The Sun.
London, England, 1842-05-02 00:00:00

motion, that the attendance of William Rous Mabson, before
the Committee, be required on 111•mday.
The House then adjourned at Five o'Clock.

6211L1T cf the PUBLIC JOURNALS,
FROM THE EVENING PAPERS OE SATURDAY.
GLOBE.—As linlac convinced Rasselas that it
was impossible for any man •to be a poet, so
Mr. Goulburn and Sir Robert Peel appear to have
convinced Parliament that it is impossible for
any man to mend their measure into a just
Income-tax. Were this proved, it' would seem to
follow that an Income-tax they ought not to '
have proposed. If such evident inequalities as those
pointed out by Mr. Roebuck are to be viewed as
no worse than others inseparably inherent in the
nature of an'lncome-tax, it surely must folloiV that an
Income-tax is a measure only for the most perilous
times. At such times, any nation which has spirit to
save it from destruction will acquiesce in almost any
sacrifice, without weighing its equity. Those of the
most precarious, or the narrowest means, feel pride
that their contributions are important and necessary.
" The beggar is as ready tO fight for his dish as the
'lord is to fight for his land." The enthusiasm
of the moment does not stop to compare sources of in-
come. It is felt that all is at hazard ; and there is a
generous shame in weighing contributions. But to
come down on the country when there is no such enthu-
siasm awakened,. and exact compulsory. aids, whose
amounts are scanned with a sober eye—is to attempt a
very different trial or national temper. It is all the
difference between Bailie Jarvie ready to fight with a
hot poker, and Bailie Jarvie with his pen behind his
car in the Salt-market. We agree perfectly with
Lord Howick in decided preference of the principle
of taxation on expenditure to taxation on income—
always excepting extraordinary crises of national
safety. Whether an equitable property tax is prac-
ticable is another question ; it is also another ques-
tion whether taxation on succession to property
would not be the most appropriate fund for reducing
the National Debt. These are the gpeculative regions
of finance; but, so far as experience has yet gone, it
certainly seems that demands which are not very ex-
traordinary are supplied with least hardship by taxa-
tion on expenditure, in one shape or other. This
leaves the voluntary element some play in incurring
taxation. We are not prepared to say that we would
not add a tax upon absenteeism, in order toi-each those
who draw their revenues from this country, and with-
draw them from its burdens. But we certainly
would not tax income, except as an extraordinary
measure ; and, if an income-tax is essential to a pro-
perty tax, we would reject the latter, notwithstanding
the arguments which must be felt to exist in its favour.
STANDARD.—Lord Normanby manifested again
his judgment and good taste by last night directing
attention once more to the , appointment of borough
Magistrates. One would compassionate the Noble
Marquis under the reply that he provoked from Lord
Lyndhurst, were it not that
No creature feels so little as a --
Lord Normanby---some one must complete the
lacuna, in Pope's verse, by a monosyllable, which
shall describe the ex-Lord Lieutenant and general
gaol-deliverer of Ireland. Lord Lyndhurst's speech
is, however, worth 'reading for its own sake, as we
read the Satires and the Dunciad, without knowing
or caring about the Tigellii, the Gorgonii, the No-
mentani, the Oldmixons, or the Gildons. The master
artist makes something valuable out of materials the
most contemptible; and even Lord Normanby is worth
something when the Chancellor favours him with a
few strokes. The Income-tax occupied the House of
Commons in Committee last night. Various and
contradictory amendments were proposed and sup-
ported by arguments exhibiting as much
variety and contradiction as the projects themselves.
The several clauses considered were passed as pro-
posed by Ministers, either without, any division, or
by., overwhelming majorities ; and as these are the
clauses that have been most angrily discussed out of
doors, there is little reason to doubt that the whole
Bill -will pass without material alteration. The subject
has been exhausted, and we should only weary our
readers by„reference to the details of-last night's debate.
At the end of the Income-tax discussion Mr. The-
siger called attention to Mr Mabson's case, declaring
his conviction that the warrant for an alleged disobe-
dience to which Mr. Mabson is deprived of his liberty
is an illegal warrant, or a warrant the legal force of
which expired with the second session of 1841. The
Attorney-General professed himself of the same
opinion, and we have already seen the opinion uptn
the point of. Sir -William Follett, the highest law au-
thority in the country. In short, every lawyer in the
profession agrees in the opinion which we have wen•
tured to offer, and, what ought to flatter our vanity,
condemns the validity of the warrant upon exactly
he same ground that we have taken.