The Sun.
London, England, 1845-03-11 00:00:00

THE INCOME-TAX.

Mr. GREENS brought up the report on the income
tax resolutions.

On the motion that it be read a second time, m
Mr. CHARLES BULLER rose to move—
That the circumstances under which the renewal of
the income• tax is at present proposed, are such as to
render it exceedingly impropable that Parliament
will have tie power of dispensing
with its conti-
nuance at the end of three sears; and that it is,
therefore, the duty of this House to take care that
the tax he imposed in a form in which its operation
shall be less unequal and inquisitorial than it now is.
He thought that no one would be disposed to believe
that in bringing the general Circumstances under
which the income• tax was to be renewed again before
the House he was at all induced to undertake

the task by the very great anxiety— whieh—trie
House had evinced upon the subject.—(Hear.)
He was anxious to give the House an opportunity, on
the present occasion, of explaining to the country and
to itself, if it could, the grounds, the principles, the
circumstances, and the period, for which this tax was
now to be renewed, because he took the question as
to the period for which the tax was to
be renewed as the cardinal point upon which
the tax now hinged, and on this must depend the
propriety of imposing the tax at all.—(Hear, hear.)
It was owing to the shortness of the period for which
the tax was to be imposed, that they assented
to the tax without that - grave deliberation
which so important a question required. But
there was, both in the House and outside
its doors,'a want of determination and doubt upon the
subject which was very surprising. The Right lion.
Baronet opposite was the only person who observed
any great decision and firmness of purpose. He
wanted to have the tax renewed without any discus-
sion, and he must say that be went forward to his
object with an undeviating consistency, but as
for the rest of them they seemed to be
perfectly mastered by his energy. The general sup-
porters of the Right Hon. Baronet opposite seemed
more adverse to the tax -than any others, and seemed
less inclined to vote for it on account of the fiscal
alterations proposed by the Right Honourable
Baronet ; and then with that noble independence
—that self-reliance and vigour of intellect—
which marked all their conduct—(A laugh)--they
stated that on no account would they consent to make
the income-tax permanent; but then they all said they
believed it would be permanent, were it not for the
assurances of the Right lion. Baronet. He never saw
so large a hope hung an ao little an assurance—
(Laughter)—for the other night, when they pushed
the Right Hon. Gentleman, all he said was, that he did
not despair that at the end of three years it might be taken
off; and as they believed they had a firm confidence
in the Right Hon. Baronet, and had every reason to
rely upon his professions—(Laughter)—they were
prepared to come forward in the face of glaring facts
to vote an income-tax, not one of them having the
slightest hope that it would be got rid of in three
ears. On his (Mr. Buller's) side of the
ouse they were a shaer set of men.—(Laughter.)
lion. Gentlemen opposite thought proper to laugh
at the observation ; but he could assure them that the
Hon. Members by whom he was supported would
join in the assent to that assertion. He could also
say, with great truth, that they were shrewder men,
too— (Laughter)—and in their name, he would
say to the Right, Honourable Baronet at
the head of her Majesty's Government, that
there was not the slightest chance of having
the income-tax removed at the end of the next
three years.—(Hear, hear.) He had heard it said
that this tax would not be submitted to by the country,
or would not be insisted on by the Minister for so long
a period unless it should be greatly
modified ; but it
now appeared that it was to be continued without
any modification.—(Hear, hear.) What, then, was
he to think of those who upon one occasion
voted for the tax, and at another time voted against it ?
Those Hon. Members to whom he alluded had al-
ways been in favour of this tax being imposed, in what
they called a less and less oppressive form each year.

' Now, he (Mr. B.) had always expressed himself in
favour of a system of indirect taxation ; and he would
ask, would it not be worth the while of the Ministry to
establish such a system ?—( Hear, hear.) He might,
perhaps, be, told that the taxes amounted to "so and
so," but he would ask, had they not the poor-
rates, and the borough-rates, and city-rates
to meet, in addition to the assessed taxes ?
Fourteen or fifteen millions, out of fifty millions,
must necessarily be raised by indirect taxation.
