Star.
London, England, 1814-12-10 00:00:00

COMMON COUNCIL.

A Court of Common Council was held yesterday
2t Cuih specially for the purpose of taking into
consideration the meditated continuance of the Pro-
perty Tax. Some private and local business, how-
ever. occupied its attention previously.
Mr. WAITWMAnt in rising to bring under the no-
tice of the Court that subject to which its attention
was expected chiefly to be turned, observed, that it
was one of as much importance as had ever come be-
fore them. It might be supposed that he should ex-
patiate at some length upon the grievous and oppres-
sive character of the Property Tax ; but its evils were
so generally felt and so universally acknowledged,
that it would be a waste of time :o dwell upon them
with much amplitude. It might be necessary, hew-
ever, to remind the Court of the extraordinary cir-
temstances in which the country was placed at the
tine that tax was fist brought forward. The finances
and the power of this country were then thought to
be nearly at their end, and it was imagined that to
extricate it from the impending dangers no resource
was left, but some bold and provident measure of
finance, which might create the means of prosecut-
ing that contest in which we were then engaged.—
But it was solemnly stipulated by Parliament, and
the stipulation constituted a sacred compact between
the Government and the people, that whenever the
war, whose necessities called for that odious and un-
constitutional, though perhaps necessary measure,
should cease, that war tax should cease likewive—
(Hear, Aear.) Still, however, it was found necessary
to resort to other expedients to render so hateful and
so abominable a tax even tolerable to the public feel-
ing and to Parliament. The promise was therefore
held out, that the mode of collecting the tax should
be of so mild and gentle a nature, as to prevent the
possibility of any thing tyrannical or oppressive in its
operation. That anticipated delicacy was highly ne-
cessary; for he would venture to say, note/1016mnd-
the singular aspect of the times at that period, when
any violent opposition to Government was construed
into disaffection, without such a promise, the mea-
sure, however necessary, however urgent, would not
have been carried. In spite, however, of all these
precautions, and all that tenderness on the part of
Ministers, 'that Court came to a resolution in 1798,
(he believed) expressive of its abhorrence and detes-
tation of the principles on 'which the Property Tax
was founded. In 1802, after the peace of Amiens,
it was nature:ly thought that the country would get
rid of teis war tax, and meetings were held (the first
was their own C mmon Hall) throughout the coun-
try, incense it was apprehended that some attempts
Would be made to continue it. What was the conse. ,
(pence e The Minister was so intimidated by the ge.
Demi alarm which was telt at the idea of its conti-
Eunice by all classes of the community, that he deter.
mined to withdraw it, rather than inepr the odium
and the constitutional resistance which he would have
to encouotar by persevering---(Hear, hear, hear.) He
begged the Court would bear that fact particularly
in mind, as it would serve for a precedent in their
present proceedings. Sir John Anderson (then one ,
of the Members in Parliament for the City, and of
course a Ministerial man), came to that Court and
announced the intention of Ministers to withdraw the
tax. Since that period, however, it had not only con-
tinued, butit had under one much alteration, super:
cially in the manner of levying it. He wished to
speak upon thatpoint, without giving offence tie those
Gentlemen who were nominated as. Commissioners to
carry the Act into effects but iu his solemn °pinto,
the tax itself was so odious in principle, so hostile to
freedom, so destructive to families, so abhorrent to
eve!' =tied, -that it was impossible for the Commis-
sioners, however they might be chosen, to collect
such a tax without oppression, without tyranny, and
without cruelty—(Hear, hear.) There was one im-
portant variation with respect to the practical appli-
tation of the Act, which had silently crept in since
itiliese passing. The appointment of the Commis-
sioners bad been taken out of Um hands of public bo.
'dies and of the people, and vested in the Crown.—
Thar change had imperceptibly taken place, and it
was therefore the more dangerous. The individuals
to whom was entrusted the levying of that tax were
thus under the contronl of the Crown, and receiving
emoluments-from the Crown—in .many Cases their
office was btu a sinecure, a pretence merely to reward
them for entorciiig that Act. With respect to its ope-
ration: it bad been gt ie4Ously felt by various classes
of society:. The landed property, indeed, which
complained that it compel:ad -an exposure of the
amount of property often highly injurious, had found
relief—but how was it with regard to the trading in-
terest? All the heaviest consequences of the war
had fallen upon that bou;1•;, and none heavier than
the Property Tai— (Mar, hear.) A man engaged
in trade, subject to all those fluctuations that attend
upon mercantile pursuits, might he worth £lOO,OOO
more in one year than in another ; and was it not a
dreadful evil, one not to be borne in a free country,
that an individual, whose misfortunes, perhaps, had
shaken his property to its very centre, who, bowed
down by his calamities,, was afraidalmost to look his
very. family in gie face, that be should be dragged
before the Commissioners to disclose his distresses, to
unfold his poverty, to proclaim his wretchedness, in
order to be exempt from the provisions of this most
iniquitous tax ?—(Hear, hear.) Where trade was
earned on to any great extent, it might happen that
the losses of one year exceeded the profits of seven,
and yet the trader must pay the Income Tax to the
/am of his family. In cases of bankruptcy the injus-
tice of the tax was equally evident. In many of those
bankint houses which had failed, the different part-
ners bad been paying perhaps to the Property Tax,
individually, for incomes at the rate of two or three
tkeesand a year, from the style is which they
.lived,
and the appearances they kept up. The period of
peace had now arrived, and after having severely en-
dured the evils of war, after having patiently borne
those burthens which the necessities of the time im-
posed, they had now a just right to look forward to
a relief from their taxes. No scheme, however, had
yet been introduced to accomplish that end ; nothing
was held out that promised the accomplishment of it;
but, on the contrary, an intimation that our burthens'
would be continued. Now, therefore, was the time
for the people to speak, as Parliament would not re-
ceive any petitions against a Money Bill when once
brought in ; it was their bounden duty to do sb ; and
it the whole people would stand forth with one voice
and one heart in the cause, where was the Minister

