The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1853-04-26 00:00:00

principal source of his means of reduction.

The third item of increased taxation is a proposal
to put an additional duty of one shilling a gallon
upon SCOTCH and eightpence a gallon upon IRISH
SPIRITS, from which the expected advantage will be
£436,000. We cannot seriously find fault with a
measure which may help to discourage the vice of
intoxication, alas ! too prevalent in both coun.

tries; but we may doubt its policy in the present
balance of parties, when a few votes from the
representatives whose constituents are thus affected
will strengthen the opposition to the Government.
It may, however, also lead to the increase of illicit
distillation, particularly in Ireland, where the duty
is collected by the aid of a military force; so that it
is questionable whether the revenue will more than
pay the cost of collection.

The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER appears
to have resolved that his Budget should not fail

from want of being comprehensive, and therefore

he has devised a new source of additional taxation

in licenses to brewers, dealers, and others, from
which he proposes to derive an income of £113,000.
In most of these cases he has presumed that the

extent of business is in proportion to the rent of
premises in which it is carried on, and therein he

has not displayed his usual judgment. He pro-
poses, for instance, that dealers in TOBACCO shall

pay sixpence for every pound yearly value of the
premises. This might be very equitable, if dealing
in that article were the only or chief trade; but take

the thousands of instances of hotels, taverns, and
other expensive premises, where Tobacco is sold in
small quantities. A house worth £2OO a-year
would render the occupier liable to an annual

license of £5, which might be more than his profits
on this particular article; and the effect in many

cases would be a discontinuance of the sale, to the

much greater injury of the revenue, on a commo-
dity bearing so high a duty, than any profit to be
derived from the licenses. Some years since, when

the Government refused to make the usual allowance

to retailers of STAMPS, they discontinued the sale,

and the revenue was seriously injured, owing to the

less use of Stamps, from the difficulty of obtaining
them ; and a similar result would, no doubt, arise

from this increased charge for licenses. The other

trades to be affected by the proposed additions for
licenses are TEA-DEALERS, who are to pay a
shilling in the pound on their rental, which will

lead to many discontinuing the trade ; to SOAP-
MAKERS, who are to pay twenty-five per cent. on

their rental, by which the relief by the abolition of
the Soap duty will be considerably lessened ; and

MALTSTERS, BREWERS, and TOBACCO MANU-
FACTURERS, who are to pay in proportion to the

extent of their business, being only another mode
of increasing the duty on their respective commo-
dities. By this plan the demand for relief upon the
MALT DUTY is met by an additional tax upon the
Nlalister and the Brewer.

There is yet another item of increased taxation,

and that is upon DOGS.

Instead of Bs. upon the

ordinary house•dog, which is kept for protection,

and 14s. upon a few particular kinds, all dogs are to

be classed alike at 125.; and Mr. GLA DSTONE
imagines that for this he will obtain an additional
£lO,OOO. The probability is rather that it will, in
too many cases, amount to a prohibition of these
useful animals.

Having gone through the various items from

hich Mr. GLADSTONF

droposes to add to the
Revenue, we come to the Reductions, which, to the

many,

are by far the most interesting portion of the

Budget. In the selection of them he is certainly

entitled to much credit; but, at the same time, there
are some which are open to objection, and ought to

undergo some revision or modification

The only duty of Excise, with which he proposes
to deal, is that on SOAP, to be abolished at a loss to
the Revenue of £1,126,000. It is a relief which
has been extensively demanded, for several weighty
reasons, not only as it affects our foreign trade, but
also with reference to our social economy. It is an
old proverb, that cleanliness is next to godliness ;
and now that we have Baths and Wash-houses,
cheap Soap may leave no one an excuse for not
being clean. As we have before observe& however,
the relief will be considerably qualified by the high

license duty upon the soap manufacturers.

On the question of the TEA DUTY, Mr. GLAD-
STONE has followed the example of his predecessor,
and proposed a reduction of 4d. per lb. for the
first year, but he has made his succeeding steps
more rapid, so that the shilling duty shall be
reached in three years instead of six ; a change
which is thought to be a considerable advantage.
The reduction will involve the loss of £366,000 the

first year, and an ultimate loss of £1,934,000.
It will be remembered that, a short time since,
Lord ROBERT GROSVENOR proposed the repeal of
the ATTORNEYS' ANNUAL CERTIFICATE DUTY,
and obtained a majority of the House of Commons
in favour of the measure—a result not to be won-
dered at, considering how many of the members
obtained their seats through the assistance of this
class of the legal profession, Mr, GLADSTONE