Therefore, the main reliance of the Government of
this country must be an indirect taxation, and their
first object ought to be to ameliorate that indirect
system of taxation, and make it as perfect as pos-
sible.---(Hear, hear.) When be came to the
conclusion that the main reliance of the Go-
vernment must be upon indirect taxation, he thought
there was much wisdom in the old idea, that in
ordinary times it ought to be the sole reliance
of the Government. This fund, raised by direct
taxation, ought to be kept for extraordinary emer-
gencies, and not to be drawn on except in the
greatest of those exigencies, because, after all, a
property and income-tax must be unjust and
vexatious; they ought not, therefore, to impose it
except ii those great emergencies, when the excited
feelings of the country would induce every man to
put up with any amount of inconvenience for the sake
of aiding in the national struggle. It was wise, too,
that the world should be made to understand that the
country had such a fund to resort to in the period of
such a struggle, for the knowledge that they had
such a treasure to fall back on would add far more
to prevent aggresion and unreasonable pretensions by
foreign countries than anything they could do for the
fortification of their coasts, or the increase of their
force in any way whatever. He would not trouble
the House with any further discussion on the com-
parative advantages of indirect over direct taxation,
because he was aware there were other exigencies
in which he should be willing to submit to
an income-tax. For the sake of trying a
great fiscal experiment, he should be willing to
consent to an income-tax for three years, if
measures could be devised that would assure them of
getting rid of the tax at the end of that time. But if
those measures tended to diminish taxation, no
Minister was justified in trying the experiment,
unless he had a considerable surplus at his command.
If the Right lion. Baronet would come forward and ask
them to submit to the income-tax for three years, for
the sake of establishing a better system of taxation, he
would cheerfully accede to it. The admirers of the
budget, particularly on this side of the House—for
this was the adulatory side of the House this
session—(Great laughter)—praised it as a measure
especially calculated to benefit the poor, and
as an advance towards free trade. He be-
lieved it was calculated to do a great deal
of good; but the Right Honourable Baronet had
also thrown away a great opportunity of re-
forming our system of taxation, because he had
an unprecedented surplus at his command. The
Right Hon. Baronet had the largest surplus that ever
a Minister of this country had to deal with. He did
not complain of the Right Hon. Baronet's having
misapplied or misused the surplus, but he had not
made that practical use of it which the circumstances
warranted. It was only when there was a large surplus
that the great articles of taxation could be touched.
with half a million, they could only touch the minor
articles. It was only,as at present when they had three
or four millions to spare that they could meddle with
the great articles of revenue, and favourably affect
the great mass of the people. He contended that
Ministers with such a surplus were bouni to make
the best • use of such ample means ; and he
was culpable, if be only made such changes as were
ineffective as regarded the great body of consumers—
in fact, if he made only such changes as could be
made at any time, he (Mr. Buller) again said that he
had a surplus which enabled him to make a reorma-
tion, if not a great reformation, of the whole fiscal
system, which enabled him to lighten the burdens
of the people, without lessening the revenue,
The Right Hon. Baronet had thrown away a golden
opportunity. It seemed to him that the great scandal
of taxation was the large amount of revenue raised
by undue taxation on the articles of consumption of
the great masses of the people—the taxation of
articles which, if they were not necessary to the poor
man, were at least the luxuries of the very poor
man. In this legislation he thought they were guilty
of the fault of great injustice, because of indiscrimi-
nate taxation. They taxed low-priced articles, which
the poor man consumed, as high as high-priced arti-
cles, which the rich man consumed, and therefore they
taxed the consumption of the poor man out of all
proportion with the articles used by the rich.
They diminished the scanty comforts of the poor, and
taxed articles too high, for the purposes of revenue;
thus checking consumption, and opening a door for
all kinds of fraud. With regard to the tax on sugar,
for instance, of which they had heard so much, and
the reduction of which was put forward as the
most popular thing in the budget, he must say a
few words. With respect to that question, he meant
thequestien which had never got an answer— (Laugh-
ter)—it appeared that the average price of British
manufactured sugar in bond was 345. the cwt. The
Right Hon. Baronet would reduce the duty to 145.,
so that the tax and original price would raise the
article to 48s. It was elicited in the course of

the discussion that the price of Brazilian sugar
was 215., and that by our restrictive duties
upon this article we more than doubled the amount
of the cost of the poor man's sugar. Take the
article of tea, for instance. The low-priced
article cost 9d. the lb., whilst the poor man
was obliged to pay four times that amount.—(Hear.)
