The Sun.
London, England, 1817-10-13 00:00:00

the 7th inst. s--6
I‘I9DIMATION OF THE WINDOW TAY.
" If the Deputies of: the Parishes, who are ,to
assemble, ,on behalf of all, on Thursday next,_
should adopt, in their. Petition to Parliament, for.
a repeal of the Window Tax, or to,.prevent the
cc:twine-to Of the Window? Modification Tax, the
language and spirit of, the Resolutions which those
Parishes, separately.--or, rather, a few indiiiduals
of their entire population—have Ilion& ?toper
to enter into, and tq found that Petition, as they.
have done those Resolutions, upon -erroneons
assumptions and assertions, there can he no doubt
Of its late---should there he even a..friendly dispo-
sition pre-existing to attend to - the prayer of it.
All thr Resolutions, without an exception, have
re-ted their objection to the, Window ,Tax, as
much upon_ its being a War, Tax., 45. upon its being
an oppressive one---and they have called upon the
Government, and have it in prospect to call upon
Oat:Hameln, to redeem a pledge given by Mr.
Corry, on the first enacttuelit of the measure, as
organ of both on, that occasion, that
it
was,tO be.only a War. 'fax. That this lit.tga-
tion haS.been made at random, and upon the mere
s.reUgt h of a prevalent .apposition, we shall prove
from incontrovertible evidence—namely, the re-
port ,pt what. Mr. entry said in the Douse
of
Coalitions, on iotroduciug a Tax on Windows into
he, Suupplies fot the year. 1799 and, in.using :inch
antliority-is Parliamentary.record for our purpose,
we sloth take tiw.litrerty to express our surprise.,
that noire of those, in public Meetings, ,and,
New,paper writings, have tieclailutd against
.!its Tax, as a Wit. .Tax, have ever hen at the
;rouble to inform themselves tally nputi the sub-
f-hough the fact which excited sir mach of
noti,7e was accessible to the slightest in-
ty of reseatch. It is.uot a little rebatitable,
that a Nobleman) frotn whose general acquire-
s ,:t.,1 awn, atrehtion to his country's kite-
i•estc, ono would have expected a more exact tic-
quatnt,tin ys ,vith the, political transactions of so
rext-41, .1 petiA as Ott year 1799, should tall into
the coin ai.,o error, and state, in a provincial
V 'stry 'Meeting. according to the report given of
tcs proceedings, `-tent, the Window Tax, when
orixio..Hl W. 0•4, under a sole am ploge
given by Mt. Corry, then in office, only to he
cony toned as a Wat Tax—that that obligation was
still binding, and ought not to be violated.' We
allude to what the Martpts of Downchire is re-
ported-to hive said at a V,Stry Meeting; lo! d
ut
Hilisboronh.on IVolnesday last ; and, in making
the precetno, extract from it, we want to show
how much the Nttble Marquis, as well as those to
whose proceedings he adverted in the entitle of his
observations, has miseoliecived, we speak with
great respect, the original nature of the Window-
Tax. - Fin hi 4 Lordship's information, and for the
instruction of those to whose opinions, perhaps,
he has too readily given credit, we give the fol-
lowing report of what is termed Mr:Corry's pledge
relative to the. Window ax, when, in his place
in Parliament, he proposed that tneasure—taking
permission to adtcthat we have extracted it from
a Newspaper, then generally referred to as the
best authority for what was said, in the Irish Par-
liament, on the Ministerial side, more especially,
on any important public question
" HOUSE OF COMMoNs, FEB. 25, 1799.

" THE. BuDGF,T.
". Mr. Corry, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, haring en
tered into a statetownt of the Ways and Means for the ensuing
year, continued as follows:—
He wi:uld next proceed to offer to the Committee a Tax,
which had never heretofore taken place in this conntry,_ and
one in which he hipped to have•the coincidence or the Com-
anttee.—tHere Mr. Corry went into a statement of the Win-
dow Tax in England, and Use scale on which he intended to
Form it here.] It might be objected, he said, that the riches
of England would render such a nix tolerable there, which
would nut be tolerable here; hut he begged Gentlemun to
recollect what a train of taxation existed, besides this, in Evig-
land, and they would • find the proportion of-ability equally
pressed upon ; while, on the other hand, sock a Tax as the
present—the Whole amount of which was direttly payable
into the Treasury, and was likely to be-productive—might
be fairly •triettat such a time as this; and upon the return of
r Peace, if it w, re found grievous or burdensome, it might be
taken' nj by Parliament:
" Its this-Report, which is Sive‘ted of all mi-
nuti4 of calculation, as unnecessary to
.onrpre7
sent purpose, the words which we have marked by
Italics, contain Mr. Cotry's pledge, as it is trut-
ed—and if it be one, certainly the only pledge he
ever gave relative to the Windo,e Tax ; and it is
for tbe.public to judge, whether that binds his
successors in office, .or, the Government of the
country, to consider that Tax a War Tax only,
and to repeal it upon the restoration of peace-.
! A peace certainly -did °cent., sulmqpicntly to its
adoption, anti it was not repealed 5 nor, indeed,
did she people of Ireland, eit tier through Patisb
ConventiotnS, or ansi other medium, solicit Parlia-
ment for its abration. -Mr. R.-Dawson, as has
been already noticed, made an etlort to fix the
Wei* now talked of,. Mr. Cony, during the
Ni,ort peace in 1803 ; hitt that Right lion. Gen-
tleman passed on the performance of his financial
measures, without noticing the'respon,ibility
at-
tempted to be attached to Wm---,attil the sAject
:was not renekved during the Sess'on, nor subse-
quently, on the ground of Mr. Dawson's objec•
tion tit the continsiance of the Tax. •
public If facts be of any. valise in wilding men Nn)
occasiow, what we have just stated will not