who would dare tb persist in defiance of the univer-
sal appeal ?—(Hear), hew.) He should not trouble
the Court with any more observations, but should
submit to it a series of Resolutions, which he trusted
would meet with its concurrence, as he had carefully
worded them according to the identical expressions
almost, used on a former occasion. If the Court
adopted them, he should offer to its notice a Petition
to Parliament, grounded, in substance, upon the said
Resolutions.—See Advertisement.
Upon the first Resolution being react,
Mr. WAITHMAN observed, that his objection, as an
individual, was to the principle of the tax ; and that
he should equally oppose it were it reduced to one
per cent. as a gross violation of personal liberty, in
this boasted land of freedom.

Mr. Alderman WOOD seconded the motions, but
said that it would be unnecessary to take up much of
their time, after the able manner in which they had
been introduced. There was one or two facts, how.
•ever, which had come within his own knowledge, of
the unequal manner in which the Property Tax was
levied. In houses, for instance, he had known some
spacious enough to contain forty or fifty visitors,
rated at only W6O a-year. Another case came under
his immediate observation : a person made a return
to the Commissioners of losses amounting to sixty or
seventy thousand pounds, yet he having property re.
turned under Schedule B, was assessed accordingly.
He appealed, and the case was referred to Counsel,
who delivered an opinion, that he was not liable un•
der Schedule B. It was then carried before the In.
Spector, and ultimately left for the -decision of the
Judges ; but instead of going before the Judges, an
extent was issued and sent down, and £2500 wcte
paid, though he had proved his losses were greater
than his gains for the List six months. If he had
failed afterwards, that £2500 w.,n1,1 have been so
much taken from his creditor:. He concluded by
expressing his thorough ablrotr:.iice of the principle
of the tax.