By these taxes they more than doubled the price of
the poor man's coffee, and they nearly doubled
to him the price of soap and malt. They
raised the price of tobacco nearly sixteen times,
and the same results ensued with respect
to brandy and geneva. Surely it was to be
desired that sugar, coffee, malt, and soap, should be
more easily obtained by the poor man. The duty on
spirits and tobacco, he admitted might be attended with
some good, but it led to smuggling and fraud,
and to many— of the crimes and much of the
bloodshed, that took place in order to keep
up the customs' duties. He believed that the picture
drawn by his Hon. Friend the Member for Montrose
with respect to the tobacco duties was one of the most
dreadful pictures that could be drawn. He thought the
great articles of taxation to which he had referred ought
to be the great object of every financier to remove,
partly to put an end to smuggling and fraud, and
pertly to put in the poor man's reach those enjoy-
ments of which he was at present deprived.—(Hear,
hear.) There was no person who had written on the
subject who had not adverted to those articles
as matters on which the duties ought to
he removed. He would venture to say that if the
duty was removed from tobacco and spirits, not only
would better articles be obtained in this country, but
half a million would be saved in the expenses of the
coast guard ; but then it was said the articles he had
referred to were great articles of revenue, and that,
therefore, it was not safe for the public service tomake
experiments in those large articles of taxation.
He freely admitted, with regard to the tobacco and
spirit duties, that in order to try the experiment fairly,
they must take away three millions of duties, and
that a Minister would not be justified in making
such an experiment with large items of taxation,
unless he had a very large surplus to fall back
upon. But the Right Honourable Baronet
had that surplus. He was the first Minister who ever
had such a surplus to deal with, and therefore the
first who ever had it in his power to give this boon
to the poor man ; to deal effectively with
smuggling, and to put taxation on a right foot-
ing. With not one of these great articles had
he dealt, except sugar, with respect to which he had
sacrificed revenue, with very little benefit to the con-
sumer, and simply for the. interest of the -West India
planter.—(Laughter from the Opposition.) Now, if
the Right Hon. Baronet had dealt with the articles
to which he had referred, fairly and fully, his budget
would, indeed, have been beneficial to the poor, it
would have come home to the case of the poor man
by greatly diminishing the cost of necessary
articles of consumption. It would also have
been in accordance with the soundest
principles of economical science. If the Right Hon.
Baronet had dealt in a proper manner with these
several items of taxation, he might have rested satis-
fied that; through increased consumption and the
prevention of fraud, the revenue would have
so recovered from the effect of reduced
taxation, that at the end of three years he would
have been able to dispense with the income-tax, the
country getting the full advantage of the change
hich bad taken place.—(Hear, hear.) For such
an object as that, he (Mr. C. Buller) would have
been ready to submit to the income-tax for three
years, and to run the risk—which he was persuaded
would have been a very small one—of incurring the
necessity of its further continuance.— (Hear,
hear.) But the Right Honourable Baronet
came forward and proposed a reduction of taxes,
which, though they might have been properly re-
duced one by one at any convenient time, ought not
to have been allowed to interfere with the wiser ap-
plication of the whole surplus en masse.--(Cries of
" Hear, hear.") The proposed reduction of taxes did
not hold out the slightest hope of the revenue being
restored.—(Hear, hear.) It was true that the Right
Hon. Baronet, with that goodness which distinguished
him, turned round to his supporters and told them
that he left them the most unG•ttered liberty of deal-
ing with the income-tax as they pleased at the end
of three years, and the mode in which he prepared
the way for doing this, was by sweeping away from
his budget every farthing of the surplus which he
possessed above the expenditure, even while the
income-tax was continued.—(Hear, hear.) They
were told that as a matter of course
if they reduced taxes the revenue would recover and
produce the same amount. But he did not find any

one who was sanguine enough to go with the Govern-
ment in that statement. They must loak upon this,
therefore, as the sole experiment which they had to try
with the revenue, they must regard this as the sole gain
which they were to have for the surplus. They were
to get the remission which the Right Hon. Baronet
proposed to make, and for that they were to have the
income-tax fur ever. The question, therefore, which
the House had to decide was—whether they
would take the :ncome- tax for ever, and receive,
in satisfaction, the reduction of taxes which
the Right Honourable Baronet proposed to make.
