The Sun.
London, England, 1842-05-09 00:00:00

*tronbXlittton

SUN OFFICE Three o' Cloch.

We have now before us a copy of the amended In-
eorne-tax Bill, as it passed through Committee, and as
We suppose it will receive the Royal sanction—for we
have no hope that it will receive any improvements in
its Passage through the House of Lords. Much as
has been said of its inquisitorial character, every
description of it falls short of the reality. We as-
;are the commercial classes, that they will pay
nearly for the apathy with which they allowed
the Easter recess to pass over, and the little
supportwhich the Press received from them, in de-
nouncing and resisting this most oppressive impost.
among other harassing powers given to the Commis-
sioners, is that of summoning before them, and ex-
amining, upon oath, not only merchants and traders
themselves, but also their confidential clerks, agents,
told servants, and interrogating them respecting their
masters' affairs. Should they refuse to appear, or
decline to be sworn, or object to answer any question
111,11 t to them, they incur a penalty of twenty pounds.
4114 enactment places masters at the mercy of their ser-
/ants, and renders them liable to the suspicion of hav-
ing committed perjury, should any discrepancy be found
between the statements made by them and those fur-
:shed by their clerks. Again, where the tax is com-
rluded for, and evidence is found to prove that the in-
e°t.nse. paid for falls short of the real average income for
t n'gree years, the money paid is declared forfeited to the
Ztnivals, a penalty of fifty pounds is incurred, and the
hele• Income-tax levied anew as if nothing had been
1441- Here is a door left open for the gratification of
,te most malignant passions. In the case of the
t"
the exact amount of their annual income, how easy it
be for a rival trader, or a discharged
leleric.to ruin them by means of the course of prosecution
"ersi-saggested. The task is an easy one. In the pre-
-Ipea• of the new inquisitors, the suspected person must
Conseshis own accuser. He must supply the proor
Which shall establish his guilt himself. If he refuse t
answer he is ruined by penalties. If he only decline to
answer five questions, the cost is an hundred pounds.
Th '
e Commissioners may ask fifty, or indeed as many as
they Please, and impose a fine for every refusal to answer
The stock of Friendly Societies, Savings Banks, and
Charitable
Ws„„ Institutions are exempted from the tax.
hile income from professions, wages, and the funds
are taxed sevenpence in the pound, incomes from the
usufruct of land in England, are taxed threepence half-
Peil,iiiii,;!eian the pound, and from land in Scotland twopence
LPn Y.
This Bill is called a Property-tax Bill by the
I'seraraent, and is so styled by the printer
• 0 tke }toss. si such thing. It is
an 14),„ of titia:nous. It ,s no
.pose tome-tax Bill, and nothing else. It does not pro-
ine uch property. It taxes only the income aria-
r°ll: the labour by which it. is rendered produc-
lhe h. tax upon the wages of labour, whether of
-4a
or hand. It does' not say to the Dukes of
TutaLs.sin and NEWC4STLE, " the Government
Ites'"useus to appropriate for State purposes three
r ot of every hundred of your estates, nor
to Messrs. ROTHSCUILD and BARING, " the necessi-
ties of the State obliges Ministers to confiscate, for the
Ilse of the Crown, three pounds out c f every hundred
of which you are possessed." No; it reserves this harsh,
tyrannical, and despoiling language for the medical prac-
tioner, the author, or the trader, whose sole earnings
for the year amount only to one hundred and fifty
Pounds. It will not hear of any deduction being made
Ifrom this pittance for the support of the poor man's
teamily. The Act expressly forbids any such deduction
IDeing. allowed. He must pay an income tax for every
lisoutliful of food eaten by his children. And yet
bfi nisters have the brazen impudence to talk about the
cqt ality with which the tax will fall upon all classes !
Jill taxes should fall upon real property, fur it is to
t'otect real property that all the expenses of the Go-
J-Innent are incurred. But in this country the aristo-
't're,cy have hitherto contrived to throw all taxes, either
liteetly or indirectly, upon industry. By a complicated
most expensive system of indirect taxation, they
sve'• imposed the most onerous burdens upon the
l'eoPle, without theirsbeing able to discover whence the
Pjessure proceeded. However objectionable, therefore, the
the: tax °AY be, it will have the good effect of opening
eiyneinsgie
of the country to the vast importance of
Whole question of taxation with attention.
bWein' are entirely in fay Jur of the principle of taxation
.xxeigx direct.
Fifty pounds of a direct tax paid into the
,hundrLluer, produces more to the Government than an
'therefore Pounds levied indirectly. There is here,
tax di' saving of one half in levying the
matt reetlY• Again, it is better that each
Isitithins
--Ighould. know what the Government costs him.
'fthetiwill make him look more sharply about him,
Wars, tht is
Proposed to plunge the nation into foreign
for v an to know that he will be called upon to pay
Liens in the shape of doubled or trebled taxes.
Ittrnutile course of the debates upon the Income-tax Bill,
es•ssideul" Proposed a plan of dirt ct taxation which we
tel. -exceedingly equitable, and which we shall
44deerfuture occasions of explaining in detail to our
a• We have only space here to enumerate the
pshtei
AIL HUME proposes that as property is ex-
from from taxation, the income arising from it only
41,
pror !axed, the income of all traders, merchants, and
-professional men for one year shall be taken as their pro-
h, r' that such property shall be capitalised, 'and
svi... ncorae which would arise from it, taxed in the same
; t as income from other funded property. Thus, say
iphysician earns a thousand a-year, this thousand
nut would call his capital ; it is all that he has,
pt,therefore all that the State is charged with the cost
him to enjoy in security. At 5 per cent.
sl\ y sand would produce fifty pounds, and upon this
Po-:ectl.r:-tieu7 Would levy an Income-tax, at the
111;:
seven-pence in the pound. This plan
t:111111eia at °lice equalise the tax upon property and in-
We trust that the Hon. Member for Montrose
e"titssia see the
"importance of persevering in making the
of his plan familiar to Parliament and the country,