escape the attent;nti of the Voisik D Teti( s, aho
ate to assemble no Tiotesdev next; nor Of the Pa.
Fish or Vestry Meetings., neev.. be in pro•
grese throughout Ireland. .It any or those. Bodies
.5)110t1 a Petition to I'atlia ueut,. ictr the abohtio(r
f,l the, lViedow Tax, or the preveetiou of the
Witniow Modified:ion Tax, no allegations which
are not sopported by facts, they eatniet suppose,
it they have aright conception of.the.cluty of that
Body', .that it, will be respected.' Applications may.
he made for the repeal of the Window 'Fax, on
account of, ts, mere operation, as beingsevere or
oppressive, bill twt because it is a War Tax, on an.
'Official pledge, and 01)10, therefore, be annulled-
'We ate putting the Parishes inthe right course by' ,
'these suggestions.:
,They seem, hi,:ierto, to have
imirlooked the real nature of what they had as-
sembled for, 11P11,10 have made no estimate, . nor'
no Calculation, upon what %etas dueto the country
at large, and to the Goecrement, as well as to
themseleeS., •shatild re.nurk ,oe, per-
hawearlier, that the sum oritrinally raised"hy the
Window Tax was but 60,0001. It was sense.
vently increased to its present amount, to meet
the very enlarged expenditure created by the
veare—so -that, if it had beet, established on-
ditionally, as to a future reoeal, the condition. -
could only, in fairness, extend to the sum first
provided.
" There is another subject connected with the
Vestry Meeting at Hillsborough, to which we
think
.it necessary to advert. The Marquis of
Downshire, on that occasion, referred to a pas-
sage in Mr..llawthorne's letter, respecting 4 Ap-
purtenances ' being ieclnded in' the proposed as-
sessment by the modified Tax. On this point we
begleave to remark, anti the Noble Mdrgeis may
depend upon the accuracy of out information, that
Appurtenances, such as are exempted by the pre-
sent 'window l'ae, and by the Law in England
• which assesses Dwelling4louses, will be reserved
from the operation Of the modified Tax, shonlel it
be hereafter in force---that is to say more expli-
citly, there will be a reservation in favour of
such warehouses as are distinct and separate
buildings, and not parts or parcels of , such dwel-
ling-house', or the shop attached thereto, but em-
ployed solely for the purpose of lodging goods,
wares, and merchandize, or for carrying on some
manufacture, notwithstanding the smite may ad-
putt to, or have communicated with the dwelling-
house or shop.'-
" With respect to whist the Noble Marcris is
reported. to have said. of the future duration of the
modified Windtiw Tax, that would stand as an
objection
_toall Taxes, at tilt periods, and under all
circemstances ; and as to the policy or ia.policy,
or necessity of its enactment, or of'the continu-
a:lee of the Window fax. those arc points
its
which the opinidir Mh.isters n►n
be worth sowething, even against the high autho-
rity of the Noble Personage in elitestui—and
whose name we have introduced ie:o these re-
marks, with every possible respect for his peblic
and private character, oelybec.iitse it has appear-
ed connected with the proeedings of
.a public
meeting, on a political subject.
The liberal spirit and candour of the Belfast
Newspapers, in which the Hillsborough Meeting
has appeared, will, Ave are stare, give a ' reception
to the extract. we have made front Mr. Corry's
Speech, relative to the Window Tax ; so ,that
whatever proceedings may be entered upon for the
repeal of that impost, may not take place under
the delusion that it is a War, Tax by any official
pledge or compact. The provincial Papers, gene-
rally, will fulfil their duty by edopting a. sinailar
course for a similar object. However 'the old or
he modified Tax may be ultimately disposed of,
,t is right and expedicnt,thut there should be no
atistinderstandiog, as to their real character, be-
tween the Pane and Mr. Vansittart ; and to ef-
fect this, and nothing else, are our present re-‘
maiks directed."