The Sun.
London, England, 1842-03-12 00:00:00

imposed unjustly, and to the removal of which
a portion of the surplus is to be applied.ci
At present I think that, considering the very itncult
competition in which stage-coaches are engaged with
railways, it is not for us to make that competition still
More difficult, by subjecting them to an unjust and par-
tial taxation. Now, as I said before, I am un-
willing to impose any new rate of tax on
locomotive carriages, but I propose a remission of those
on stage coaches, and on grounds which I think are
just and fair. At present railways pay one-eighth of a
penny per mile for every passenger; and s_peaking of the
present year, without flattering myself for the future,
I propose no addition to that amount. But if we com-
pare this with the amount paid by stage coaches, Ido
not say that the railway duty is too low, but that the
rate on the stage. coaches bears a great disproportion
to it. For instance, a stage coach, if licensed to
carry more than six persons, pays a penny a mile,
if more than ten, 2d., if more than sixteen, 3d. Then in
addition to that, there is the licence duty of ss. ; still
there was no such corresponding duty on railway car-
riages. I propose, with respect to stage coaches, %I
uniform mileage of 3d. per mile, and I propose that
the licence duty in cases of coaches licenced for more
than six passengers be reduced to 35., while I propose
to take off altogether the assessed taxes on the coalh-
men. This, if assseuted to by the House, will lead to a loss
in the revenue of 61,0001., but a loss which I believe can be
vindicated on principles of strict justice. Then I pro-
pose, in addition to this reduction, to take off the pro-
gressive duty lately imposed on job carriages, of which
grievous complaints are made, and that will lead to a loss
of 9,00(1. making a total loss on account of these coasches
0f70,0001. I will now again shortly review the whole finan-
cial arrangements I have brought to the attention of the
House. The estimated deficiency in the present in-
come of the year ending the sth of April, 1843,
will be 2,570,000/. The reduction of the various
articles of the tariff is the 750 articles I have
alluded to will not entail a greater loss than 270,0001.
The loss to the revenue from the reduction of duty on
cotton will be 170,0001. From the reduction of duty on
timber it will be 600,000/. The loss from the
repeal of the export duties' on articles of
British manufacture will be 100,000/. The loss
for the revision of duties on, stage coaches will
be 70,0001., making the total charge of 3,780,000 against
that. I have to set the estimated revenue which will
be derived from new taxes, which I cal-
culate at 4,300,0001., and which will leave
a surplus of 520,000/. to meet the increased
estimates which I may have to propose on account of
the year, to meet the charge with respect to China, and
to meet any increased reduction of duty which it may
be necessary to propose on account of the comple-
tion of commercial treaties with other countries.
Sir, I believe I have now concluded the task which
I have undertaken. (Loud cheers.) If I have
been enabled clearly--and I aimed at no more—
if I have been enabled clearly and fully to develope
the view of her Majesty's Government, I am greatly in-
debted for my success in so doing to the kind and
patient manner in which the House has listened to long,
and, I am afraid in some respects, tedious details.
I have laid before you without reserve the whole of the
plans of her Majesty's Government.—(Cheers.) I have
given you a full and explicit account an un-
reserved, but I hope at the same time an unexag-
gerated statement, of the financial embarrassments
in which we are placed. There are occasions which I
can well conceive, in which a Minister of the Crown may
consider it consistent with firm and with good policy to
pause before he proposes to the Legislature
the adoption of measures which he may be-
lieve to be abstractedly good. He may have to
encounter a difference of opinion with colleagues whom
he may esteem and respect. He may believe conscien-
tiously that it is for the public interest that the Govern-
ment of which he is a member should retain power; he may
not choose to hazard its existence by proposing measures
which he may not ultimately have the power of carry-
ing. He may not choese to hazard the agitation of the
country by the discussion of measures which may not
ultimately succeed—(Hear, and cheers)—and he did
think it better to 'abstain from proposing measures,
abstractedly good, than to increase the evil of
further agitation for what, although he may deem
it right in principle, it is impossible to carry.
But there are occasions—and this is one of them—
on which a Government can make no compromise.
There are occasions, and this one on which it is its
bounden duty to give that counsel to the Legislature
which it believes right to undertake—the duty of pro-
posing the measure which it believes for the public
advantage, and to devolve upon the Legislature the
responsibility of accepting or rejecting those measures.
