The Sun.
London, England, 1842-05-31 00:00:00

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1 PAUL PRY AND THE.INCOME
TAX.
•
TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
MY DEAR MR; EDiTOR-74 Wish I may die if I ain't
quite in a pucker ; nay More; I am truly wretchol ;
funning, as my boys call it, and all that sort of thing, that
tortures the mind, .bOth sloe Orig and waking. lam be-
come also :fidgetty, snarling, and could quarrel wall a
r straw, I have been so, much ,put out of .the way. by the
thoughts of their horrid Income-tip, .that ray dear rie
and family look upon me as an annoyance to theta. But
I really cannot help it. Look to the- cause 'Tis the
cause, as Othello hadlt. I had pictured to-Myself, from
the promises held out, riches, • increase-of tralle;- rise in
the funds—a sort of jubilee amongsrthe people in these
pipipg times of peace, when I first heard of a change in
.Administration ; and thinking upon the old adage, that
new brooms sweep clean ; and the illustrious Duke end
Sir RbbiTt Peel were to remove in quick dme the cloud
of difficulties by which We...vsere surrounded ; and
from their splendid promises, introduce the sunshine of
prosperity all over the-nation. But, blow me, I am most
woefully deceived. What a trick has been played ()that
JOHN BCLL, with -all his- knowledge of the world, men,
and manners, Such prime tact and delusion, something
after the manner of the IV zu-d of the North, getting the
'Tories into a string for five months—SILENT as 'a pill-
box ; nay more, he kept. the 'secret to himself—most of
his colleagues were at fault as to his movements ; and
he cudgelled the brains of the actuaries belonging to in-
surance offices in the City as to the nature of incomes
but those sapient gentlemen were not exactly aware of
his drift, so Ivell tlid Bobby play his cards as to the se-
crecy of his intentions. When the time was ripe; it burst
upon the public like a thunder storm ; and, blow me, if
I wouldn't bet Waterloo-bridge to a. plank aeries., a nar-
row kennel, that no other two men could haver
held the reins of Government. fur a fortnight
had they have had temerity enough to come forward with
euell it, proposition, if the secret had have gut wind_
Thus were. the kind, deluded Tories, drawn into the snare
so well laid for them by their specious master, like flies
entangled in, the spider's web, that they cannot get out
of it; and are compelled, as it were, for the sake of con-
sistency, although a nauseous datught, to vote fin- this
inquis;toria/ let:Om-Tax. Methinks I hear Bobby the
next morning strutting and :fretting les hour, in NY hite-
hall-gardens, with the following soliloquy :
"I haVe once more got into power' again—(Chnektieg
to himself)—and I'll -give the grumblers a rare lot ,t
trouble, as well as 'length of time, before they get ME out!
I'll not stick at trifles ! !• I have set my mind upLitt
a cast, and I will stand the hazard of the die r "
Blow we, Mr. Editor, it' I ain't astonished—confbanded
—almost beside myself—at the apathy shown by the
people of England ; they have .etund tne-prepoeiteee of
this most cderus tax like bricks and mortar ; they ap-
pear to have been paralysed—instead of meeting toge-
ther and showing to Ministers that glowing and animated
resistance to obnoxious measures, which once so nobly
charecteris(d the public spirit of Englishmen and their
tbreflithers.

A PROPERTY-TAX might have been endured, bemuse
there is a certainty about its calculation ; but to grind
the industrious class of society, who live by the sweat cif
their brows ; also the genius and struggg ing difficulties;
of the counsellors, physicians, artists, &c., must prove
a dreadful grievance to tiwsi ut this class, and never to
be removed while such a tax is in existence, Besides,
this is not the worst part of it ; the morals of society
will be in danger from it ; the System of humbug and,
false swearing will be committed in numerous instances i
puliticalouths will have very little weight with some men
in the scale of crime, and have a very differcnt effect
upon persons who have to take an affidavit on the life or
death of a fellow creature in a public court of justice.
The INCOME-TAX will have a tendency to make men liars
—made. up of falsehoods and full of equivocwion—either
to save or to get MONEY. Human nature is too prole
to mischief wherever the cash is concerned—only listen.
to what Shakspeare rays on that head : _
" "fis gold
• Which buys admittance, oft it doth; yea makes
. Diana's rangers false themselves, and
,yield up
Their deer to the stand o' th' stealer.'
Fair play is a jewel in all transactions ; but there is.
no fut.,. pity in the Income-tax. PROPERTY is a solidi
artith ; and to be discovered in a bank, ascertained its
land, found out in the rents of estates, &e.; but INcoms
is a fleeting one, arid it is not, cannot be definable. In
one year a man may live in a tolerably comfortable style,
but in the next he may be reduced almost to beggary,
owing to adVerse circumstances, and over which he may
have no contrvl ; there is no average to be made about
income. For instance, there may be a great house et
business in one street, belonging to Messrs. A. and Co.,
who are enabled,- from prosperity, to return a
fair and honourable account of their profit—be it
so ? Then another firm, Messrs. 13. and Co., in
the same- line
compete
busine.ss, but hardly pushed, arid
scarcely able to even in appearance with their
opponents; but, to preserve the reputation of their cha-
racter, and to satisfy their creditors, return an 'income,
much greater than in reality belongs to them; but necek-
sity has no law, and it suits them much better to visr
from their purse than to be thought anything in the eyes
of the world, but, possessing a rich and thriving con-
cern, Messrs. C. and Co., are compelled to adopt the same
expensive modein order to stand well with. . the world,
and most likely it is so to the end of the chapter with
numerous otter tradesmen, artists, &c. To be poor, and
seem poor, Mr. Editor, you are well aware, is a sort or
damper upon credit. • Such are, and must be, the (Ads
resulting from the Income-tax.

