The Sun.
London, England, 1845-02-11 00:00:00

—that is, if no remedy at present existed, he would
feel it his duty to bring in a Bill on the subject, and
'so remedy the omission. The defect of this case had
arisen from legislative measures introduced for the
purpose of altering the jury-law. The common law
•` did not apply to the case, and the Legislature had
provided no remedy for the defect.
Lord CAMPBELL was extremely glad to hear
that his Noble Friend had directed his attention to
the subject; but he felt sure that upon further
consideration he would find the opinion of the
learned judges to be, that the right of chal-
lenge to the array had been taken away alto-
gether. They raid that a difference or de-
fect arising from partiality was the only ground
for challenging the array. The matter was taken
altogether out of the hands of the sheriff: where the
Recorder erred there did not seem to be any remedy.
He would not trouble the }louse further on the sub-
ject, resting with confidence on the assurance of his
Noble and Learned Friends.
THE INCOME-TAX.
Lord MONTEAGLE then rose and said, that
their Lordships were aware that he had a motion on
the paper of this evening for the annual balance
sheet of income and expenditure; and accounts re-
lating to trade and navigation in certain
branches. He (Lord Monteagle) would not have
taken up any considerable portion of their Lordships'
time upon this subject had not an impression,
caused by a paragraph in her Majesty's gracious
speech, been created out of doors, and on that
passage he intended to make a few observations.
The passage referred to said that it would be for them
to determine whether it would not be prudent to
continue the property-tax for a limited period. Now
that part of her Majesty's speech might be inter-
preted in two ways, and it was most material
that it should be properly understood by
the country. Their Lordships were aware that
when the tax was first enacted, its objects were
merely of a temporary kind, and no expectations were
entertained that it would afterwards be made part of
the ways and means of this country. Un-
doubtedly it would not be so objectionable if
• it were only intended as a partial experiment
for the purpose of remitting some other obnoxious
tax, or giving relief in any case that pressed heavily
• on the community; but if it were intended, as they
had reason to fear, to make the income-tax part of
the permanent ways and means of the country, then,
indeed, was it essentially necessary that the people
should be aware of the real intentions of the Government.
It was one thing to submit to an inconvenience and
inequality of pressure, as in the case of this tax, and
• quite a different one to consent to a permanent impo-
' sition. He thought that no one could doubt the ex-
pedieocy of continuing the income-tax fur the present,
' and he should state in a few words why he thought
' so. Dealing in round numbers there was a surplus
of three millions over expenditure. Now, although
the public wore led to consider that this was
a large augmentation of the public revenue,
and that this sum, therefore, formed a fund
upon which different classes, upon whom particular
taxes pressed, might think they had a right to draw,
it was time that there was an actual surplus of
3,000,0001. But then it was provided by the property-
tax, which yielded 5,000,0004 and was only a tem-
` porary impost. Looking t )the regular and fixed sources
' of increase there was in fact no surplus. There was
quite as great a deficiency now, as when the income.-
tax was imposed, if that tax were allowed to expire.
' It must be obvious to every one that the expiration of
that tax, under such circumstances, the Government
• could not think of; and he trusted that neither House
of Parliament would consent to its expiration. The
question, then, was, whether the tax was to be con-
tinued as the relief of a temporary pressure, or was
to be continued as a substitute for other taxes to be
repealed. But if it were proposed, on the strength of
the temporary surplus, to reduce judiciously some
taxes which might, as had been found to be the re •
suit in the case of other reductions, tend ultimately to
raise the permanent revenue and diminish the deficiency,
no one could object to that policy. The papers which
• he was about to call for would illustrate the working
of the changes which had taken place, and he had in-
tended to move for another paper, in which he was
• anticipated by his Noble Friend Lord Dalhousie,
• whom he must take that opportunity of congaa-
• tulating upon his recent appointment to the head of
the department with which that paper was connected.