He must confess that he did not think that anything
that had been offered cauld reconcile him to the con-
tinuance of the income-tax.—(Hear, hear.) It had
been said that this was eminently a poor ir.an's budget.
Now, he hai always observed that %\ hcn the Govern-
ment did not know what to say in support
of any measure whiah they might have happened to
propose, they invariably said that it was for the benefit
of the poor man, and some Hon. Gentlemen on that
side of the House had been allured by the cry that
this budget was for the benefit of the poor man.
Now he (Mr. C. Buller) could not see how
they could have by any possibility reduced
an equal amount of taxation on any articles which
would have conferred so little benefit on the poor
man.—(Hear, hear.) First there was the sugar tax.
Now, they were all agreed on that (the Opposition)
side of the House, that they could not have reduced
any tax with such little advantage to the in-
terests of everybody except the West India
proprietors. He believed that there was not
anybody on that side of the House, always excepting
the Hon. Member for Dumfries, who was so en-
amoured of the income-tax that he would rather see
the proceeds thrown into the sea than not have it
—with the exception of the Hon. Member for Dum-
fries, there was not one Gentleman on that side of
the House who would consent to the continuance of
the incorne-tax for the sake of the reduction in the sugar
duty.—(Hear.) Was it the auction duty the reduction of
which was to benefit the poor man ?—(Hear.) Was
he to gain by the removal of the tax upon exports?
—(Hear, hear.) Ile must confess that it seemed to
him that the export duty was paid by foreigners.
He did not think the poor man could gain much by
its reduction. But then there were the 420
articles of the tariff. Now, he had looked
at them all, and he could not conceive
what the poor man was to gain from the reduction in
them. The Right Hon. Baronet would not give the
poor man corn.—(Cheers.) He would not give him
butter—(Cheers)—but he would give him alum to
adulterate his breed—(Cheers and laughter)—and
lard to adulterate hi butter.—(Renewed cheers and
laughter) Now he did not know, unless it was per-
haps upon such articles as Divi Divi and Albanalla,
on what it was the poor man was to gain. It was
true he had never before heard of these articles, and
he had no very longing desire to hear an explanation
as to their qualities.—(A laugh.) Then there was
glass. Now he believed the poor man would
benefit more by the reduction of the
duty on glass than upon that of any other
article ; not that he believed he would get it much
cheaper, but he would have a better article for his
money. Then there was sugar—then there was
cotton. The Chancellor of the Exchequer had buist
forth eloquently on the advantages which the
poor man would derive from cheap fustians ;
and the First Lord of the Treasury had dilated at
length upon the advantages which the poor woman
would derive from a cheap cotton gown. Now he
(Mr. C. Buller) never treated of millions ;
he left those to the First Lord of the
Treasury and the Chancellor of the Exchequer; but
when they came to pence he could calculate. Now,
let them imagine a poor man, dressed from top to
toe in fustian that is to say, with a fustian
coat, a fustian waistcoat, and fustian trousers—
Now let them consider this subject scientFcally—let
them come to weights and measures. He had ma4a.e
numerous inquiries, and had taken great pains to as-
certain, and he had come to the conclusion that at
the outside the weight of this dress would be four
and a half pounds.—(Roars of laughter, occasioned
by the admirable mode in which the Hon. and
Learned Gentleman imitated the manner in which
the Premier usually makes his statistical statements.)
He had been told that he must make an allowance
'of an additional half pound for waste. That would
give fise pounds as the quantity of raw cotton em-
ployed in the manufacture of the suit of fustian.
the duty on raw cotton was five-sixteenths of a
penny per pound; therefore the poor man would
save, on the suit, twenty-five-sixteenths of a
penny, or one penny and nine - sixteenths.
