The Sun.
London, England, 1842-03-29 00:00:00

TORY INCOME 7AX.
PUBLIC OPINION ON THE SUBJECT.
Undoubteily, the inequality and the inquisition of
the new Tory tax must be resisted by every constitu-
tional means. Better that the whole measure, benefits
and all, be lost, than that so fearful a curse be inflic-
ted upon the country. The tariff is not worth the
price we are asked to pay for it. Petition the Com-
mons we cannot. ; One resource remains ; the Queen
should be addressed to dissolve the Parliament and
take the opinion of her people upon the proposed
taxes. A measure of such vast importance, so wholly
unexpected, may fairly claim to have their judgment
passed upon it constitutionally through the hustings.
But let not electors neglect the duty of at once com-
municating with their representatives from, every
borough and county, and requiring them, on pain of
expulsion, to forget party, and vote against the un
constitutional, and inquisitorial, and inequitable por-
tions of the Tory tax.—Somerset County Gazette.
The people have now time to embody their opinions
on this cunning, nefarious, demoralizing, dissocializ-
ing, and prying scheme to extract money from them
to support a Government which seeks to sacrifice their '
freedom and their liberties, and if the people should be
so neglectful of their true interests as to quietly ac-
quiesce and permit the imposition of this odious and
inquisitorial tax, we shall heartily rejoice when we
see.them writhing under the tortures of an examina-
tion into their private affairs by "certain commis-
sioners sworn to secresy," or patiently submitting to
pay the surcharge of an insolent assessor than submit
to the alternative.—Falmouth Packet.
But; after all, the injustice of the tax is not its
worst foataire. Its inquisitorial prying into the most
sacred affairs of life—its dragging into notoriety
the pensioas paid by men in fair circumstances to
poorer relatives—its harsh dealing with the brittle,
ness of commercial credit—its tendency to encourage
fraud and deceit, ought to stamp it with the reprobas
tion of every man of sound sense and upright princis
ple. And when we consider that the amount of the
tax could have been raised without this inquisitorial
process—that parties who are not liable in respect of
property tangible and open to the eye of everybody,
could have been subjected to a graduated house tax—
we cannot too strongly condemn the wanton man-
ner in which the Prime Minister of England pro
poses to interfere with the feelings and comfort of
the middle classes.—Scotsman.
How long will he (Sir Robert Peel) command the
House of gommons ? Let the assemblies of the
people determine. Let public meetings be convened,
let petitions to both houses be prepared, and let Mein-
bers be required to pledge themselves to oppose the
most " tyrannic measure" that has been attempted to
he carried since . the days of Pitt. Public opinion
must avert the calamity which Sir R. Peel is so eager
to inflict upon his country. If not permitted to ac-
complish his object, he intimates he will resign. That
circumstance is the last to deter the nation from re-
sisting the imposition of an income tax.—Devonport
Independent.
The question of the income tax is now at the dis-
posal of the constituencies. If, as the public press, of
both political parties, affords evidence, the commercial
and
,Jarofeslional membees of the. cemmunity are
-7 'finanimcnisli averse to the tax, those bodies have only
to signify the same, strongly and emphatically, te their
various representatives—bidding those representatives
support Peel, to the injury of those who support
them, at their peril—and the issue is certain. To do
ths, however, the Easter holidays must not be idly
spent. Meetings should be held in every Parliamen-
tary borough, and in every county. The declara-
tions of public opinion must be prompt and full.—
' Staffordshire Examiner.
The policy adopted ' by Sir Robert Peel for the re-
lief of ctinalerce and the improvement of the public
. revenue, Ia; fairly dumfoundered the Tories of this
district. They hardly know what to think of his
measures, and consequently they are utterly at a loss
what to :ay. The feeling of doubt, hesitation, and
dread which pre:ails among them generally was well
expressed the other day, by an honest, but not very
acute, county voter, in the following characteristic
language :—" Fat are we to dee about that cattle and
income tax ? God, gin the Whigs haiL proposed
ony sic thing, we wad hae kent finero to sair
them—their effigies wad he been burning in ilka pa-
rish afore noo; but we cannot dee that to our aizi
side, and the big folks are lang o'gieing us ony hint
how we should act."—Aberdeen Herald.
Wltit provisions will guard against the fraud that
will he pregnant in these returns ? Against the man
who would bolster up his credit at the cost of an
additional tax ? Against him who would account
himself a pauper to evade it altogether ? At the last
election, Lord Brougham stated that "bribery had
been sown broad-cast through the length and breadth
of the land,"—he little dreamt that a few short months
would disclose a Ministerial proposition for giving
a premium to perjury and fraud; for offering not
mcrely an injury to the feelings of the people, but a
so:e temptation to their morals. We believe that
this heavy blow to the professional and trading in-
terests will eventually loWer the character of the
people, as it has already lowered the character of the
. Ministry which has proposed its application,—Derby-
shire Chronicle.