Mr. SAMUEL DIXON said he w-uild only take up a
few moments of their tame; and it he saw this matter
in a different light from the Worthy Gentleman who
spoke before, he was not asking too much when be
wished for a fair and liberal hearing. ,He admitted
that this was a war tax, and that the people flattered
themselves that it would cease on the sth of April
next.
.No man more anxiously wished that it should
so cease than him--.21f; but he lamented to say that
t:4e difficulties of the country were not mended since
that tax was insiituLed. They must look at the cir-
cumstances of the country fairly, and then ask them.
selves this question, Whether it was right the public
creditor should be disappointed and ruined, who had
given his money in loan to Government? Th.!.)•
must not shut their eyes to this tact, that the long-
protracted war in which we had been engaged had
rendered great exertions still necessary. Much re-
mains yet to be provided. for; and lie did not know
any article that would bear an additional taxation to
make up for the loss of this large revenue to Govern-
ment. Any additional duties on wines, on spirits, or
on sugar, must fail, by introdueing smuggling to a
great extent. Much, therefore, as he wished that ths
tax were abolished, and never renewc.f, yet he could
not see how its loss could be supplied ; and he wished
any one would inform hint it it could be done with-
out. He w..s atraid there was much abuse 'in the
collection of this tax, which ought to be amended.—'
He suggested an amendment to the first Resolution,
by leaving out the mention of an intimation to Par.
liament that this tax was to be renewed ; because he
was not aware that any such intimation had been
made. It was to be considered, that this tax, which
was at first 64 per edit. had been increased by that
patriotic and layout ite Minister of some Gentlemen
(Mr. Fox) to 10 per cent. which it still continued to
be; and he accompanied it with an expression which
must go along with his name and memory. When
he was told tlr t it would be most oppressive on the
poor, he said, that it a man could not afford to live,
in the first floor, he must remove to the second—it
not in the second, to the garret—and if not in the
garret, to. the cellar—(Hier:.) He suggested, whe-
ther it would not be better to deter this Petition until
the measure should be before Parliament—(Crier of
14, no.
Mr. GRIFFITHS said a few words against the tax.
Mr. FAVELL hoped that nothing of the property
tax, might remain but the recollection of it, and th it
this would always serve as a memento, to point out
the folly of rashly engaging in wars. A member of
the House of Commons once wished that a starling
should be perched ou the Speaker's chair, and cry
only " No Coalition." He hoped that the property
tax should in future be a like warning to the people
of England a3ainst wars. It the principle which was
proclaimed at the close of the war) " of not inter.
I feting with the inteinal government of any nation,"
had been acted upon at the time the war commenced,
the people of this country would have known nothing
of that tax of which they now so justly complain.—
Although he never wished to join in any clamour
against taxes which were necessary; yet, after the
case made out by his worthy friend, he must condemn
the tax, and for a substitute he conld only mention
peace and i etrenchment.
Alderman HEYGATE wished to call the attention
of the court to the financial situation of the country
at the present moment. No man living had a gt eater
detestation of the principle of the tax than himsdt.—
The law, however, had been introduced at a time
when imperious necessity required that large sums
should be supplied, and when the ordinary means of
taxation had failed. The people of England consent-
ed, under those circumstances, to such privations as
they had never before experienced. He thought,
therefore, it was right now to examine candidly,
fairly, and impartially, what was the present financial
situation of the country. No man was more anxious
than he was that full justice should be done to the
public creditors • the fact, however, was, that the
whole revenue of country (with the exception of
abont one million) was now paid in dividends to the
stock-holders. What was there, then, to defray the
ordinary expense of the Government, as well as the
expense of the American war ? As to the question of
the American war, he was aware that it was a question
of considerable delicacy ; but still, while that war ex-'
isted, he thought there could be no expectation of this
tax being taken off. The grounds of this war, how-
ever, were not the same now as at the period of its
commencement. We now understood that the war
was continued on account of some now demands set up
by our Ministers, of extension of territory, the uucon-

