The Sun.
London, England, 1842-03-22 00:00:00

sure upon, that ground.—(Hear, he. +
confessed thht he thought the Right Hon.
law measure would add to the revenue of the country. . nere
would be a considerable average duty imposed on corn,
which would certainly bring in a larger revenue.— (Hear.)
Let the Right Hon. Baronet enter upon a comprehensive re-
view of our commercial tariff, and he might rely upon it that
the liberal amendments which would be pointed out would have
the effect of supplying all the revenue he wanted. The late
give
huvftcaehtdeitt
reduction
r nyo_p r
ar(ohli
proposed
odhte
shtierndi 000hhtptyepbaaouetrshen. i
the
.)4
thTGEa-reerrntieodmre:bnytt
the
eoosupe
Ihtaliotnien Ga(nlOdivrea.rnnillm'oayewanentscien the duties on corn, sugar, and timber,
would have supplied the ds.ficiency, as he (Mr. Hawes) could
show. But why, instead of coming to an income tax, did not
the Right Hon. Gentleman draw upon landed property, which
he might do, by an amendment of the stamp duties, which now
pressed so unequally on society ? From this source he would
get an ample revenue if he tried. The Right Hon. Baronet
talked of the expense of war in China and Affahanistan, but
did he mean to contrast the necessities arising from those petty
wars with those in which the country was placed at the break-
ing out of the French Revolution ? But the people of Eng-
land would never submit to be taxed for the purpose of carry-
ing on a system of retaliatory bloodshed against the people
of China or Affghanistan, however atrocious their
•• '
Veen. Mr. Humphrey's book stated
jw-ti i 70dification of the
stamp duties,_ so as that landed property aTonld -pg WO;
but sooner than put up-with the odious vexation lan ifitails. e
tc.heantdy,stoom,oitrunori.
mightna be
;Igoe}
tax he would rather see the stamp duty on the ' s eeessioti lif
personal property raised tp fen timeg its isTeapnt alpeunt; The ,
Right Hon. Gentleman had ;voted only' three thing, by lia
means important articles, except that of tobacco ; upon two of
these, then, he had jumped at the ponclitsion, that there was
no other source of taxation than that of taring inentnee.
.Now the income tax in itself, he (gr. Hawes) held te be es-
sentially unjust in its operation, and that nothing short of
some actual necessity, PT an overwhelming emeraency, almost
approaching tug a foreign invaeion, maid justlf any resort
to such a course. They could rset levy thp tax ith j'estige—
they could osly collect by A most odious system, t was levied
in the same manner upOn different deacriptiens o property ;
life annuitants, the professional men who was to one Sepse
a life annuitant, and the min with an estate in fee simple,
and all those different kinds a property were to he Oiarged at
tine sump rite. New he would say that was perfectly monstrous
In e. work---e. we*, OFFffot komipitiptc tp in official wort,
that of Air. Sayeas,,W44444a,PLea tKr s/WO ttle MP of
the different value of property. He '
toots as an exaMpleloo4.
in the shape of rent of land, and compared that to thrsame
amount in interest on mortgages and other incomes. He eons.
uted that an annuity of 1001. was worth about 90/. in corn-
arison to the 100/. on land. The interest on permanent and
Oahe atdelebe PMPRied et (fsi. to the LOU!. In commerce,
manefactiires, and trade, the profits Or ki,hici wete deriiseditrOnt
i
principal, lie 05,49/34'.4 at .751. o late 100. The on'eepiPr of
land entailed on one child he Complied at '701.. Thepidfit des
rived by public servants 60/. to the 100/. But when he came
to t. vie and occupation, and principal wholly derived from in •
.tiq.sis, he compared it as 50/. to the 100/. of . rent on land.