He then took the case of a woman's gown.—(Laugh •
ter.) Into that he had also made inquiry.—(Much
laughter.) He made allowance for waste, and he
found that the reduction in a woman's cotton gown
would he about Id. Supposing a woman, there-
fore, to have two gowns a year, her husband would
save 1 id. a year. The two, the husband and
wife, would have to be grateful to the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer for a saving of
3d. a year. His (Mr. Buller'e) own belief was
that they would never get their 3d., for he be-
lieved that the poor consumer would never have
a chance of getting jacket, waistcoat, and trowscrs,
which cost altogether 13S. or 145., even though they
reduced the cost of the articles by lid. I‘, hy, the
poor man, although he might save 3d. a year, yet he
would have to pay 3d. a month, in the shape of taxes,
to the West India proprietors. There could be no doubt
that reducing the duty on raw cotton would be useful
to the poor man, as the means of increasing his em-
ployment. In the reduction of the duty on glass, the
most important effect would be the sweeping awey
of the restrictive system in the excise laws. Ile was,
however, inclined to think that the Right Hon. Ba-
ronet would have done a' great deal of service to
the labouring classes of the country by diminishing
the taxes which raised the cost of the necessaries of
life. And this could not be done without increasing
their employments. He did not believe that they
could serve the cotton trade more effectually by
sweeping away the tax upon raw cotton, than
they would by sweeping away of the taxes
on tea, as that would enable the merchant
to get a return from China. He could point
to one or two other duties, as most material for such
an experiment. He was sure that Hon. Gentlemen
would not agree with him in saying that the wine
duties and the spirit duties were proper subjects fur
reduction ; but every body would agree with him
that it would be well if by reducing those duties they
could largely increase our trade with France, and es-
tablish commercial relations instead of those
of rivalry and hostility.—(Cries of " Hear.") Ile
thought that by reducing those duties they would
do double good to the poor man, by diminishing the
cost of living, and also increasing his employment by
forwarding trade with foreign markets.—(Hear, hear.)
The Right Hon. Baronet held out the expectation
that the reduction of duties was so great, that they
would make up the income- tax. Now that
was the oddest delusion that so sensible
a gentleman could well fall into.—(Laughter.)
But the very same thing was said when the Right
Hon. Baronet brought forward the budget of 1842.
(Hear.) He (Mr. Buller) asked every person whom
he met what he thought about the reduction. He
said that the Right Hon. Baronet was the greatest
Minister they ever had (of course those to whom he
said this did not know who he was)—that he lowered
everything, but he could never get a single
person to agree with him. For what did any man gain
by the reduction, except, perhaps, in Westphalia
hams.—(Hear, hear, from a Member on the Ministe-
rial side of the House.) He was not surprised that the
Hon. Gentleman expressed his suffering at the dimi-
nished price.—(A laugh.) He fully understood his ex-
clamation.—(Laughter.) Ile dared say the Honour-
able Member suffered much in that article.—(ln-
creased laughter.) But though that might not be
well for those who lived in the country, it was good
for those who lived in towns. He was about to go
through the article of sugar. Ile would take an in-
stance of a man having 500/. a year. A person of that
income would have to pay 13/. 14s. 4d. income-tax.
That was positive, and there was no mistake about it;
and if the seine person consumed 401. worth of sugar,
taking it that he would save a penny a pound (though
he did not believe he would), he would save twenty-
five shillings ; so there was twenty- five shillings
as a set-off against 131. 14s. 4d.—(Hear, hear.) But
then there were.other articles on which he might
make up the tax. There was physic.—(A laugh.)
He himself once thought he would make it up in
physic.—(Much laughter.) He supposed it was the
reduction on physic that made the Honourable
Gentleman below him (Mr. Wakley) so pleased
with the budget.—(Great laughter.) But even
in this article he believed the druggists
would save everything, and that the consumer
would gain nothing.—(Laughter.) There was
certainly a very good change with regard to furni-
ture, and if all the inhabitants of the country were
composed of new married couples of a 1,0001. a year,
they might make something in the articles
of furniture and glass. (Great laughter.)
