The Sun.
London, England, 1844-01-15 00:00:00

aware of the obstacles thrown in the way of an ope-
ration now acknowledged to be perfectly. legal. The
information then acquired was altogether inadequate
to the object proposed ; but the various investigations
which the Government had ordered showed that the
Present assessment was not so vicious as had been sup-
posed. In place, therefore, of immediately modifying
the assessments, and for certain inequalities substi-
tuting others, it had appeared to the Government
better to introduce a Bill which should, by degrees,
remove all disproportions that might exist in the
several departments of the kingdoin. By that
means, the contingent of each department would
be diminished each year, as well for the property
contributive depending on the houses destroyed as
personal taxes of the occupiers of those houses. It
wound he augmented only in proportion to the real
value of the new constructions really occupied by
the inhabitants. He proposed to fix the propor-
tion in which the augmentations were to take place
by twentieths. The total amount of the value of
habitations, such as it appeared from the late census,
was 5:33 millions, and might be estimated at 30 or 40
more, if the difficulties which prevented that opera-
tion being properly executed, were taken into consi-
deration. The produce of the twentieth, applied to
that amount only, furnished 28 or 29 millions, whilst
the personal and property contingent amounted to 34
millions. The diminution would, therefore, be rela-
tively greater than the additions, if it could not be
proved that from the increasing wealth of the country
the houses to be erected would much exceed those that
were allowed to disappear. The Government felt
convinced that no loss would accrue, and to act
with still more consideration, the departmental
assessment was not to be increased until the third
year after the commencement of the new
buildings. A Bill should be laid before them for
this purpose. As to the question both of doors
and windows, no difference of Opinion has ever arisen
between the Government and the rate-payers, for the
simple reason that the assessment could be made
without the officers engaged in it being obliged to
enter the houses. It would be seen by a table an-
nexed to the budget, that if the legal number was
enforced, as proved by the inquiries made during the
census, the sum produced would be 28,056,450 f., or
4,500,000 f. more than in 1844. They did not intend,
however, insistinc, on the rigorous exercise of the law
so as to produce that sum, the new mode of assess-
ment being fully adequate to obtain the result they
arrived at. An article relative to the indirect taxes had
for its object to furnish, at the cost of a very trifling
sacrifice to those landlords who had a great number of
tenants, the means of delegating to them the charge of
paying their taxes. Two articles would be proposed to
the Chamber relative to indirect taxes, one intended to fix
the meaning of article 15 of the law of 15th June,
1841, and the other to furnish the most •efficacious
means of preventing the frauds which were practised
on the revenue in the article of potable liquors, parti-
cularly spirits. The Hon. Minister concluded by
stating that the equilibrium of the budget which he
had just presented had not been obtained by omissions
or extenuations of expenses, or by the exaggerations
in the presumed receipts, but declared that the result
was real and sincere. Two conditions were, however, li
he added, necessary to secure this result—the con-
currence of all the powers of the State, and a perse-
verance in the line of policy consecrated by that as-
sistance. It was in the hands of the Chamber, and he
felt assured it would not be compromised.
" Art. 1. Credits are opened to the amount of
1,372,538,141 f., for the expenses of the estimates of
1845, as follows

367,120,654 F.
14,745,000