trottlied possession of the Lakes, and other poinii 44
that nature. As it Was the boait and glory of this abni:
stitution, that the people had a right to assemble and
express their opinion to their representatives, he thOught
that no time ought to be lost; but that in the present
recess of Parliament there thould be public meetingi
every where to express the sense of the people as tol
the new demands made on America by our Ministers.
The public should consider whether those objects
were worth the people of England butthening them.
selves with the evils of war and the property tax ? He
was by no means for weakening the hands of Govern.
ment at the present crisis : but he wished that the
people of England should declare as one man, the
opinion of the country with respect to the grounds
on which the American war was now continued.—
He thought it impossible to continue the American
war, without continuing the Property Tax, or laying
on other taxes which would be equally oppressive.—
He would wish that the Coat would express their
willingness to support the Government in the war, if
' it was the maritime rights of this country that were
the real object of the contest; but if it was really to
be carried on for the propositions made by dur Mini.
sters to America, he thought the country should too
support them in a war having such an object. As
to the conduct of Mr. Fox upon this tax, he thought
it had been much misunderstood. It was against the
principle of the tax, and not do: amount, that Mr.
Fox protested. When he afterwards came into power
and found this tax existing, and that the country had
still great exertions to make, he increased the amount
of the tax, in order that, by the restoration of peace,
he might get rid both of the tax and the principle of
it. 7 he argument against the principle of the tax,
as applied to trade, was, that it invaded the privacy
1 of trade and commerce, and obliged honourable men
to make disclosures which might be ruinous to, them-
selves and their families. The objection which he
felt to the tax, was entirely to the principle, and not
to the amount of it : and it really appeared to him
to be the very worst mode that could be pursued, to
leave the principle of the tax in force, and to reduce
the produce of it.
Sir WILLIAM CURTIS observed, that he fully agreed
with a great deal of what had fallen from the speakers
• who preceded him. The tax was in priniiple 'ob-
-1
noxious, and it was a war tax—a war tax, however,
without which this country would never have stood
in her present elevated situation. He had certainly
heard that it was the intention of Ministers to propose
its renewal, either in whole or in part ; and he feared
that unless some large sum could be provided by
some other meals, it would be impossible without
this aid to discharge the debt which we had contract.
ed. What other scheme Could be devised, that would
~
not 'be still 'more objectionable and injurious
' (Munnert.)—He contended that it would prove im-
possible to produce so large a sum in a Manner less
injurious to the people at large. The tax fell at pre-
sent upon people of property.—(Crier of nl, no.)— '
fie knees tosit people hr trade felt it; he himself felt
it sorely....(A laugh:)—He wasisorry that the times
had required it, but we ought to rejoice that it had
been the means of procuring for us a substantial
peace. He agreed with the worthy Alderman (Hey-
gate) that a peace with the Americans was extremely
desirable, but he trusted he should see them con-
foundl:dly flogged first.—(Aloud laugh.)—There was
vest a tax that could be laid upon any article, which
ravould not fall more heavily upon those who could
foot afford it than the tax upon property did. If upon
full consideration be could see that it was possible to
do without it, he would oppose its renewal, but it
upon- the other hand he should find it to be impos-
sible, he wculd support it.
Mr. WAITHAIAN, in reply, observed, that he thought
any mention of the war with America in the Resolu,
tions would be irrelevant ; but he should have no ob-
jection, if the state of the negociations were made
public by Government, to agree to a specific motion,
proposed conformably to the ideas of the Worthy
'Alderman (Mr. Heygate). To the remarks of the
'Honourable Baronet (Sir William Curtis), that the I
Property Tax was necessary; in the present situation.
of the country, he could only answer by suggesting
to him that which had been often before recommen-
ded, as well by individoals as by the Court itself,
that he should propose to support s nne measure in
Parliament for the reduction of the expenditure—
(Hear, hear!)—and the abolition of uselcss and sine-
cure places. It was strange that the Honourable 114.-
rore.t should say that the tax in question fell particu-
larly on persons of property i it fell with peculiar se-
verity on tradesmen, woo perhaps had no property at
all; it kit with • equal severity on freehold pro-
perty, or on annuities of one or two years duration.
It had been imposed, it was said, "to support a war
for the protection of property; but why had not pro-
perty paid for its own protection—(loud crier of Hear,
hear,)—instead of extorting a portion of the hard-
earned incomes of the labouring and trading classes i
The Worthy Baronet (Sir William Curtis) was aware
that in the 'place where they both resided, even the
gentlemen of landed property had been most unjustly
assessed. If such was the fact, what must have been
the sufferings of the poor, whose low station deprived
them of the means of making efficient remonstrances
(hear !) ? He had received hundreds of letters since
he had given notice of the motion he had made, con-
taining accounts of the most cruel and tyrannical
acts that it was possible to conceive, which had been
committed in the progress of levying this tax,
against which be called on the Court to protest—
(Hear, hear!) If such a body as the Common,
Council—the Representatives of their fellow-citizens,
did not stand up against this tax, would they not be
unworthy of the confidence of their Constituents and
the rank they held in public estimation ?—(ilear.)—
It had been demanded, where was the money to be
found ? the want of money should have been antici-
pated—they had declared in May last their expecta-
tions of being relieved from some of their burthens
which pressed on them. Some measure should have
been brought forward to meet the crisis; some re-
duction of expenditure to meet the anticipated re-
duction of the taxes ; yet not a word had been said
in Parliament on the subject.— (Hear, hear).—We
were to have peace with war taxes and war expend;.
ture.—(Hear, hear).—Adam Smith, whom he had
quoted in the Resolutions, had said there was no art
which a Government sooner learnt than that of drain-
ing money from the pockets of their subjects. In
this view, it would be a great object with any Go-
vernment to continue, if it were only one per cent. of
this commodious tat. He was persuaded there was

nothing fibre Oneself,' to be said to ensure the iloa:
nintous concurrence of the Court, If he were eked
what tax could be stibltitutecl, he Cauhl reply, that
to suggest measures of finance was not hit butiittsss
unlesshe recell:ed the emoluments And lionocril of at
Chancellor of the Exchequer ; it was not fair to call
on him to propose new taxes, and he confessed that
the Ministers seldom needed any assistance of that
triad.—(4 laugh).
. The Resolutions were agreed to by a most unirer.
sal show of hands, without any oppnsition%
A draught of the Petition to be presented to the
House of Commons was read and agreed to, and it
was ordered that it be presented by the Sheaf's, and
that such Members of that Court as had seats in the
Honse of Commons, be requested to support the
prayer of the same.

The Loan MAYOR laid before the Court a letter
from Lieutenant-Genetal Stuart, stating his having
lust the Resolution of this Court for his cnnd ac
the battle of Maida, on the 4th of July, 18)6,
,And
requesting another copy.
His Lordship also laid before the Court, a letter
frotn the Chairman of the Comthittee of the G.)ver-
nors of the London Hospital, iuclosing their that.its
for the donation of £5OO.

The Committee of City Lands pre--nr,:d ;1 itcr,ort
for payment of artificers' bills, cv.e...rir,q A'loo t,:),
which was read, agreed to, and o ick. fur
execution.

The Court agreei to the Report of the NaT;g ttiots
Committee, f,r granting an in,rease of .£!UO per
anntlm to the s 41,try of the Witer B
Mr. George atnce, the City Surveyor, re4igoed
that situation.—Adjourned.