rilhe same' lso* 41TP,teeliiii itZtV !!iat 91e estimated income
eing 01,0Q0?,0,0,Q/. te.t.e !veto itrri4lll4ns, 07:160ut 8,0 Per
eant;, whill the ciinsantesieners with 4 their power were got
able to eelleet. The tax held out 4 temptation to perjury of
the grossest )'find; " and Jest iri proportion as they gave ades
quate powers to the collecters, would that temptation be likely
to operate, and the tax inflict misery upon the country. If he
yishe4 to see the country agitated and distgrbed
tn can flirestiong he lsnely nothing more likely to produce
that effeet Chap' the
agitation arid discontorte4th would
still lave to Fore down to that Douse to obtain another mea-
sure—which should be just and comprehensive, but the Right
Hon. Baronet hadtaken another couato, The Right flop. Ba-
ronet chose to say that the income tax was an imposition glean
the property of the country, and not upon the principal article
Of,cerisUnsption,p4l.lliip the Right Hon. Baronet proposed to
Jay a ta; of tbree per pent. -upon ineeme, the duty upon cern,
w jets be proposed was equivalent to 20,per pent. itpon the in-
comes of the pporestelases o the people.—( Bear, hear, and
exl.ressions of nissent 'rem Ho m
the . erpheil on the Trea-
sury benches.) The Chancellor of the Eachespaer shnols his
bead, but he (Mr. Hawes) would say *l.9gh F 941 that
4iibt /lon. Gentleman's authority was upon matters of that
hind, that what he 511 Ir. Hawes) stated would be borne old by
the opinions of varions other peraona. There is, for instance,
the opinion of Mr. Jones 41W, Wild was entitled to the
greatest weight with that House, as well ea with filo pl4hiies4
(Hear, hear.) In reference to the Corr.-laws, Mr, ..Jones
Lloyd said—" If we estimate the average income of etch fa-
mily eif the posrer classes to be 10s. a week, the average num-
ber of familiee ie four, and if the price of corn be 603.
a quarter, we cannot estinnitp the outlay of; etch fa-
mile in the purchase of corn at iii 'l4'4 flip!: (week.
So that if the Corn-laws raised the price of corn 2p per cent:,
they operate as an income tax upon the poorest families in the
country."—(Hear, hear.) The taxation of the great art;cle
of ceAKimption was a direct taxation upon the income of the
poorest clisaea, inns p,astainly, that being the case, the great
display of liberality rnigly Hon. pentlamen on the opposite
side did not come with a very gOod'daee"ftinti them at :advo-
cates of the Corn-laws.—( Cheers from the Opposition.)' Ire
hall, then, laid before the House the various points which were
nacon*ty. In addition, he would only say that the Noble
Lord (lain RSO4) 849i14 • save his TM" Nrdiiil and
anxious support in his opposillo4 ip th§ gull
.t qui measure,
though he would not say be Teta talitrgeP OA measure, as
the Noble Lord opposite had said upon a fernser eaCapqn•=.•
(Expressions of dissent from Lord Stanley:) He -(4r.
liagres) might quote the language of the Noble Lord, the
Mesuber 14 WOtlii becasbire, when the Noble Lord stated
that his object was to If *414! the measure of the late
Government.—(" No, no," from Loki SialidieY. ) ' ne pl4r.
Hawes) was sure he had heard the Noble Lord distinctly ex=
press his intention to " obstruct" the measure of the late
4oyeirnlnent—( Hear, hear)—and‘he (Mr. Hawes) believed
the expiepione g.f the Noble Lord were to he found in every
newspaper and reead .61 NliFncq—at an e*ta ifsthere
was a mistake, there were Oser .eattV tt4n. "his (me.
Hawes) who had heard the wordy end record thern.
Without going the length of saying that it was his intention to
"obstruct" the present measure of the Government, he meant
to give it every possible opposition, as being an odious and un-
)44oe one under the circumstances of the case, the necessity
of which was pot" toyed, a.nd Is being calculated to lay the
foundation of nati4ne ,irOeuitP4 SPle4, '' Therefore it phis that
he felt himself bound, on easerygroned, iO give the jilt his
most hearty and determined opposition.-ACipp'esiti4 .Vh01.4; )
Mr. Alderman THOMPSON said that the Hon. Member
for Lambeth (Mr. Hawes) had begun by stating that he would
show there were other sources of taxation without the necessity
4.baz,lng. Fecohrse to an income tax, and he kMr. Alderman
Thompson)Woaid appeai Se the gce,se whether the. Hon. Gen.
