprise. Let me give
the committee the financial results of this proposition. We
have a balance of £1,923,000. One penny taken off the in-
come-tax will deprive us for three-fourths of the year dur-
ing which the change will be in operation of £850,000. We
cannot propose the repeal of the paper duty from the 15th
August, the period which was fixed on last year, because
that would trsnch rather too sharply on the balance at our
command. 'We propose to date its remission from the Ist
of October. The loss on Excise revenue by repealing the
paper duty will be £675,000; and there will be a loss of
Customs' duty from the same cause of £15,000 ; making
together £690,000. There will be, however, a saving by
reduction of the vote for stationery of about £ls,ooo—a
sum representing but a very small proportion of the direct
saving which the public will make by the repeal. Adding
to this £lO,OOO, the amount of the saving by reduction of
the establishment charges for the half-year, the total saving
will amount to £25,000, leaving a net loss on the repeal of
the paper duty of £665,000. Coupling this with the reduc-
tion of income-tax, the total remission will be £1,515,000,
which, when deducted from the balance of revenue, will
leave a residue of surplus to the moderate amount of
£408,000. (Loud cheers.) On the part of the Government
I must make an appeal to the house. I venture to express
a hope that they will give us their support in resisting any
attempt at invading this very moderate surplus. (Hear,
hear.) The Government have selected what they thought
great and important items of remission, which it was their
duty to make for the benefit of the community at large,
and of the trade and industry of the country; and. with
respect to other demands, even though they should appear
reasonable in themselves, we feel it an absolute obligation,
in which we trust the committee will give us its
support, to decline, in the absence of further means
and a fuller Exchequer, to listen to any such un-
due excess of demand. But I must not finally dismiss
this subject without referring to a matter of consi-
derable importance—l allude to the minor charges on
trading operations. (Hear, hear.) In my official capacity
I have received memorials from several Chambers of Com-
merce, expressing the desire of the mercantile world to be
relieved from those charges, and I should be very sorry to
leave them under the impression that the expression of any
wish of theirs had not led to the most respectful examina-
tion:of the subject on the part of any Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer, and particularly on the part of one who like my-
self is closely connected by origin and association with their
class. The yield of these charges is about £310,000 or
£320,090 a year; and it is obvious that the Exchequer is
not in a condition to make a surrender of that sum. But
further, I am bound to say thetas regards the greater part
ofj these charges I cannot admit that any case has been
made out to justify such a surrender. In all there are six
of them. The charge on dock warrants, the charge on de-
livery orders, and the charge on contract notes are the three
first. These three are stamp charges, and I believe them
to be as unobjectionable as almost any charges to be found
among the stamp duties of the country. Two others have
reasons for their maintenance entirely apart from their fiscal
results. One of them consists in an imposition of a stamp
duty of ls. 6d. on the bills of lading of commodities expor-
ted from this country, and yields a sum of £40,000 or
£50,000 a year. But it was imposed for a purpose beyond
the mere collection of revenue—viz., with a view of obtain-
ing accurate and trustworthy instead of inaccurate statisti-
cal information. That object we have been enabled by its
instrumentality to attain ; I am bound to say that I think it
one of great public value, and I cannot admit that a case
has been made out against the continuance of the tax. In
the same way, with reference to warehouse charges, an im-
portant object was effected in their imposition, a limitation
being thereby imposed on a source of enormous expendi-
ture, which was formerly made in extending warehousing
privileges to small places with small trades ; and the effect
of the tax was to put on these places a portion of the charge
of the establishment. I confess I think that a very valuable
tax, and I am not prepared to admit that it is attended with
serious disadvantages, or with any great imposition of labour
in its collection. The remaining charge is one with
respect to which I must say that I cannot go
the same length. I refer to the charge of id.
on goods imported into this country. I frankly
admit that although the tax is attended with con-
siderable statistical benefit, I think there is a good deal of
labour connected with its collection imposed on the mer-
cantile classes ; and labour, after all, when it is imposed on
the taxpayer, is in itself an additional tax. (Hear, hear.)
If that cannot be got rid of by any arrangement, I am quite
willing- chub rarnament, at an early perma, um recon-
sider the subject. But with respect to the demands ad-
vanced by certain Chambers of Commerce, 1 think I have
shown that the Government, with such a moderate balance
as £408,000, would not be justified in acceding to their
demands. I only propose to re-enact the income-tax and
tea and sugar duties for a single year. There is an advan-
tage in a more permanent legislation, but we feel this diffi-
culty—if we were to ask for the re-enactment of hose
duties for three years, that it would be said that such a
proposition implies a certainty that they will not be re-
duced before the end of three years Our object is to leave
these questions open, in the hope that we may see some
reductions of expenditure which it may be beneficial to
apply in that direction, and therefore, on the whole, we
think it fit for the moment, though admitting that the pro-
ceeding is not without inconvenience, to propose the re-
enactment of those taxes for one year. With respect to
the levying of the income tax, the operation of last year,
which brought into the compass of twelvemonths one
quarter of the former year and three-quarters of another,
now gives place to the normal condition, and the collection
for the year will be one-quarter at 10d. and three-quarters
at 9d. I shall, however, ask leave to introduce a clause
into the bill to facilitate the collection of the tax on ecrtain
dividends which fell due since the Ist of April, and escaped
payment of the tax. (Laughter.) This is not an ex post
facto legislation, for the gentlemen who received these
dividends would be bound to return them in Schedule D ;
but, possibly one or two might forget to do so, and, to
prevent any accident of that sort, the Bank and paying
bodies will be required to supply lists, so that the law may
be fairly and uniformly applied. (Hear, hear.) I shall
ask the committee to vote immediately, in the usual form,
without prejudice to the ultimate decision, a resolution
enabling me to charge double duty on foreign chicory.
That resolution is the only one on which I shall ask the
house to vote to-night; but I shall propose that the house
should again resolve into a Committee of Ways and Means
on Monday, in order to decide on the proposals of the
Government, as it is very desirable, in reference to the col-
lection of the income- ttx and the making of the new assess-
ments this year, that the proceeding should be as expedi-
tiously effected as is conformable with the convenience of
the house. As to the mode and order of proceeding, we in-
tend to adopt that which we think will at once give the house
the greatest convenience in discussing the measures of the
Government, and be best suited to its position and office as
a branch of the Legislature. As our proposals are all strictly
financial, and as they are intended to form one single plan,
we shall present them all in proper connexion with one
another by a series of resolutions to the committee. The
income-tax resolution will be taken first; then the resolu-
tion for the renewal of the duties on tea and sugar, and
afterwards the repeal of the duties on paper. Some minor
resolutions will follow, and when all are reported to the
house I shall ask leave to bring in a bill to give effect to
them. Having taken a financial survey of the affairs of this
country, I must now tender the expression of my gratitude