Besides, I have a great objection against it in my own
person; I do not wish the vounger branches of my family
to ascertain Mr. Paul Pry's income, to prevent their
launching out into. extravagance, as I have always re-
presented myself to them as a needy man ; but now they
may ascertain it from the paper of the tax-gatherer. It
is true that the Commissioners are not to divu! the
L,;‘ercts of a man's income ; but there may be a great
ueal to fear from surcharges, and nods and winks
which tell tales equal to the most eloquent music.
Everybody is complaining of the want of trade at the.
present moment. ,Money is not seeu in transaction*,
and the times never were so bad. The gloom is not vie--
inured, and it is a matter of some doubt whether this
much-boasted Tariff will have the desired effect as a
boon. To the holders of stock connected with the above
Tariff, in several instances the , losses will be severe in-
deed from such a &hien• reduction, and will proVe
matter et little consequence to the public in general_
Give the most favourable turn you can to the Ineonve-taA:
in all its bearings—and when a war existed, some hands
might have been held up for it, on the plea of usk-
tional expenditure—but, in the time of peace, when
Government ought to be laying on their oars, in-
stead of yrinding the people, —it is truly disgust-
ing to the feelings of the good old stock of Bri-
tons. It is true, Mr. Editor, that I have a verb;
high opinion: of the Illustrious Duke in the field, un4
that he can make his opponents " turn about, whAtelt
about, and ;lump Jim Crow ;" but as a Minister 0,
Finance, I have my doubts as to his successful calcula-
tions in the Cabinet. And, again, I will not deny but
I think Sir R. Peel a clever man, but not a "great crea-
ture ;" he is ambitious to the echo, to rule, to command,
and to be at the top of the tree. lie may endeavour to.
tread in the steps Of the " Heaven-born Minister," thr
late William Pitt, to carry things with a high hulk
but even with that great man "pride had a full ;" and
let Bobby beware in time, and keep before him, as a:.
monitor, that there is only one step between " the sublime
and ridiculous." Sir Robert may flatter himself that
he stands upon a rock, strong and secure, bidding defiance
to the movements and changes of public opinion; but, in
my mind's eye, I rather view him on a ,dangerous pre-
cipice, reeling to and fro, and one unexpected rutlC blast
might hurl him from his proud pinnacle never to rise,
again. It is most certainly true some of the Toriec
allow they have been surprised, not convinced, as to the
policy of the measure, and may, or must, support him at
the present period ; but they are rather waasy err the
subject ; -yet the film may be removed from their eyes
touch sooner than might be expected, before he can cry,,
"who would have thought it ?"

BeFore I conclude, Nlr. Editor, permit. me to s 9-,,
hope I don't intrude, and I call upon you as a lot or of
freedom and your country, to endeavour to preimii on
the Peers of the realm to "kick" it out of the House,
and to give it a good kirk, a long kick, and a hick alto-
gether, for the good of the community ; in general, I
believe, that is the only way to get rid of a moneiy
bill
in the House of Lords.—l have the honour to rinain
Mr. Editor, your obliged, humble servant, and original
May 29, 1842. PAUL

IIAMBURGH MAIL -
.11.AMBURGH, MAY 25.—The Prussian pioneers aro
now leaving us in detachments, after having completed
the work which they undertook at the wish of the Senate.
They are accompanied by the grateful acknowledgment
of all those who observed their operations, especially of
the authorities with which they were especially connected.
The manner in which they blew up the walls of St.
Peter's Church without affecting the steeple, which it-
was resolved to preserve, excited particular admiration.
The number of ships of all nations that passed the,
Sound, in the month of April, was—From the Nortbi
Sea, 789 ; from the Baltic, 478, in all, 1,267 ; of these,
there were 242 English, namely—from the North See,
216 ; from the Baltic, 26.
BERLIN, MAY 24.—As the invitation to contribute to
the relief of liatniairg):, addressed by a private uniou of
merchants, and wkiieli has produced up to this time,
'12,690 dollars, may, perhaps, not have been cominuni-
cated to•some thetehants, the list is left at the oounting-
house. of Messra. Jacobson and Busse, for the signatures
of such as Inuy be disposed to join in it.
ST. PF.Witsßußcu, MAY 20.—The Committee for the
relief of ilarnbumh is very successful. At the head of
the contributions is Baron Strelitz, with 10,000 silver
roubles. The Nobility have subscribed 60,000 silver
roubles.
• 11A2ununou, MAY 26.—Bisnoyal Highness the Grand
Duke of Mecklenburg arrived here the day before yes-
terday in the afternoon, in the strictest incognito, After
viewing the ruins, this humane young Prince imine4h-
ately Set out to return home.
A barge arrived here yesterday, with clothing, provi-
sions, anti other very acceptable articles int- our sufferers,
which were sent by the charitable inhabitants of Berlin.
11,0IRERG11, MAY 27.—The police has published a
I)otie(2, in which it states that during the groat disaster'
which has befallen Hamburgh, the assistance of foreign
workmen was extremely Welcome, and the kindness of
the authorities of the neighbouring States in rendering
their assistance, will be ever gratefully remembered by
the citizens of Hamburgh. At present then! is no more
want of the common class of labourers, and this notice is
therefore given, with a request to the neighbouring au-
thorities to acquaint those persons who may chink of
Cowing to Hamburgh with such view, that such work-
men as may come to Hamburgh without the previous
permission of the pollee will be ordered to return to their
omes.-- Hamburgh Papers, May 27.

The General Steam Navigation Company's vessel
the Columbine from Rotterdam, arrived off the Custorn-House,
at one o'clock, 1.x., on Sunday, with the Dutch mail.