But, after all, to think of giving up this tax put him
very much in mind of an incident in the opera of
II Nozzi di Figaro, or " The Marriage of Figaro,"
as it was called, in which the principal character said
he was ready to consent, provided there was no law
against politics, no enactment against certain prin-
ciples, and no prohibition to the full en-
joyment of the inclinations of the law.—(A
laugh.) So it was with the Right Honourable
Baronet at the head of her Majesty's Govern-
ment.—(Laughter.) lie said, " You shall have a
reduction of taxes so and so, provided you do
not ask me to take the duty off tobacco ;
to take the duty off coffee ; to take the duty off
sugar"—(Laughter)—in fact, the Right Honour-
able Baronet was quite willing to make any
concession that was asked of him, provided
that he was not called upon to do that which
the people of this country were likely to be most

benefited by.—(Hear, hear.) Oh ! but then flee
Right Hon. Baronet took the duty off pigs: hriftell
—(A laugh) —and off lard—(A laugh)—and
those other twopenny-halfpenny articles--e(A
—but he forgot that, in doing so, he stilei
on the most important restrictions on other artle4o:'
and he said very coolly to those opposed-to
that they could not have their lost and eat „11
(Laughter)—that they could not, in tact, °'er),
butter, deal in cheese, deal in corn, and deal in el_e
other description of foreign prsvisions, without 7;1
ing a certain proportion towards the two slillieeleet
extra taxes.—(Great laughter.) But the Pik
Hon. Bele net conceived that by removing the hi be
upon glass, and the duty upon cotton, he w°llfad
doing much to abolishing this cause of Warty
ngaimt the taxes, and he had hoped it would Wee,
garded as a boon by the people of this collr
And IN hat did they gain by bowing so implicitlias
the will of the Right Hon. Baronet ? What wit
they gain by it ? Why, their great object
.{be,
further than ever from them, and, in t'act liars'
were playing into the hands of the inonle„feot
While-they talked of free-trade as their first 8- ad
object, and while they dealt out their `I t°,—ff; ere!
immediate" anathemas against all those who I" —.lB
from them, they were actually playing 001
• the
oi' the monopolists by voting for an income-tax lose
bolstered up the differential duties. Let then their
at this one qpestion —what was the chance of she
ever recovering this surplus? The Chancellor eels,
Exchequer seemed to take this as a matter of eftu:oo
Now he had had the pleasure of sitting in that loith
with that Right Hon. Gentleman for fift2en, years
slowly and with difficulty had the very ele'-very
of these truths been forced on hie mind.
bid
budget he had seen him introduce he had hear'',.„oo
urge the danger of lowering taxation for the PlllOO.
of increasing the revenue. But when the Right tss
Gentleman did go into a good principle he illaabtee)
he went, with a plunge, head over heels--(l'augereeo
—he was now not only lowering taxes to 03..0
the revenue, but altogether abolishing the t 0
(Great laughter.) He did not deny Ineeple
revenue might thus be increased, if th. r--00.
were induced, by the abolition of these duties, eiel,
sume more of the articles which still paid taxation: so;
on the other band, there was a danger of dilaiieleeiag
the revenue, by the consumption of the peoples
withdrawn from the taxpaying articles, by thens:oo
tuting articles, that no longer paid duty, for them the
the abolition of the duty on glass might in_tio,lo;
people to purchase and employ glass in manyet'beesa
stead of articles which would still pay duty. Bat eee°
a still greater objection to dealing with the re
swiss
this manner, because all their celealations were bad
favourable years—years in which the Customs et'
cise had been recovering, from an increase in thetor the
perity of the country. When they alluded- e sea
failures of the Whig Chancellor of the Exeheillee!til°,
had had their taunt and their sneer, let them 'ley l?'
