The Sun.
London, England, 1850-04-16 00:00:00

ENTRIES FOR TUESDAY.

Sweepstakes of 10 soya each. First half of Ah. M.
Jest, 5 yrs—Bishop of Romflrd's cob, aged—Wall-
flower, 4 yrs—Ranelagh, 3 yrs—Electric, 3 yrs—Hind
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The Newmarket Handicap.
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b fby Harkaway, out of Corrauns'a dam Fu4y, and
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LATEST BETTING.
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~.
10 to 1 agst Herbert

DER

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.131 r.
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1000 to 10 eget Mr. Gur_
ney's c by St. Francis (I)

TAXES ON KNOWLEDGE.
(From the Chronicle.)
Resolutions condemnatory of what are called the
Taxes on Knowledge, will be wowed this evening by
Mr. Milner Gibson. He will be enuisvereit by the;
Chancellor of the Exchequer, who will stand up man-
fully for his Budget; and he will encounter the usual
stolid, dogged, bigoted, and unreasoning opposition,
from a highly respectable class of Members, who,
priding themselves on what they call their old-
fashioned modes of thinking, are firmly persuaded
that the evils which flew out of Pandora's box were
the twenty-four letters of the alphabet—that
Eve's apple typifies a book—and that, as Sin
came into the world with Knowledge, Virtue
should never trust herself out of the region of Igno-
rance. The most eloquent appeal to Sir Charles
Wood's imtellectual sympathies will probably produce
no practical result during the present session. Re-
solved on reversing the boast of Augustus, who
" found Rome brick and left it marble," he would
rather be buried under his bricks than give them up.
Perhaps he may be right so far. Physical wants
should be the first care. Comfortable houses should
take precedence of cheap publications. If (which
remains to be proved) the Right Hon. Gentleman
cannot yet afford to remove all fiscal checks on good
books and wholesome reading as well as on good air
and wholesome habitations, let him, by all means,
begin with the habitations and the air. It will be
something, however, to force a distinct admission of
the principle fcom the Government ; and we shall
be disappointed if the discussion does not end by
convincing every thinking politician, in and out of
the House, that the abolition of the taxes in question
would strengthen instead of undermining our most
valued institutions, and assist in placing an impreg-
nable bulwark before property and social order,
whilst adding incalculably to the self respect, the
domestic enjoyments, and the moral eleuation of
the poor.
Mr. Milner Gibson proposes to pave the way by
reciting that " all taxes which directly impede the
diffusion of knowledge are highly injurious to the
public interests, and are most impolitic sources of
revenue." He then proceeds to mark out for specific
legislative disapproval-1, the Excise duty. on paper ;
2, the stamp duties on newspapers ; 3, the advertise-
ment duties; 4, the Customs duties on foreign books.
Do all or any of these duties directly impede the
diffusion of knowledge ? This question must be an-
swered positively and peremptorily in the affirmative,
unless it can be maintained that an enhancement of
price does not operate as a check on the multiplica-
tion or circulation of the usual vehicles of know-
ledge—namely, books, reviews, magazines, and
newspapers. The effect of the duty on paper has
been so strikingly illustrated by Mr. Charles
Knight that any additional argument would be super-
fluous. In his " Struggles of a Book against Exces-
sive Taxation," it is demonstrated that the charge
thereby imposed on the Penny .Encyclopedia has al-
ready exceeded thirty-two thousand pounds; that
this excessive burden is the principal cause why the
undertaking has not been remunerative ; that the con-
tinuance of the impost prevents him from undertak-
ing a new edition of that eminently useful work ; and
that it will probably never be reprinted unless the
burden is removed or very greatly lightened. Messrs.
Chambers, the proprietors and publishers of Chant.
bers's Journal, another periodical of the most im-
proving tendency, calculate that this duty, even at
the present reduced rate, enters, to the extent of one-
third, into price.
So much for Mr. Milner Gibson's first item of
complaint. The last (the import duty on foreign
books) speak for itself, and though comparatively un-
important, is equally indefensible. The second and
third (the stamp duty on newspapers, and the adver-
tisement duty) are frequently mixed up with con-
siderations alien from their essential qualities ; and
we earnestly hope that the Member for Manchester
will not fall into the common error of fancying that
the principal journals are indebted to a vicious system
of taxation for what is somewhat gratuitously and in-
vidiously designated as their " monopoly." Their
advantages are the legitimate results of capital, en-
terprise, and skill. If the successful projector of a
London newspaper be a monopolist because it
is impossible to compete with him without
money or credit, so is, or was, the founder
of every leading commercial or manufactur-
ing firm in the empire. The Walters
and the Perrys stand on precisely the same footing in
this respect as the Rothschilds, the Barings, the Ark-
wrights, and the Peels. Analyse the cry occasionally
set up against the Times, the Morning Chronicle,
and the other metropolitan morning papers (the grand
offenders in this line), and it will be found to be
nearly identical with that raised by Louis Blanc
against capital and competition in France. When,
however, they succeed in distancing a rival, it is be-
cause they produce a superior article. No possible or
imaginable reduction in the required outlay will ever
enable a needy man ci letters—be his capacity for
instructing the public what it may—to maintain an
immense establishment, to organise a numerous body
of writers of the most varied powers, to blend and
harmonize their contributions, and to secure trust-
worthy correspondents in every quarter of the globe. As
well might it be pretended that a reduction in the price
of flour and sugar would enable any ordinary
pastry-cook to drive Gunter from the field. In our
own opinion, at all events, we should gain instead of
losing by the immediate withdrawal of all alleged
legislative favours. If we could supply our readers
at a cheaper rate, we should most assuredly have more
of them ; and there :tan be as little doubt that we
should obtain more advertisements if advertisements,
were not laid under a contemporaneous tribute to the
State.
But, admitting that more knowledge would be
diffused, would it be knowledge of the sore
Is it advisable to extend the range of political dis-
cussion by increasing the circulation of newspapers ?
Are industry, order, morality, and religion, incule
eated by cheap literature ? 'We answer, with Mr.
Charles Knight, that, if they are not, it is be-
cause such publications as the Penny Encyclopwdia
and Chambers's Journal, together with The respect-
able London and provincial journals, are prevented'
by impolitic taxes from taking their . proper place
on the bookshelf of the cottier and mechanic; " The
detrimental exercise of the printing-press is only
to be met by its wholesome employment ;" and it
is obviously of the deepest moment that the political
reading of the higher classes (which is generally of a
Conservative turn) should be rendered accessible to
all. As to the portentous influences of modern
journalism, it would be difficult to gainsay the quiet
remark of the Edinburgh Review, that " it is more to
the purpose to set about neutralising any evil effects
that may be apprehended from a change, than to rail
at it; and this change would hardly be so marked
and durable unless the talent and knowledge which
used to find vent in books, had been gradually
diverted into reviews and newspapers." It is absurd,
to argue such questions as if it were practicable,. or
advisable, to prevent the mass of the people from
learning to road or from receiving any education at
all. The Rubicon is already passed ; they have
thrown off the thraldom of tradition and authority;
they cannot exist in future without intellectual ali-
inent of some sort ; and if they are not allowed to
share in that provided for their superiors in taste and
cultivation, they will infallibly demand and get sup-
plied with an inferior, contraband, and corrupting
literature of their own.
(From the Post.)
Mr. Gibson ought to have confined his motion to
the duty on paper, and to that alone. This excise is
different in its character and operation from the other
three in many important particulars. That it seriously
impedes the diffusion of knowledge there can be no
doubt. Mr. Knight's valuable tract, called " The