tleman had not signally faitedielirideclpatieh. ' !p was true
that, by varying the duties on some uommoditity, a corPairi
amount of taxation might be raised; but with respect to what 1
the Hon. Gentleman had suggested as to the reduction in !
duties on sugar, he had not told the House whether he meant
reduction according to the scale proposed by the late Chancellor '
of the Eiiiiiiiiictse-r. In his (Mr. Alderman Thompson's)
opinion, the House would lave' apkirl moet injudiciously in
adopting that proposition. This country had iiefacfeiratliat:
crifices to diminish slavery, and they ought to encourage
other countries to adopt a similar laudable course.
particularly when those countries were following our examples
in massy reapectsi and endeavouring to bring about the aboli-
tion of slavery. Tive finh• Gentleman stated that an income
tax was only justifiable in a: state of Wei.. Pid the }foil. Gen-
tleman suppose, that the war was merely confined to Affehane
istan ? Many of their Indian provinces were shaken to their
basis, and great dissatisfaction prevailed in them, and it was
necessary to take strong measures to retrieve their position in
that country. Ther:s was scarcely a family connected with
trade and manufactures, Out 444 profited directly or indirectly
by their connexion with India; he thouglii,"lfferefere,-that this
tax of three per cent. ought to be cheerfully paid by the
trading and manufacturing interests of the country.. The Hon.
Qpistleman had stated, that nothing but the greatest emergency
conic( justify an income tax ; and the other night, the Member
for London had sail, that anatmg ether reasons for his opposing
the tax, was this, that it would loweiEngTend hi Use Mutation
of ether nations, and that it would be thought that the sours"oF
taxation were dried up. But would not this be more manifest in
the face. of the world, if they were not able to take a decided
course, and to raise such a sum within the year, as they sup-
posed necessary for the supioit of the State. The condition of
some of the States of North America, a niani of theie of South
America, of Spain, and of Portugal, ought to act as a warning
to a Minister to pause before he proposed measures for borrow-
ing money in time of peace. The dilapidated state of our
finances had beep eaus9d I y the mismanagement of the late
Government. The presen; 41ill!Sry had consequently felt
bound to propose a strong measure in order tp 'Rani -the heoonr
of the country. A tax to which the PolPitFY inig_4t
perhaps feel some objection, but the machinery for
the collection of which was less onerous, less inquisitorial
asnel less objectionable than it had been under the old system.
He hoped the sneasure would be carried into opera ion on the
part of the Goverwnss pin a spirit of confidence towards the
British merchant; that the Go'serpsnetit would not imagine
that the great trading interests of the country 1,Y01414 tge it"PY
unfair advantage. The honour of the British merchant hati
always hitherto been untarnished, and he trusted the Right
Hon. Gentleman would not suffer it to be called ire question
by the tax-gatherer. The Right Hon. Gentleman had said
he would nit relax in the least in any part of his plan. There
was one portion of it, however, with which he (Mr. Alderman
Thompson) hoped the Right Hon. GeniTiman would TM peF-
severe. He meant imposing the same tax on permanent and
terminable annuities. The Act of George IV. had been passed
for the purpose of inducing persons to convert their permanent
Government annuities and stock into terminable Government
jannuities. ;Nci}y, a person receiving 3,000/. a year from the
funds would pay to the income tax 87/, 10s., or 2621. 10s., but
if a person had invested the settee amount of capital in ter-
minah:e Government annuities, he would receive for ten years
a sum of 10,6121. 10s., on which the income tax
to be paid would amount to 3091. 103. or 24/. 04d. per
cent. per annum on the proper income from his capital.
He was quite sure that that subject had not been fully con-
sidered by the Right Hon. BarpneP, or he would not have sub-
mitted terminable annuities to the same taz as illP9Me§ ; 44
he hoped he would yet alter his decision upon the Matter,
He would, however, support the principle of the tax proposed
by the Goverment, and hoping its details would be corrected in
Committee.

