The Sun.
London, England, 1842-01-07 00:00:00

PRICE 5d

LUXURIES VERSUS NECESSARIES.
TO THE EDITOR OF _THE SUN.
Sra—ln The Sun of Saturday I observe a paragraph
(copied from the Manchester Guardian) stating that
venison is now being imported into this country from
America. I have seen some dead deer 'also brought to
this port from Hamburg. The law which admits veni-
son for the rich, excludes fresk mutton, beef, and
pork for the poor, all which latter might be had abroad
for 2d. a pound. Whilst these are prohibited, game, viz.,
blackcock, capercalizies, &c., from Norway, and venison,
come in as " goods unmanufactured," paying a duty of
51., per cwt. ad valorem. This is of a piece with the
whole. Preserved turtle is now admittdd at the same
rate as fresh—namely, duty free, becauSe a long voyage
deteriorates this article for the rich man's table ; but
corned beef is excluded, and salted only 4s admitted at
12s. 7d. per cwt. ; hams pay 1/. 95..4d. the cwt. ; sau-
sages 4d. the pound ; butter 1/. ls. the ewt. By the way,
another gross sin and iniquity arises with respect to the
latter article. .Owing to the high duty imposed, the im-
porter often finds that it will not reach a remunerating
price after it arrives here, and though it would serve
many domestic purposes, such as "shortening" for crust,
and even do to butter the poor man's bread, whoa he can
get a loaf, our selfish legislators will not permit it, but
order that, when it cannot pay the landlord's tax, tar
shall be mixed with it, to reduce it to grease, and the
Custom House officer who superintends this pleasant
duty has to certify that it is rendered unfit for human
food. Is not this a cruel and wilful destruction of the
bounties of Providence, for which the present laws are,
responsible - 7
in petitions wrainst- abOnfinabb Corn
we should as well denounce the no less hateful exactions
upon provisions. The effort to abrogate one should be
applied to the whole ; nor as a mmsure of justice should
we slacken our efforts until we have obtained indemnity
from the landlords for the wrongs they have so many
years ir.flieted upon the other classes of the community.
I am quite of opinion with our good friend Col. Thomp-
son on this subject. As a Hull man, I blush that that
veteran apostle of free trade does not now represent us ;
but attribute it not to the apathy or indifference of the
great body to the ocl!o is enactments on corn and pro-
visions, for at the election the middle classes, or those
who have the 10/. franchise, gave the Colonel and Mr.
Clay a majority of 300 over the Tories. The evil was
perpetrated by the old freemen, who for lucre sold their
country to the enemy ; many of whom, however, now
find where the shoe pinches, and, deprived of labour con-
sequent upon loss of trade, deplore the evils they were
seduced to inflict upon themselves.
I rejoice to say that Hull is showing some signs of
vitality on the Corn-law question. A requisition to the
Mayor to call a public meeting for total repeal is being
thereandMagistrate
isn a umgeroooudsßlyepsiegailleerd, asis ourltt worthy
doubt
of
f Chief a
successful
meeting. As one of his old constituents, I would, how-
ever, urge on Colonel Thompson again to " come over
and help us" against the Philistines.
I am, Sir, your most obedient servant,
Hull, Jan. 4, 1142. A FREE TRADER.

