The Sun.
London, England, 1826-10-05 00:00:00

down to the ground the poorer classes of his Majesty's
subjects ; and on the other, pressed to leave things, as
they are on account of the encreased and encreasing
amount of the Poor and County. Rates : the first argu
ment insisted on by petition alone, and the second ad-,
vdcated with all the energy' and spirit of deeply inte
restedp arties in person, by the interested parties them-
selves.ln such :a contest, Who could doubt on which
side 'victory would declare, if the simple justice of the
case were alone arrayed against the imposing force of
its opponents. But in the present:instance justice is
supported by the voice of the people •; and there •are
times and circumstances when and under which this
voice is irresistible, even against the strength of the in-
terested assembled within the walls of Parliament.—
Supported also-by the Councils of the King and by
the exertions of his Ministers, we are , prepared
for the contest, and doubt not but the benevolent
views of the King's Government - will be upheld
ma/ re -the opposition of the great landed proprietors
of the United Kingdom.
With reference, however, to the truth of the allega-
tion, that the poor and county rates are paid by the
land alone, it may be asked, who pays the poor and
county rates of the inhabitant of a city, who derives
his income from his personal labour, or his money in
the funds ? who pays the poor and county rates of the
occupiers of farms ? The farmers, the cultivators of
the soil; or the landlords, the owners of the soil ? Did
any landlord ever allow his tenant any deductions, from
his rent on account of these charges, or did they, when
letting their land and estimating the value of the rent,
make any diminution in their deMands, because Ihe
poor' and county rates of the particular parish
and county were high and exorbitant ? These
questions arc readily replied to. They admit only
of an answer in the negative, and if so, where is
the truth of the assertion, that the land pays all the
Poor and County Rates of the kingdom ? The far.
mers lave been induced by specious arguments and
promises of better times, to favour the scheme which
doubled the rents of their landlords ; and jolterheads
they now own themielverto have been, when they
permitted themselves to be deluded, and their senses
to be blinded, by the paradoxes and absurdities they
have hitherto sanctioned by their voices ? Taught by
experience, they now change their tones, and not one
farmer (a mere occupier of the soil), is now to ,be
found in these kingdoms, Who (if he speaks conscien-
tiously, and with bias apart), would not cry " Down
with the Corn Laws." They now know, that the
system which impoverishes the labourers, must
im-
poverish them, because rent and the value of labour
must of necessity advance with the price of their pro-
duce; and that however, by skilful management,' they
contrive to get a portion of their labourers' wages paid
by the Poor Rates, the landlord's rent admits_ of no
such commutation, but must be paid, cOme well or come
ill. But is it not monstrous, that a hard working man
cannot 'with the, price of his labour in one week, sup-
port himself and family, without recurrence to the
Poor's Fund ? And whence arises this inability but
from the price of provisions ? The landlords truly talk
about the King's taxes, as if the unfortunate men could
purchase and consume exciseable commodities, and, as
if a day labourer paid any sort of direct tax to the
King. On the little beer he drinks a duty is levied,
but will any body in their senses contend that such
duty makes all the difference, whether he is able to
support his family by his labour or not ?
The only tax exclusively levithl, either directly or
indirectly on the land, is the land-tax, the amount of
which annually is a few thousands below two millions.
Admitting that one-half of the Poor and County nate
is paid exclusively by the Landowners (we mean over
and above the sum paid by the Fundholders) the
whole sum of exclusive taxation, paid by the Land-
holder, would not exceed seven millions. Now the
whole Kingdom of England is said to contain about
thirty-two millions of acres, the actual annual produc-
tive value of which cannot be less than on the average
40 shillings per 'acre, if the produce of ground rents
for spots covered with buildings is included. This
would make the annual value of. England 64 millions
of pounds per year. Now it is not too much to say,
that the real value of , England, at a fair rental, calcu-
lated on stuns per acre, rather advanced upon those of
France, would not exceed 20 shillings per, acre. Thus
then, 'adding one half for ground-rent for houses, we,
have here a tax of 16 millions per annum, imposed on
the consumers of corn, to pay a tax of Leven millions
said to be imposeg exclusively upon the landed
proprietors. • •