Sir W, CLAY said that the country was no doubt in finan-
cial difficulties. and the Right Hon. Baronet, in order to meet
those difficulties, had proposed a tax on the income of tho
country. The Right Hon. Baronet had, however, told them
on a former occasion, that the raising of a revenue by taking
money directly out of the pockets of the people was a vulgar
expedient. It was his (Sir W. Cla)'s) belief that the process
of indirect taxation was decidedly the more convenient; and
certainly any system of indirect taxation was preferable to a tax
soinquisitorial as that proposed by the Right Hon. Baronet.
The plan of the Right Hon. Gentleman was one which would
press most severely on the industry of the country, The ob.
jections to an income tax were so numerous and inevitable that
he felt he need not detain the Committee long on that subject.
The Right Hon. Gentleman might perhaps say that if he gave
way in the case of terminable annuities, he must in other, cases,
but he (Sir W. Clay) thought the argument of his Hon.
Friend, the Member for Westmoreland, was very strong, and
that the Right Hon. Baronet ought nst to persevere in au in.
justice that would 'impose a tax first on interest, and then on
capital. And it similar cases -hould be made out, surely the
Right Hon. Baronet would not refuse an exemption. The in-
come tax pressed in the most galling manner in 1816: there
was no reason to expect it would be less so now. Why was
the farmer to be freed from inquisition ? His profits would be
taken at half his rent. Against this favour to the farmer he
(Sir W. Clay) protested on the part of his constiiuent•. Bu.
he denied that there was an adequate necessity to justify the
Right lion. Baronet in imposing an income tax. This mea-
sure was the price of protecting one interest at the ext.ense of
another—it was the price of monopoly. His opinion was that
revenue fell inversely as the price of subsistence rose. Ilse
revenue of 1815 was, including the income tax, 75,450,000/.
The revenue of 1819 was 54,257,0001. ; the difference being
20,780,000/.—( Hear, hear.) But there had been re-
pealed taxes to the amount of 14,300,0001., so that
fourm o s t
y everears known.
were
was
the real falling off in the revenue, in the four
years from 1816 to 1819 was 6,400,000 L Now what was the
remarkablyBllos. w 6
ard. . The mean price of the the quarter. The next
.
price of corn during those four years ? It was the highest al-
next four years was 535. 10d.—in 1820-21-22-23. The re-
venue, as before stated, in 1819 was
54,257,000/. The revenue
in 1823 was 54,460,0001., being an increase of 290,0001. Bat

,aicen off to the amount of 6,00000/
se36 inclusive, the price or corn was 495. Th 4
recrease in the revenue during those.years was 730,0001. Thi
tillowing four years was a period_ Of eoniparatively;high prices
the mean price was 635. Now what was the effect upon thi
ilevenue? Why that the revenue fell off to the amount o
1,860,000/. From all this it was evident that the income of tin
country depended in a great degree upon the cost of subeistenct
From the figures he had stated, some remarkable deductions
were to be drawn. In the five years to which he had referred,
the price of corn was 495. Id. per quarter, and he had the au-
thority of the Right Hon. Baronet, that, under the Corn-lay proposed by the late Government, the price of corn, ran,ging
at
40s. a quarter, if added to the fixed duty of Ba., would give a
price of 48e a quarter, or Is. a quarter less than the price
when the revenue manifested the increase. There was, there-
fore, every reason to suppose that instead of a deficiency under
that plan, there would have been a very large increase. But
he was aware that this reasoning, however just, might
not apply to the present emergency, and that though
the income of the country might gradua ly improve,
Bet it would not be early enough for the occasion. In thudget of last year the deficiency was estimated at 2,400.000/.e and had that Budget been carried, his Right Hon Friend cal-
culated that there would have been an increase of between
1,6110,0001 , and 1,700,0001. which would have to be (Wowed
from the deficiency, and it was doub ful whether foe theapproech-
ing year there would have been any deAciency et ell. He was sure
the House must see that there were other means short of an in-
come. tax which world guilt. sufficient to produce the deficiency
*high' it lees necessary 'to raise ; the Right Hon. Baronet
inacti'm:opesifions which would have a serious effect npate the
codntry in general ;, the Right Hun. EAfOnet appaseed eer-
fait+ te
_ee-cat .eedajenteie the eh star of Reformer.