LAND-TAX FRAUD EXPOSED.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
SlR.—Tbe Constitution originally imposed on the So-
vereign the condition of defraying the ordinary expenses
of Government out of the Crown rents, and the feu-
dal profits which accrued to the Crown by the common
and statute 14w, in precisely the same manner as the
expenses of local government had and have to be de-
frayed out of the land rent of the respective districts ;
and it is in accordance with these constitutional prin-
ciples that the common law declares tithes, highway-
rates, county-rates, and poor-rates,' not to be in the
nature of a tax on landholders, which they are most
desirous should be believed, but as rent charges to be
borne by them as the recognised conditional proprietors
of the soil.
During the Commonwealth knight's service, purvey-
ance, &c., were dispensed with, and in lieu'of these
monthly assessments were imposed, which were an im-
proved method of raising the subsidies, or extraordi-
nary taxation, the State rents being equal to the ordi-
nary expenses of Government. Until the Restoration,
the landocracy had no more right to withhold the pay-
ment of the feudal profits which accrued to the Crown,
than copyholders in the present day the profits which
arise to Lords of Manors. Neither could they refuse
tha performance of knight's service, except at the peril
of haling their lands escheated. But as subsidies really
were taxes on the community, they had the constitu-
tional right to refuse to grant them, or only condition-
ally. Every reader of our history is familiar with the
use and abuse which was made of this power. It was
the instrument employed to limit the power of the
Sovereign, and finally to bring them under the control
of Parliament—for which the community have
dearly paid.
The principle of the monthly assessments of the
Commonwealth is the fairest scheme of taxation which
was ever acted upon, and is deserving of the serious
consideration of the statesmen of the present time, and
more particularly of the public. They were imposed
on all " real and personal estate whatsoever, according
to the annual value thereof," and whatever amount was
required to be raised was levied rateably, twenty shil-
lings of rent, or yearly annual value of land or real
estate, being rated the same as 20/. of personal estate.
Nearly one-half of the revenue then required was raised
in this manner, and a considerable portion of the re-
mainder was obtained by the profits of wardship, fines
of alienation, and other feudal prerogatives payable by
the tenants of the State, just as the payments to
lords of manors at the present time. These assess-
ments varied, according to the necessities of the Go-
vernment, from 3.5,000/. to 120,0001. a month in Eng-
land ; in Scotland at 10,000/., 7,5001., 6,0001., and
5,0001. a month, and in the same proportions for Ire-
land. The rate of assessment for England or Ireland
does not appear to be ascertainable, but, as a new
valuation for Scotland was made for that, purpose, we
are enabled to establish that it amounted to about 40,
30, 25, and 20 per cent. on the Lora fide land rental of
the kingdom ; and, as the assessment was not co.n-
plained of as an excessive commutation for knight's
service, &c., it may be presumed not to have been so
considered. What will our modern landholders say to
the above constitutional method of taxation ?
Every Legislative enactment of the Commonwealth
was declared illegal at the Itstoration, and the Mo-
narchy was restored as it existed previous to the Rebel-
lion against Charles I. ; and, until the administration
of Government could be reconstructed on the ancient
system, the monthly assessments, at 70,0001. a montb,
were continued for six months by an ordinance, and
two statutes, 12 Car. 11,, c. 20 and 21, which neces-
sity is therein stated to be occasioned " whilst your
Majesty's revenue stands unsettled, and your just rights
and prerogatives, in point of tenures and the use of the
Court of Wards, are forborne and withheld."
But the landholders determined to prevent the foun-
tain of the national treasury from beiog filled with the
revenue which had flowed from their lands, and accord-
ingly the right of the Crown to require it was taken
away by the third statute following the one above, re-
ferred to, or 12 Car. 11., c. 24, which abolished knight's
service, wardship, marriage, purveyance, &c. ,It is,
therefore, from this point inquirers must start in tracing
the unconstitutional conduct and premeditated rapacity
of the Parliamentary landocracy. Their conduct is a
matter of history, and can be detailed with the greatest
precision. Having seized the administration of Go-
vernment, and possessed themselves of exclusive Legis-
lative power, they were left by a careless and selfish
Sovereign to do as they pleased.
The Republican assessments were in the nature of a
subsidy, or extraordinary tax levied on real and per-
sonal estate ; whilst in the reign of Charles 11. they
were grants of a specified sum, to be levied only on real
estate, the tenant paying the rate and deducting it from
the rent due to the proprietor. See the various sta-
tutes, 12 Charles 11., c. 27 ; 13, c. 3 ; 16 and 17, c.
I ; 17, c. 1 and 9 ; 18 and 19, c. 1 ; 19, c. 13 ; 25,
c. 1 ; 29, c. 1 ; 30, c. 1 ; and 31, c. 1. These various
grants were undoubtedly made on account of the aboli-
tion of the feudal profits, as that time they (the land-
holders) had not wholly and finally determined to exempt
themselves from contributing, on account of their lands,
towards the expenses of the Government ; that was de-
ferred till a more convenient time. In the reign of
Charles 11. there were four grants in the nature of a
subsidy, that of the six monthly assessments at the
Restoration, by ordinance, in 1660, and 12th C. 11.,
2, 28 ; 15, c. 9 ; and 22 and 23, c. 3.
The subsidies only were in the nature of a tax,
whilst the assessments in the reign of Charles 11. were
grants in lieu of the feudal profits which, by the com-
mon and statute law, ought to have accrued to the
Crown, just as manorial profits are now received by the
Lords of Manors.
At the Revolution, the Convention commenced by
granting three aids, or subsides, or extraordinary tax on
real and personal estate, for an immediate supply on
account of the then state of the country, which to-
gether amounted to a rate for 1689.90 of 4s. in the
pound on the rental of real estate, as manors, lands,
mines, &c., and 245. for every 1001. of personal estate,
without reference to the amount which might be ob-
tained, which was the principle of' all the ancient sub-
sidies. But in the following year, 1691, when the
country had become settled, an aid of a fixed sum,
1,651,702/., was granted to be levied on real estate
only, which is a statuable evidence that it was
contemplated to follow the practice that had pre-
vailed in the reign of Charles the Second. But
the ,men who voted to themselves a bounty of 55. ,
a quarter on the exportation of wheat determined other-
wise.
They discontinued the assessments on themselves
granted in lieu of the abolished feudal profits due to the
Crown from the land, and resorted to the extraordinary
principle of the subsidy, which was of the nature of a
- property tax, whilst the assessments on real estate, in the
reign of Charles IL, ens) in the previous year, were only