If it had been left to the country then to choose
between the repeal of the income tax, and any other
sources of revenue of equal amount, the choice would
.soon have been made ; but the income tax was the
first to be repealed. And now, after a peace of
twenty-five years' duration, if we are to believe Sir
• Robert Peel there is no resource open to us but a
return to the most odious, most iniquitous, and most
• • inquisitorial tax with which a country was ever
. cursed.—Cambrian.
• ' Pitt taxed all, both directly and indirectly ; and in
• ' 1816, the rich contrived to throw off the income tax
-_: from themselves, and shifted the burdens on the poor.
..„, In 1842, the poor have got more power, and a Tory
• Minister, wonderful to say ! has been forced to re-
-es • .verse it, and shift the burden to the shoulders of the
rt rich. We. shall see how they will bear it.—Mon-
, -mouthshire Merlin.
The fate of the Government is made to depend upon
: , the issue of this question of finance. As the late Go-
vernment fell by their scheme, so the present Govern-
ment have staked their existence upon this. The great
, t',ba tie is between the two plans of financethe one for
... ,-A
•,ziowering the duties on corn, sugar, and timber; the
. . othei for a temporary tax on property, with a reduc-
e ton on 750 articles of consumption. After all the
sr, • discussion which these questions have undergone, it is
', easy to come to a conclusion, if party spirit and self-
interest do not interfere. Numerical strength, after
much useless debate, will decide them in the House of
Commons.—Belfast News Letter.
. There is, however, a minority in the House, repre-
senting a majority of the country.; they will oppose
the enaction of this unjust and unnecessary tax on
.. ,
industry. Lord John Russell, as the leader of the
Opposition, has given notice that he will oppose the
odious impost by dividing the house against the
resolution, and afterwards on the report ; then on
the first, then on the second, and, lastly on the third
reading! Bravo! Lord John ; this is a course truly
representative of the brain-working professional,
the toiling far Mer, and the industrious tradesman.—
Hereford Times.
To the mind of the moralist, the strongest objection
of all, will be the deception, the ling, the fraud of
every shape, which the unjust operation of the income
tax will engender. Every mode of evasion and chi-
canery.will be resorted to by one class of unprincipled
people, to make their incomes appear less than what
they really are ; while the swindler, who has designs
upon his tradesmen, will give an exaggerated return,
for the purpose -of seeming to be a man of fortune.—
Who has not heard " castom-house oaths" spoken of
with a levity which shows how light a matter an oath
is considered, if taking it falsely will save a few
pounds or shillings, or even pence ! and there is no
reason to conclude that an oath will be esteemed more
sacred, if taking it will screen the perjurer from a tax
on his whole income. The tax is bad in principle—
it will be worked by injustice, and it will be met by
fraud.—Staffordshire Mercury.
This, though stated in his hearing, Sir Robert Peel
did not contradict; and he, therefore, virtually avows
that, in order to leave intact the corn and sugar mo-
nopolies, the abolition of which would benefit the
people a thousand fold more than all his paltry modi-
fications of the tariff put together, he saddles the
country with an income tax ! And yet, en the whole,
it may turn out the best thing he could have done.
The indifference which the people have shown to good
government, makes them richly deserve to experience
the oppression of a bad ; and, perhaps, the screw
must be applied more tightly still, before they awake
to a just sense of their rights and interests.—Berwick
Advertiser.
Sir Robert Peel has ventured upon dangerous
ground, in attempting to revive a tax the most obnox-
ious that has ever been imposed upon a free-born peo-
ple. The inquisitorial income tax—hardly bearable
in a tune of European war—is now boldly proposed,
after 25 years of peace ! The remedy for the exist-
ing depression of trade, and the consequent increas-
ing difficulties of the middle class, is to be. it seems,
the laying on of a new burden, in the most hateful
shape and character, the most oppressive, both in its
nature and in its effects, on the industrious portion of
the community. Is such a law—bearing in its 'cha-
racter the features of extortion—calculated to . pro-
mote the national interests ? Is it likely to increase
and encourage the energies of industry ? Is it con-
sistent with justice, with sound policy, or even with
common reason ? Can we wonder if such a proposal
be firmly and strenuously resisted by the industrious
producers of all the real wealth of the country ?
Warwick Advertiser. A
The proposition of Sir Robert Peel to reduce the
duty on the importation of French gloves has caused
pi fikteXteistleohsternation amongst the manufacturers
in ie s town, who consider that it will lead to the
•/..iliftlerLriaili;ztifatlitrade. We remember that a similar
.\•l'f' '-‘-a-TP,lA'elleigioll *Vas entertained a few years since, when
s
‘i•r:r. .-rPt-4ePregented West Somerset ; and it was
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