of the matter like men of sense, and then would t vlb4
see, that whatever had been the faults of the
Chancellor of the Exchequer, the great trielto
their deficiency ales the three or four bad .arf ad°
And what was it revived their trade? Thetri. -refer(
other measures of the Government ? Why 'l'
had not revived on the articles the tariff touch_ j bee
the increased consumption of the people, by g7i, bia
vests, and by a revived American trade, the eetlati'perol
improved. Was the Right Hon. Gentleneati,
for a different state of circumstances? Goa rofr
he repeated, and an uninterrupted trade, had ;le the
the conilition of the people. But what INTO'', flip the
corvequence if those disasters should occur w't
next three years which had often occurred befl west
which, in the nature of things, must occur Will,: 010
would the Right Hon. Gentleman say in 184‘"e'ed har
o introducing his budget, if there had been noun e to be
vests and a declining trade in the interim? ttelf bl
recommend them to do away with the income-
would tell them what was much more likely-4he deficl/
Hon. Baronet would come forward in 1848 with soh the
in spite of the incomestax—(Hear, hear)--anclis„e ths,r,
House to increase the income-tax or provide sc'"" it a"
way for meeting the deficiency.—(Hear, bean) tee io'thate
fraudulent and delusive to tell the country yea's"(
come tax would be only continued for thrsgste
longer. He would tell them fairly that oche ° 401!
things could not occur. But Honourable uf" sigh
seemed disposed to place great confidence in t";e0 ee„,'
Honourable Baronet, so much so, that deli;
sideration of the abolition of the alleti°,„°-retiaa;
the diminution of the cotton duty, and the Is,—ieetre
the -sugar duties, they were willing to bear the 00
tax for three years longer. As honest and plalaeortsl
men, they could have no doubt but the ills tot
would be permanent, and, therefore, they eag resale7o
it in that shape in which it would be least el toy',
He was nut now going to mention his objectif°,.teern
income-tax in detail. Ile had done so on a 1°"•005 hb
casion, and lie now would say that his ohjeeeel:ooll4, s
been verified by the operation of this tax. 'wilt:.
they were fully justified in complaining.of the -ad "lb
of the income-tax. It had pressed with grestbore
equal severity. It did not regard degree, ha,t,b
the same weight on the man of immense well% eine
trimony as the man of fluctuating a:id uncertel,
sot
Besides, it gave great opportunities for fraltuifet`e,l4l;
hen, st man was obliged to pay for the frallt1111,00(0,
sion of the dishonest one. He admitted that idea islet
the collection of the income-tax was not atteaopertloo
so much severity as in the country; but in SOT d is
England—the north, for instance—he daily "e whthn,
complaints of the conduit of the Commissioners,
„tie,
was said, pressed with the great. st stringeele, 1410(
sons of obnoxious politics and rivals in vs
.400, A
amendment did not extend to any specific alterp6rope;
the tax. Ile put forward a plainr/ 0 marl
principle, isri
it N
andyi nth
any
did not wish to embe .s,
confuse
unnecessary details' the sage
amendment that could be proposed IlPea„ied• fet
might fellow when his amendment was ea'"eetltj•
confessed that he had before shaped that tuners semis
the purpose of giving an opportunity for sto
at el jeer'
ments being proposed.—(Hear, hear.) 111,ef a 01d
object, because he believed the tax requires- - te,o
ations, and that this rude and primitive atlytwia'sel
not be made decently in the nineteenth eeete"o, 00°,0
ee
great care and amendment. The Right so 0-ft
had said that if they once began amendinenlie
would be proposed that they would not he, 1/What'ies
through with them before the sth of April. eft
would ask, was the sth of April comparedn oroot;;01
placing of a tax of a most oppressive nature op, r
ysr
footing ?—(Hear, hear.) Then the Right ' as it then
said, let them pass the income-tax now, JO. clt 411 h
and if they did not like it at the end of three:bo
ras 'Ol
let them amend it again. Now what he ey i3l lei
that if at the end of three years 1,/ WilLe)
amend it, why not amend it now ?—(llearife r, 11`;706
the evil remain for three years longenerke be Opp
If a person's shoe pinched him, he thostgooi
would say he was a fool if lie diel not take Ogee.