s Nye. ornitie,
A)4 •0. Contemporary says : '.`
districts has
1 tt:bil Pervades many of
the ma The distress
manufacturing
1 4 „sett neglected by the humanet and patriotic advisers. of
it : 4Alt STY. We have
itklt• ill contemplation to issgureeafortphlewaistillirae Qinuesetna'tsmLgetttheart,
. vititi
111 R contributions in the several places worshipofof f_
f'il td°l,thout the three Kingdoms, for the purpose
tit ',lit& 'bore adequate relief tothe
tiinladnusltroiooailisslpibospourliar.
tii ''' urthe manufacturing districts
-N. 14. 6,-..1111 be expected to yield.
.A Conference was held on
the
s!'' rtllki‘Y on this very interesting subject at thehouse of
1 rh tkl. ,at which the First Lord of the Treasury,.
tle le,geertary, the Lord Primate, and the Lord Bishop
No • when it was determined. ttliavt,
~t,44%llll,!4•lllwweerheaNprereszennent'tioned should be immodiaucet;
l't • 12,7 the benevolence of her Majesty's subjects."
1 ?,-e Ulan never.
itself
elfgld that the Choufrtcihiehtiaisoua.
114 1',17 IteQn fit to bestirlre • in the cause
tt,4ll:ts-.4 °I: destitute operatives in the manufacturing dbius;
'i,144 lt at the same time we cannot .
''''t 11"415111. surprise that it has not done
have shoeleoangforbeemlourset.
4k'll i 474 rchdly hoped that it would
cc
contenting itself with
Ztlibb.ltutik of charity, instead
t‘it,uk%-ettle vineyard at the eleventh hour hour ; for if there
th,tet:it4tuc more than another
as well as preach,
1;1;,t.h, ,t3u. the Church to practise,.
which it is specially in-
-11/;4lii,,'S charity. The distress in theevamileadnuafaitcititnirlionrge
d°41.,1% Z hot of yesterday's date. It pr
.41`, -rit . throughout the whole of last year, and
NI. t. t 4
Iv. )
appalling; yet we do not
• ilkt niter was perfectly
11111.(11)116.tliat either Archbishop or Bishop came for-
Ivitvilete he Pt,-mt„l3 pith an offer of exerting whatevertho
---
11° -4'4 edi to relieve it. However,
:e•ug its , 4, qacerity, weand Churchai ns fi
an
n-
:4:l44%l°r;rt":4l;e:nire
uP
shalll6r citl):1-ilsufitrdactlnii:tilea; on
lostolie 'edd prelates an- . urtlii, i.,1411.5e-strings drreaclkvo tnh
kt thes la ran- and .
th
' (4
ii• h. 'character.andcontrlbultet iseancoht enough
for re(legrekllte, 4hostly Dignitaries preach charity to their
‘°P
thtr':°6B ; they must themselves set the example,
tietil,:i 4°Ntitl in. wealth, and are expres.,l.y and eniplia-
lieav' ei/jelued to " lay up for themselves a.
b., treasure in
Itlt a‘ili!," which they Cannot do so surely. tams
tj,arts,t,olovi-1
Nit. 4141.4 portion of their " treasTuilieey
are
eager
ell 'lrvin"' fellow-countrymen.
-0 in. f new .
A -11411 ttl I:'•llchurches at the expense of. the
tliiih, '_,'hY way of providing for the souls of their be-
ta; Heir`egflocks ; let them now show equal zeal in providing
a
than bodies ; fur of what use is a new church to
0;4'111 o lies starving in a cellar—whose clothes are at
j,,,: % nbroker's—and who, if lie Were to be seen enitt:r.-.
'o th
4,, e,sacred edifice in his rags, would throw into ly s
es ail the " respectable" portion of the congregation,