This document, which would probably be delivered
in the course of to-morrow, was one of the most
important and valuable papers, illustrative of their
• customs laws, that had ever been drawn up or pre-
pared for Parliament. It furnished some inferences,
with respect to their customs duties, of a most
important nature. It exhibited in two com-
parative tables the state of the customs duties
in the two years preceding the alteration
of the tariff, and for the two years immediately suc-
ceeding that alteration. They were classed in two
different modes. The first was an analysis, according
to the different heads of duty, of articles pro-
ducing from 1001. to 100,0001. a-year ; the
other was an analysis of the respective
amount of duty raised on different classes
of articles. By this it appeared that out
of 22,000,0001. raised upon 813 articles there
were 585, or about three-fourths of the whole, which
produced only 42,0001. a year. Parliament had the
power of reducing the whole amount of the cus-
toms' duties payable on three-fourths of the articles
subjected to duty, at a loss only of 42,0001.
. But if such a proposal ever came before
them, he would suggest to his Noble Friend
that, in their anxiety to give all possible relief to trade
and commerce, they ought not to deprive themselves
of the opportunity of gaining just and correct statis-
tical information. This error had been committed
with respect to the Irish trade. In their anxiety to re-
move all restrictions from it, they had done away with
the necessity of any customs entries whatever. Thus,
from their desire to place it as much as possible on
the footing of a coasting-trade, they had put it
out of their power to prove to the Irish
people that their condition had progressively
improved, and that their consumption of
the necessaries of life was daily extending itself.
There were several other curious facts which
-were equally apparent in the document before him,
and to which he had been calling their Lordships'
attention, upon which he expected considerable dis-
cussion would arise. It was not now his intention
to enter more at length into this subject, but
when it came to be discussed before their Lord-
ships it would appear that in the reduction
made upon articles of consumption, those reductions
would appear to have been made upon articles of
minor importance. It would also appear that taking
into account the character of the articles that this
reduction had been made upon, there had been
comparatively little or no reduction upon
articles of raw material, upon articles partly
manufactured, and upon manufactured articles, while
upon the other hand it would appear that the great
increase had taken place upon articles of food. It
was for these reasons that he deemed it of much im-
portance to call their Lordships' attention to the fact
that this temporary tax had not produced an equiva-
lent equal to the sacrifice. This was not the proper
time to argue this question, but he did not think it was
out of place in him to tike the liberty of drawing
their Lordships' attention to this tax. In speaking
of articles of food he did not of course mean to include
every article that came under that designation, such
as brandy, &c., but he alluded to the article of tea,
upon which.he found a considerable increase, and that
circumstance had been fully explained in the document
before him. Fie had round that no alteration had been
made in the rate of duty upon that article, which
was 2s. Id. in the
_pound, though considerable altera-
tion had taken place in the price. Whether a reduc-
tion in the price of the article had been owing to a
reduction in the duty or the value, it was a matter of
indifference to the public, but the result of the reduc-
tion in the price had been an increase in the
consumption of the article to the amount of about a
million of pounds weight. The fall had been in the
price of the article inn 2e 6d. to Is. 6d. per pound,
thereby accounting for the increase in the consump-
tion. His reasons for referring to those sukects was
for the purpose of showing that the increase
surplus of the revenue was sot so great as
bad been ima eined. Then with regard to
another article of general consumption suer.
Last year an alteration was made in the duties im-
lsed upon sugar. One scale of duty was imposed
upon sugar the product of British possessions; an-
other scale was imposed up on foreign sugar the pro-
duction of free labour, such as sugars from China,
Java, and 14Ianilla; and power was given to her
Majesty in c
cnincii, on satisfactory proof being
given that it was produced by free labour in other
countries, to add those
Actcountries to the list. There
was also a clause theinof reci entitling countries which
had with us treaties
Now
he
should like reciprocity to the benefit of
the reduction.
honer eto a , soeuew ethers.ag
ar,
there had taken placeace for
any of that description ofconsumption
not the production of British
pose •
was aware that the Bill had not comes into pr
operation until the month of November last, and,
therefore, it could not be considered as a fair
specimen of the working of the Bill. The
policy of the Government in framing that
Bill was to give the preference to free-labour
sugar, but it would be excessively whimsical if it
should turn out that no foreign free-labour sugar had
been admitted under its provisions, but that
slave-labour sugar, which it was the object
of Parliament to exclude, had been admitted.
He believed there had been some Orders in Council
respecting the admission of Louisiana, and he, and
those who acted with him, had last year
contended that Louisiana sugar, under the treaties
of reciprocity, would be entitled to the
benefit of the Act. Some Manilla sugar had, he
believed, arrived, but owing to some difficulty, had
of yet been admitted to home consumption. Par-

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