I have performed on the part of the Government my
duty.—(Hear, hear.) I have performed with the full
weight and authority of the Government, that which I
believe to be conducive to the public welfare' ; I now de-
volve upon you that duty which properly devolves aon you
of maturely considering, and of finally deciding on the
adoption or rejection of that measure.—(Hear.) Sir, we
live in an important era in the annals of human legisla-
tion ; there may be a natural tendency to lessen the
magnitude of the crisis in which we live, and those par-
ticular events with which we are encompassed; but I
think it impossible to deny that that period in which our
lot and the lot ofour fathers has been cast, that period which
is identified with the first outbreak of the French revo-
lution, has been one of the most memorable periods that
the history of the world ever saw. The course we have
pursued since that period will attract for ages to come
the contemplation, and, I trust, the admiration
of posterity.—(Hear, hear.) The period may be divided
into two of almost equal duration-25 years of a conti-
lii.od contest, the most momentous that ever engaged the
energies of nations, and twenty-five years of profouesl
European Dca,,h Sis,sh Inn '
rewarded.—(Hear, hear, hear.) I Sir, there will be
a time when those countless millions who will spring
fronitur loins, and who will raise new nations in now un-
peopled lands—living under the same laws and institutions
which we enjoy—speaking the same language in which we
convey our thoughts—l say the time will come when those
countless millions will view with pride and admiration the
example which this country has set of constancy
and firmness.—(Cheers.) They will view with pride
and admiration our glorious successes by sea and land,
and our determination to uphold our liberties and in-
dependence—(Cheers)—by which we have been enabled
to ensure the deliverance of Europe. Now at the con-
clusion of those five-and-twenty years of peace I am
now addressing you, and laying before you those finan-
cial embarrassments ; and I may confidently believe
that you will look to the example which has been set
you in the previous period of vital struggles—that you
will look those difficulties boldly in the face, and that
you will be prepared to make the like sacrifices for the
purpose of maintaining the independence, of increasing
the strength, and perfecting the institutions, of this free
country. You will bear in mind that this is no casual
or occasional difficulty. You will also bear in mind
that there are indications among all the other classes
of society of increased comfort and enjoyment, indica-
tions of increased prosperity and wealth ; and concurrently
with these indications exists a mighty evil, which has
been growing for the last twenty-five years, and from
which you are called upon now to extricate the country.
If you have, as I believe you have, that fortitude and
constancy, of which you have set an example, you
will not consent, with folded arms, to view the an-
nual growth of this mighty evil. You will
not reconcile it to your consciences to hope
for relief from diminished taxation you will
not adopt the miserable expedient of adding during peace,
and in the midst of these indications of wealth and in-
creasing prosperity, to the burdens which posterity will
endure—you will not permit this evil to gain such gi-
gantic strength, that it shall be far beyond your power
to apply a remedy. If you do permit this evil to con-
tinue—you must expect the severe, but just judgment
of a reflecting and retrospective posterity. Your conduct
will be contrasted with the conduct of your fathers,
under difficulties infinitely more pressing than these.
They will turn to the mutiny of the Nore, to the re-
bellion in Ireland, and foreign disasters, and admire the
bouyant vigour that could submit with cheerfulness
and confidence to the imposition of necessary burdens,
whilst an income tax of three per cent. was hailed with
murmurs by the present generation. But I will not be-
lieve that you will subject yourselves to this contrast.
My firm belief
bis that you will feel the necessity of pre-
servine, inviolate the honour of the country ; that you
will not throw away the means of reducing, in the most
legitimate manner, the burden of the public debt, by re-
ducing the interest upon the debt. My confident hope
and belief is, that now when I devolve this responsibi-
lity upon you, you will prove yourselves worthy of the
mission with which you have been entrusted
as the representatives of a mighty and use-
ful population—(Hear, hear)—that you will not
tarnish that honour which it is your duty to cherish, as
the most glorious inheritance ; that you will not impair
that reputation and character which, in proportion as
the empire of opinion supersedes and predominates over
the empire of physical force, constitutes for every people,
but above all for the people of England, the main in-
struments by which a powerful people can repel hostile
aggression, and maintain extended empire. The Right
Hon. Baronet resumed his seat amid loud cheers.)
Lord JOHN RUSSELL said, whatever may be the
opinion which the House may ultimately entertain on
the plans brought forward byher Majesty's Ministers,
no one in this House can entertain any doubt either as
to the importance of those plans, or as to the ability with
which the Right Hon. Baronet has brought them
under the consideration of the House.—(Hear, hear.)
Sir, I should not think I were doing my duty—indeed
I would hardly think it would be consistent with the
expectation of the Right Hon. Gentleman and the Mi-
nisters of the Crown, in bringing forward plans so
important its these are now for
ythoepinifiornstastitmoe
the
I should refrain from giving in
course now proposed to be adopted. I shall,
however, make but two or three observations upon
the nature of themeasures which the Right Hon. Baronet
proposes. The Right Hon. Gentleman has referred to
the plans of the late Government, and places them in
a light which, without any intentional misrepresentation
on his part, conveys hardly a correct view of the prin-
ciples upon which we acted in the reduction of
the duties adverted to, for the measures of former
years are hardly similar to the measures proposed
last year. On that topic I only mean to
say that I may hereafter wish to make a few observa-
tions. The nature of the measure now proposed by the
Right Hon. Gentleman is to call upon the country to
make great exertions by direct taxation, in order to make 1
the revenue equal to the expenditure. Now, the late
Government did not think it advisable, upon a view of
the whole situation of the country, to call upon
it for greater exertions. The Right Honourable
Baronet, in the latter part or his speech,
has, I think, somewhat exaggerated the nature of the
occasion which we are now called on to meet. We did
not consider last year that the occasion was at all similar
to any of those occasions of 1798, or still less to the
late period, on which occasions the country was justly
and fairly called on by Government to make
_great
sacrifices, and undergo great exertions. The Right