That et A
and not let it remain for threeyears more„e, wee
what he wanted with the income-tax. 1"
ea the
Gentleman said that if his (Mr. Boiler's' ahem °De 0
carried, he would be obliged to give up a P.° 0040
reduction he had proposed in taxateett e_t!llo4 tested
that, he had only to say that there was hat ofe
Right Hon. Gentleman proposed to remit, „tase pot
so heavily on the people as the present incon;eoceeelooe
Hon. Gentleman concluded by moving the aireeroat,estit
which he had given notice :—" That the e., st ert"res
under which the renewal of the income-taVeglf_elll3,,Psitlf
proposed, are such as to render it exeee dinged
bable that Parliament will have the power ; eye oei
with its continuance at the end of three ye,asite car/eiea
it is therefore the duty of this House to
the tax be imposed in a form in which Dowie
shall be less unequal and inquisitorial thanso ltd n
Mr. EWART seconded the amendment, idehe
tion having been put by the Speaker, „to 000.0
The CHNCELLOR of the EX.CHEt4 beg 's, oa
Hon. Gentleman who had just concludVseossiofrose
speech by remarking that lie had in the concluded
whic:d
the income-tax observed a degree of iltegueeple ; torc
unbecoming in the representatives of the 43ibieb 10,1
if determined to relieve the dullness of tots, ivids
plained he had indulged in a series of relltotteetsitleoerea
not sound in argument, were at /ea`4_d been gcriell
those who had hesrd them. If there haea. goo. ,0
acquiescence in the proposals of his Rigny.iderstitiort
itthew
rattributable
mneomt
hteorsa,rghuomt argument or
gem e,ooear boricicolosieertfie;
that, in the circumstances of the case. _Ol cleobeeo
of the income-tax was a measure which
onion Ave;
the approbation of the House. The queod than
fully debated on former occasions, 6 than 0"
jority in its faeour was large;
_..toes.. logs
which usually attended Governinent
ise_'tee feaeeiei
if the income-tax were calculated to rotit.),eeet, eet:lior
of those who took an interest in the s evils
it that the Hon. Gentleman had withheld hear.) bbe
probation until so late a period ?—(llesr e throgEeeolti:
had he waited until the Bill had Veneeeerai 'se els'
House ? He now came forward with gene
House? lie now came forward Wit
his et tbe,. e et;
tion, with a view of drawing within
,eoent le"; el,te.
neralwere wieak
resolution enough,y o
utlod shueptp.ool
followed
wt(1.1(li that gd
Ile (I" pery leg
respect to details.—(Hear, hear.) jislgEeeectlibe;l,,ee3l:;
the Pr° pre°sol
of the Exchequer) did not claim forrneeage of tee
what no tax ever possessed, the ad ni
but he cc'sh °sde Pr
equally upon all classes of persons e
.0
_tate sv
that the Hon. Gentleman was bound t t
to foe bee 2
There was one admission in the Bon. Se said o
_t
theproposedhee xige n e i
eto s reduce,and
publicho w
sheermv
itieetteen.
to which he could not help adverting•
red get,l?o,
who referP It le
not go the length of those hear., t for •
direct to indirect taxation.—eilebssrt'itate a:ire:cod Fero of
proposed in this instance to su a
for 11°- 004 oil'
direct taxation, but it was propose in *relit, •-ibe
Gentlemanat ollsi
etihb duti
rebeatdir efac,:itrnatllaietxtdea
weld resin thher berjor
situation of the Government, he won
ve_f_h mig
„nro ,
tax, for the sake of the advantages ri.,_lustod Otj b.:r
rived from it. That being the cats:, fue,bt to.is °tad
ing resolution that the income- :vgaetita,`„eolfesies
ctitiFetbfagotrreiantcleisrteciartidacexaoicoo
Boned, he should have preposedeoeernmeneiesetela
articles for those upon which th ye:list of trit'ile
a reduction. He had gone throuen
preference.ad °ties
to which he should have given 2 • snirits' 4104'0
tmheendtieotnieesd
upontea,
shoule have led thein to approerla ~_eeeesil
ac
millions. He stated distinnialtnllett:et'shloiottpes'#teririejieturie:oticioseLikil;
the duties on tobacco and spirits t here
cottlio he lot
plus ; setting those articles against sins g
re.
oHoeu.n objectionderstootdo tltiheeHon. G
reduction
rease tne the
articles. The Hon. Gentleman had_PiritS _,*s Of AO
peal of the duty on tobacco and 007:1 jotere°,odP: A
that he obj ected to the rep 100effilitthhee dtlatii-410c10013:tiirlrbaslale
more in accordance with the
sensor ratinio..l oto
community and one from which the P., _
greater benefit, The lion. Geutiew

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