The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1835-11-17 00:00:00

THE DuTy oN PAPER

We have perused with great interest the Fourteenth. Re-
port of the Counnissioners of Excise Inquiry on the Article of
Paper, and, as the subject is peculiarly important at this time,
when men's minds are agitated by the question of what financial
relief can be. extended to the press, we think that our readers
wilt feel indebted to us for a brief analysis of its contents.
The duty on paper was first imposed in 1711, by the tory
ministry of Queen Anne, for the purpose, as is stated in the
preamble of the act, of carrying on the war, althaugh the minis-
, try were at that very time concluding an ignominious peace
with France. The same act imposed excise duties on soap and
printed stuffs-, thereby subjecting some of our most important
and useful manufactures to the shackles of the excise, to which
they have nearly all remained subject till the present time, and by
winch they have been most effectually checked in their progress.
This same ministry, while professing the greatest addiwation for
literature and literary men, imposed, by this same act, the first
stamp duties -on newspapers, pamphlets, and advertisements.
The duty on paper is divided into two classes, and is fixed at 3d.
per pound on the first class, and lid. per pound on the second.
Pasteboard, and boards made from the materials which consti-
tute each class, are liable to the duties imposed on these clasis'ei.
The amount of duties received front paper since the year 1770
is contained in the appendix to the report, and the gross receipt
in the year 1835 amounted to £833,822, exclusive of the duties
stained paper, which are now collected under this head, and
which yielded in that year about £61,000. The commissioners,
after detailing the mode of charging and collecting the duty,- as
directed by the various acts of parliament and regulations of ex-
cise, proceed to observe that, although this manufacture is sub-
ject to many oppreisive restrictions, it is, nevertheless, not in-
interfered with during its progress in the same manner as glass,
inasmuch as no charge is made on the materials before they are
worked up, and the duty is only leyied ou the finished article.
They attribute much of the improvement which has taken place
in the manufacture to this absence of interference; and those
of our readers who are acquainted with the restrictions imposed
by the excise upon the manufacture of •glass and soap, will
readily agree with them. These two branches of industry are
still in their infancy, and would, we are confident, make the
most extraordinary progress if they were relieved from the
shackles which bind them down to one strict mode of proceed-
ing in their business. But paper, although free from this evil,
is, nevertheless, most injuriously affected by the division into two
classes, the duty on the first class beingdouble that on the second.
MI vaper Is to be considered first-class unless it shall be made
wholly of old tarred rope and cordage, without extracting
the tar therefrom, and without any mixture of other materials,
in which case it is considered as paper of the second class.
The commissioners explain at great length, and very clearly;
the various reasons which make it absolutely impossible even
. for an officer of excise to distinguish between these two classes,
and they point out the obvious consequence--namely, that a
large quantity of paper which is made of first-class materials is
nevertheless charged only with second-class duty; and thus the
revenue is defrauded, and the honest manufacturer undersold
by the smuggler. We 'have not space to enter fully into these
details, but we, can assure our readers that they are
.perfectly
satisfactory; and we entirely agree with the commissioners in
the remedy which they propose—namely, the consolidation of
the two classes into one, at one rate of duty. But they go
further, and succeed in proving that, in order to, derive the full
benefit of this consolidation, it will be necessary considerably
to reduce the present rate of duty on first-class paper, which,
from its high amount, when compared with the price of the ar-
ticle taxed, gives rise to much evasion of duty. After recapitu-
lating the evidence which they have received on this subject,
they conclude by recommending that the duty be reduced to one-
halt of its present amount, and that all paper, of whatever
description, be charged with a duty of one penny-halfpenny per lb.
The commissioners then proceeded to remove any apprehen-
sions which might be entertained that the revenue would suffer
in consequence of this reduction, and they show that, under the
present increasing demand, there is every probability that the
stimulus given by the redtictien will, hi a very short time, amply
compensate for the loss. But they insist on the total abolition of
the present duty on stained paper, in order to give full scope
the increased consumption which they anticipate. This duty on