Tin nei destroy the manufac-
ture of eterele,' vet, e 4upperet of the measure out of
doors, he heileTed thtt ig t Hen. Baronet would find it
Pflt ajponeet she middle classes, but amonsr the ehartiets, for
the former dreaded it as the suicide of Oir CiplalttetN-411, old
also cause a reduction of wages. Tee suet :wee, egnee
that class by whom the Right 1-tan, was now sonpoeted,
seeinyhe ruin eif the efeer elesees felko,n therneeler,e, wooldrene
their resat" esind.net. He would oppose the) ex bent beeause
of itsbase and inquilitori:ll cheractee, aisd tricp,.uie he believed it
was not required by tile, eseegeneee of the State. Believing
that the re'Reieed-esine might' be provided by adopting the
eeski Of tailetion proposed in the Budget of last year, he vvesesiti
dive the measure every opposition in his power,
Sir 6: CLERK said that on et etilentc4 '9Xten,st7e
natnre as tteet, ;entice ceeettteeition, fief. woultd cepeedee it his
Agq. 'the feW reniaris which lee had to. make as
much as `possible, and he rejoiced that there were some
points upon which the Hense .agreed;and which it was not nea
cessary thereihre to discuss. at all. There was no person, ;milli,fhe exception of the Hon. Baronet who hail jenet sat demon;
who Contended thee it was pereeible
dtek ellow disceepency
kgt7 lan r`ripienatallott "I.taek7el? ti:"s;‘?aliscrt2e.7'tt
seemed that it asp
be unwise
meetto the d'effeiency by a fresh issue of Exchequer bills
a vote of credit, or by making any addition to the debt, which
would be only pUtting off the evil day, when they must ieteite.
additional taxes to make tiel the deficitil::i Ikt.f
one could imaeieje •r_het heist "ce eidudtioed reside in
oife eltpfddifirti 4 the. nresee moment. Fe"one, the events
Which 'l4d 'recently happened In it must be evident
that there could be tie prospect of any reduction in
our establishments. On the contrary, it would be the duty of
the Ggverninent to propose supplemental military estimetee in
Order to retrieve our disasters in that ceentree H entiee
men opposite Omitted that if tile nest ssite for the imposition
of the income tee could be rised.e nut, they won't! tot obje
01ct to
it they erged that wee ssooppeessive and so inquisito-
rial, trial every 1;4 Should be made to use other means to
mike itp the deficiency before recourse was had to a direct tax
upon property and income. The Right Hon. Gentleman, the.
Member for Portsmouth, had said that twentyetwg sniUio s 4 f
taxation had heeg taken gff since The star, end lad suggested
the reeinmeeition of eyrie of these taxes rather than the impo-
sition elan it-rem-pc tax. ft g hoeld be recollected, however, that the
toes dins reduced were taxes en articles of consumption used
by the poorer classes, and that the re-imposition of them weeld
he inflicting a btirden on the lower orders frog ealeiehe the
wealthy were permitted to escape. The greet nbject ef on,
gentlemen opposite seemed a; he to re-iareiduce- the Budget
of last year.—( Hear, hear.) The Right Hon. Gentleman, the
lete Chancellor of the Exchequer, had given it as his opinion
that by an alteration in the duties on sugar and timber, and ley
the imposition of a fixed duty on corn :the/ mieht make
op, if not the whole deficieriey, at least a ge portion 9,t
He di red from them open filet peint and he found that in
doing so he was borne out by the authority of the late Presi-
dent of the Board of Trade,' who stated on Friday night last
that no modification of existing taxation would, in his belief,
enable the Government to meet the difficulties of our finenedee
situation. With regard to the question of sugar, bed
peen so touch alluded to in the course of these dlecieseso,nee the
justification of the egerse the Government had pursued upon
that subject was to be found in the fact that a reduction of that
duty would lead to an encouragement of the slave trade ; but
he hoped that measures would yet be taken by the slave-hold-
ing states, which would enable the Government to relase their
policy upon that point. The Right ,Honourable Gen-
tleman who last sat (hewn hid hie rerredy"elso, atad
lie'"Siafd Olaf a 'repeat of the"Corn-lavvs was` that remedy.