.., -
for the kindness and patience with which the committee
have followed me through wliat I may call a wilderness of

details. As respects the connexion between the general
condition and the financial state of the country, the result
is satisfactory. We have seen this country in the last few
years of European war under a burden of taxation such as, out
of a European war, i tnever could have been called on to bear;
we have also seen the country under the pressure of a season
of blight sttch as hardly any of us recollect ; yet, on
looking around on the face of England no one can perceive
any signs of decay, least of all in those attributes which
perhaps are the highest of all, and on which depend our
national existence—the spirit and courage of the country.
(Hear, hear.) It is needless to say that neither the
Sovereign on the throne, nor the nobles who have descended
from the gallant chieftains of tue Agee, nor the
citizens who represent the invincible soldiers of Cromwell,

nor the peasantry who are the children of the sturdy bolt

men that drew the crossbow on the fields of France,—

none show the slightest inclination tc depart from the
tradition of their forefathers. (Cheers.) If there be any
danger, I confess it seems to me to lie in our reeent policy
and tendency to unbounded excess in expenditure. Without
referring to any particular charges, I think that when we
perceive the rate at which we have been advancing for a

certain number of years, we must say that there has been
a tendency to break down all barriers and all limits. (Hear.)

s ,
For my own part I am deeply convinced that all excess in
the public expenditure beyond the wants of the country is

not only a pecuniary waste, but a great political and moral
evil. (Hear.) It is a characteristic of the evils which arise

from financial prodigality, that they come on with a slow

and surreptitious step, being unseen and unfelt until they
have reached a magnitude absolutely overwhelming, and
then we see them, as perhaps they now exist in the case of
one among the European countries, so fearful and menacing
of danger that they seem to threaten the very existence of

the nation. (Hear, hear.) Ido trust that the day will
come when a check will be put to the movement in this di-
rection ; and I think, as far as I have been able to trace the

sentiments of the house duriog the present session, that the
tendency to which I have adverted has begun to be weaker.
It is certainly true that sweeping and rash reductions of ex-
peAditure are 0 In cleprocatod aluacit B 5 WWI; tifl cum 1144