stained paper was imposed, as we have observed, at the sante
pessesisal that on paper and printed stuffs, and it was formerly
collected under the head of the latter article. It-is -istuth to be
regretted that it was not repealed at the same time that printed
goods were relieved frOm duty ita 1831, as it is ruinous in its
rate (being as much as Is. per lb., in addition to the 3d. already
charged,) and vexatious and expensive in its collection. The
commissioners show, from the evidence whirls they have received,
that the two duties when put together amount, on ordinary
stained paper, to 1(X.) per cent.; and they prove most satisfac-
torily, that it Is in consequence impossible for the excise to pre-
vent smuzgling to a great extent, notwithstanding 'the most rigid
superintendence—a superintendence which must be, of course,
proportionably expensive and injurious to trade. They explain
the advantages which the poorer classes would derive, both in
comfort and cleanliness, from a more extended use of paper-
hangings; and they conclude, that it cannot be advisable to re-
tain a duty yielding so small an amount of revenue, and liable
to so many objections.
After pointing out some minor heads of complaint which re-
fer to the general question, such as the numerous and compli-
cated acts of Parliament which bear upon the duty—the
enormous and unequal penalties imposed for breaches of the
laws—the unwillingness of the Board of Excise to allow of any
direct communication between themselves and the manufactu-
rers—the Cuintnissioners conclude the report by a recapitulation
of their recommendtitions, which are briefly as follows :—T/eat
the duties on paper be consolidated and reduced to one penny half-
penny per pound; that' the penalties be revised with, a view to
their reduction : that the acts of Parliament relating to this sub-
ject be consolidated: that the manujitcturers be furnished With a
digest of the regulations afficting their trade; and, lastly, that
the duty on stained paper be repealed, and the survey .el EIViSil on
that manufacture, as well as on makers of tea-trays and cer-
tain other pasteboard articles, be discontinued.
Want of space has obliged us to compress this valuable re-
port into a very short article, and to leave out much interestine
matter, to which we shall probably take another opportunity of
returning; but we cannot dismiss the subject withoutobserving
upon the opportunity which the adoption of the measures re-
commended by the commissioners will afford to the Chancellor
of the Exchequer, of conferring a real benefit on the press, and
on literature, far beyond any which can be produced by a re-
duction of the stamp duty on newspapers, so loudly culled'for by
many of our brother reformers. It is obvious that a repeal of
the stamp duty would not in the least benefit, but would, on the
contrary, in some degree injute, that large and most valuable
branch of our periodical literature, of which The Penny and Sa-
turday Magazines form so distinguished a part. A reduction of
the duty on paper would, on the other hand, materially benefit
these publications, and would besides considerably reduce the
cost of a stamped newspaper. There are some very interesting
remarks, and much curious evidence in the report, on the effect
produced by the duty on paper and the expense of
_publication
both of books and periodical publications. Mr. Knight, the
publisher of The Penny Magazine, is of opinion that the duty on
paper in a volume such as ohe of The Penny Cyclopedia,
amounts to nearly one-fifth of the whole price; and he shows in
his evidence how heavily this duty presses on that class of cheap
publications which has so much increased of late. The Com-
missioners are of opinion, from the inquiries which they have
made, that the quantity of paper used for printing exceeds two-
thirds of all which is made, so that it is evident that a large re-
duction of duty will be most heneficialy felt precisely in that
branch of the manufacture where it is most wanted. One word
more on the repeal of stamp duties. Itis avowed by the supporters
of this measure, that nothing short of total repeal will satisfy
them. Now, if this tax be repealed, the Revenue loses that
amount altogether, without remedy or chauce of renewal, while,
if, as the commissioners recommend in the case of paper, the
increased
that is only reduced, the consumption will be so much
that while the consumer is materially benefitted the revenue
will be scarcely.inj used. On these grounds, therefore—namely,
that the reduction of paper duty will be much more generally
felt and the revenue much less diminished than by the repeal of
the stamp duty, we feel bound, as independent journalists, to
express our anxious hope that Mr. Rice will prefer the views of
Sir Henry Parnell and his colleagues to those of Mr. Roebuck,
and that he will be enabled to reduce the duty on paper to the
full amount of the rate recommended by the commissioners of
excise inquiry. —Observer.