But he thought that the subject of corn been had folly (Use .
coseed already, and he believed the more the measure of the
Geyernment wee ienciete, the Mort; it Will be appreciated, and
the roOreeafisfectety it would appear to the people every day.
-.( Cries of " Oh, oh," and " Hear, hear.") The Noble Lord,
the Member fur Sunderland, said that if they had ii 07ced dtity
they would hive k_ large Femme, but he believed the heroe
rtia-
jo oppose d scheme of 'a fixed` dUty vgotil consider
they had a good bargain in the incerne tax. The Right Hon.
Gentleman, 010 late Cheneelhir Of the Exchequer, in bringing
toitiiteed hid Bid:get, hid stated that he expected only 400,0001.
'Mt: BARING in addition to the revenue already received.
Sir G. CLERK--He certainly did not so nndeestand the
Right Hon. Gentleman when he bromelit ijerwee:dthist Widget.
And it was neee, for the` first tlnie;tbathe was lead to be-
lieve 'that' the Right ITOn. Gentleman expected 900,0001.
The'Hon. Member for Lambeth seemed to think the tax was
imposed merely for the war in Affghanistan, whereas it was t 9,
eßler the Iyhole geyeeeal deficiency of the revenue. lewas not
b.ilvisable to dithetly that defiiency limit taxes on consumption.
With regard to the duty on foreign timber, if they doubled
the duty on Colonial timber they might receive an increase,
but it could not be made available for the present year. There-
fouties re it was impossible to look at any alteration
sf the tuber'at'a niearia of seeplaing thee crefigio*.y, Hiving re-
Priihflaitigris, anti made great reductions in the
duties on raw materials for manufactures, what was
there inconsistent in extending the benefit of a reduction of
duty to their fellow-countrymen in the Colonies ?—( Hear.)
The Hon. Gentleman strongly adverted to the question of to,
bacco ; but he (Sir G. C.) did not think that there, %yes any
tbines wring is eodeaeourinie to induce`fridia acid Australia
q leY4lt 'Up 6e moo rittsfy of thP'Vnitea States, ley a reduction
of 3d. in the Pound. in the.luty. He had heard with some sure
prise the declaration against direct taxation, from the Hon.
Baronet, the Member for the Tower Hamlets, that it was ena-
bling a tyrannical Government to lay hold of the property
of the people, and was entirely opposed to the princWss e
free Government. —( Hear.) fie (Sir g, itgretted
th4t flonOtirab'e' ltli‘anter for Bolton had not
been in his . place when the Honourable Baronet
laid down that principle, because, he would have heard from
him a comparison of the propoiition of direct taxation this
country bore to the direct taxation of France, and other coun-
tries of Europe. That Hon. Member had been most emeietie
to ley on the table of the housesteteeeellt-ar tire "finances of
111 the Couniria of E4ope, in order to show the proportion the
direct taxation bore, and the proportion the indirect taxation
bore to the total revenue of the country. It was perfectly true
that life annuities and life interests would feel this tax severely.
The Hon. Member for Lambeth had read an extract from -a
work, by Mr. Sayer, to show that varione claesee a the
geontl • wild &,g1 thw ta.li istith-diffetcitt degrees of se-
verity, on oceount of t he nature of the property ; but this ob-
jection would apply to every other tax, and he did not think it
applied to the property tax in a greater degree than toother
taxes. It did not apply in a greater degree than to the window
tax, or the house tax. A man with immense wealth would
perhaps occupy lodgings, and pay no rate or windew tax, whilst
tha pdet tenefft wa obliged 'td OcCitiiy a liOuse, and have a
greater amount of window taxes to pay than his rich neigh-
bour, who had an income above him of a hundred-
fold. But he (Sir George Clerk) believed that
the great objection to the income tax was that
it would nress heeky on the profits in trade, and the great
exae 010 it sYus inenieitoriel. An übieeto3l to
this kind of tax had been taken by no less an authority than
Mr. Fox, and his objection was, not that it pressed too heavily
on the trading interest of the country, but that the landed in-
terest of the eogiery was that which felt it most severely, be-
cause thee hid no means of escaping from the operation of the
Nowth tax. Noe principal objection urged to this tax was the
diSelosure which it required the merchant or the trader to
make frosts time to time•of than: efihire, and that, perhaps, at
a moment when it would. be extremely inconvenient, and
perhaps ruinous to him to make that disclosure of
his affairs. Now, he thought that the modification proposed
by the Right Hon. Baronet would go far to remove that ob-
'mction. in the first place, those disclosures would not be
ade but e't the option of the parties, and than nut before per-
sons of a similar calling, and who might be expected to deal
with partiality, actuated by political motives, or otherwise.
Those disclosures would be made before special commissioners,
sworn to secresy. The . sum to be raised by this tax, and the
other measures to be proposed, would amount to more than the
spm required, but he thought it was much !setter to raise an
amount by a property-tax of 3 'per cent. than to raise a
smaller amount by a tax of 1 per cent., and the surplus amount
would be applied to a reduction in duty of those articles
which pressed heavily on commerce. One of the principal of
these would be timber, and he was very much surprised at the
objection of tie Hon. Gentleman opposite to this proposition,
beeeuse whet he proposed was that reegremended by Sir Henry
Parnell, that a reduction should be made in the duty on Baltic
timber of 30s. Now he (Sir G. Clerk) believed that the pro-
posed plan would be of much more benefit to the consumer.
Looking to the advantage to agriculture and to the trade of
this country—looking to the shipping interest, he believed
that there was no duty, the modification of which would ho
attended with mere advantageous results than that upon timber.
He believed that the increased consumption would in three
or four years make up the deficiency, and give a great
stimulus to trade. He believed that this reduction would give
general satisfaction It was perfectly true there there were
objections to the details, but he believed that when they were
explained to the House, the House and the country would as-
sent to the principle upon which that redaction was framed,
and they might look forward, in the course of a few years, to a
great improvement in the trade and industry of the country.
He could believe that that class of society in this country upon
whom the burden of the property tax would prtncipally fall,
viz., the landed proprietor, and the great capitalist, would wil-
lingly bear their part when they felt that they were giving re-
lief to commerce, far by so doing they would look forward to in,
created happiness and comfort through all classes of the commu-
nity. He would say that the adoption of this measure
would lead foreign nations to consider the extent of our re-
sources, and it would show to them that when the service of
the country required it the country was ever ready to come
forward. There was no doubt that this tax would press
heavily on certain classes, but he trusted they mould look to
the ultimate good, and trusted that that House would adopt the
measure by a large majority.
Lord DAL NIENY said he was anxious to take that oppor-
tunity of stating, in a very few words, his opinion of this mea-
sure. He was more anxious to do so, because he confessed
that he did not participate in the extreme hostility exp-essed
by many on that side of the House to the abstract princtple of
the tax, because on one occasion, in 1833, he was found in the
minority on a motion for substituting direct for indirect taxa-
tion,but it appeared to him that that the question was not so much
the abstract principle of an income tax, but as to the
necessity of its imposition—as to the present necessity for its
imposition. All those who had preceded him in their oppo-
sition to:the measure, all had acknowledged that an emer-
gency might arise which would render the imposition not only
necessary but expedient. The question then was, had such
an emergency now arisen, and were we placed in the midst
of such a crisis? He believed that very considerable praise
was due to the Right Hon. Baronet for the manner in which
he had introduced his financial statement. He (Lord Dal-
meny) believed that since the days of Pitt no statement was
made in a more statesman-like manner, and with more felici-
tous language, and the manner in which he conducted them
through the obscure labyrinth of financial details, imparting
that interest which was only derived from a most
volumnious development of the subject (Hear, hear)—
and with regard to the proposition made he would say that it