THE LONDON AND BIRMINGHAM RAILWAY.

WATFoRD AND PRIMROSE-HILL TUNNELS.

The loss of human life in the formation of these great and ex-
pensive works is really terrific.
In the Watford tunnel ten men perished at once, two were
killed some time after, and man after man has fallen sinee ;
but, being only one at a time, no notice has been taken of the
matter by the public. The last who was killed was on the Bth
of last month. On Sunday last one place of the tunnel fell in,
but happily no lives were lost, the workmen who were employed
having just come up to go to dinner.
We regret that in such public undertakings so little respect
should be shown to the benevolent institution of nue day of rest
in seven. Bnt such is the case. The fall on Sunday last, though
happily not accompanied with the loss of life, is, nevertheless,
still more fearful than the former accidents, as the place fallen
in had been built up and arched over, and was considered out
of danger.
The chalk of the tunnel has been exposed to powerful dilu-
vial action, far more than the chalk generally is found to be,
which has produced great inequality of surface, and not only
so, there are rents, pipes, or sand-galls, iu which the superin-
cumbent diluvial clay, sand, or gravel, has entered; and fre-
queintiv there are only a few inches' thickness of chalk where
several feet of thicknesa might he expected:- To diminish the
pressure, a great quantity of clay, sand, and pebbles, have been
wheeled from off the ground below which the tunnelpasses, but
still the weight is immense, and the chalk itself is not to be
trusted to.

The loss of lives at the tunnel at Primrose-hill is very great;
report says two or three a-week.
If the brickwork and arching be insufficient to effect security,
we are led to dread the recurrence of catastrophes of serious
consequence. We recollect that such were the difficulties in
maintaining the weight of the superincumbent earth in the
Highgate-archway that the whole plan had to be abandoned,
and an open cut had to be substituted.
In making the Watford tunnel the chalk is first cut away at
the top, and boarding, and joists, and beams of wood are placed
to support the whole until as far as ten feet have been cut, when
a wall of brickwork is built up at each side, and an arch is
turned, which it has been supposed would have been a sure pro-
tection, but which is now found not to be the case.
To the parishes the matter is a source of serious expense from
the burden of widows mad orphans thrown upon them; and as
there is nothing on which a deodand can be levied, it is not easy
in the present state of the law to supply a motive to the con-
tractors to adopt means to diminish the loss of life, which they
might do, though they could not prevent it altogether. They
say the men are thoughtless, and needlessly expose themselves;
and several have been killed by lumps of chalk and of clay fall-
ing upon them. But were there a penalty of 1:50 for every life
lost, they would adopt means to keep men out of the way of
danger when their duty did not call them.

GREAT PROTESTANT MEETING IN BIRMINGHARI.—A meet-
ing of the friends of the protestant religion and the constitution
in church and state will be held jiff he Town H all, Birmingham,
on Wednesday, the ISth of November inst. The Rev. Mortimer
O'Sullivan will attend and address the meeting, and the Rev.
Rebel t M'Ghee also. Conservatism is raising in Birmingham
a bold front. A grand dinner will also take place in the same
magnificent building, on the 17th of next month, at which it is
expected a great number of the nobility and gentry will be
present.

AN AWKWARD COMFLIMENT.—GCTIeraIF—,an American'
officer, who is an active friend and supporter of negm emancipa-
tion in the United States, upon a recent occasion made a very
animated address in behalf of the coloured population. A dinner
was subsequently given to the general, when one of the sable
-assemblage was called upon for a toast, and being desirous of
conveying the idea by the sentiment he should give, that the
general. though he was a white man, was nevertheless full of
sympathy for the negioes, he rose and gave the following—
" Massa -General F—, though he hub a white skin, he got a
black heart!"

The coarse language used in the letter published by Mr.
O'Connell towards the ex-sheriff, Mr. Raphael, is to become a
matter of discussion, it is said, in a court °flaw.— Landon paper.