The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1833-11-08 00:00:00

CO.VTEMPORARY PRESS.

The Whigs are very uncomfortable about the assessed
taxes. Their disquietude is reflected in the Times.—
That honest journal does not well know what to make of
the position of its masters. The Times labours hard to
show that passive resistance to the assessed taxes in 1533
differs widely from passive resistance to the same imposts
in 1332. The 7'imes, moreover, wonders why people
shoUld be annoyed at being called on to pay taxes, which
thew have paid so long. The Times, in addition to all this,
declares that ministers will remove these taxes as soon as
possible—and, almost in the same breath, the Times pro-
fesses to wonder at the folly of those who can expect mi-
nisters to remove taxes at their own free will and pleasure.
They would, thereby, adds our disinterested contemporary,
ren the risk of impeacluyieisf
The Times "can turn, hnd turn, and yet go on, and
turn again" with a bolder and better
.grace than most of
our contemporaries. Yet the " leading journal's" move-
ments on this occasion are of the most limping and awk-
ward kind. Here is a specimen :

" We need scarcely again repeat our firm belief in the pledge
of ministers that these obnoxious imposts will be abolished by
the consent of parliament in the course of the following session,
or express our consequent suspicion that the parties who now
associate to resist their
.payment (while they remain unrepealed)
have other objects in view than an impossible exemption from
their pressure. Few of the associators can be so grossly stupid
or ignorant as to believe that the Chancellor of the Exchequer,
or all the cabinet put together, can either impose duties or re-
mit them at their own sole will and pleasure. if they possessed
such a power,—a power of imposing or repealing taxes, the
.go-
vernment of this country would differ only from the despotism
of Turkey in being administered by a more prudent or civilized
Divan, or body of Paellas, than are to be found in the domi-
nions of the Grand Seiguor."

The Times expresses its " firm belief in the pledge of
ministers." Has not the pledge been forfeited already in
the case of these assessed taxes ? What second pledge
have they given ? And if a second were given, why
should it be deemed more valuable than the first ?

As to the rubbish which the Times advances apcput the
want of power in ministers to repeal taxes ;without the
permission of Parliament, is it not notorious that no well-
trained spaniel ever displayed greater anxiety to please
its master, than the first reformed Parliament has done.to
please the Whigs ? Is it not notorious that the present
House of Commons rescinded the malt tax on a I?ridav,
and then, to please the Whigs, re-imposed it on the
Tlesday following ? Is it not equally notorious that the
Whigs out of office denounced the assessed taxes? Is it
not equany notorious that they prevented the removal of
these taxes last session 4 Did they not, moreover, by
the mouth of Spring Rice, defend the principle of these
taxes, wtien they found it convenient to continue them ?
And yet the Times has impudence enough to call on us
to.place confidence in the pledges of the miserable, imbe-
cile, unprincipled Whigs—and to prate about the want of
power to remove taxes without the permission of that very
House of Commons which these very Whigs_ would not
permit to remove these very taxes !—True Sun.

WHIG REFORM.—II is well known how frequently the
Town Council of Vinburgh, under the old system
(which expires on Friday) has been held up to public re-
probation by the Whir, Press, for having abused the
City's patronage, whether belonging to the Church or
the University. The very last appointment that was
made in the College, the filling IV of the vacancy occa-
sioned by the death of Sir John Leslie, was denounced
by them as a job that would brand their memories with
perpetual disgrace. We never repose much confidence in
such statements, and it is not a little curious to find that
their reiterated charges, about the abuse of patronage on
the part of the Town Council, have met with a refuta-
tion from the highest authority in the realm. His Ma-
jesty, it will be seen, has vested in that Corporation the
future appointment of two Crown Professorships, Pa-
thology and Surgery. We shall not here inquire whe-
ther the King has been advised to divest himself of these
.rights in order that the Whigs who are now about to as-
sume the reins of civic government in Edinburgh, may
have additional patronage thrown into their hands—a
conjecture by no means improbable. Our present object
is simply to refer to the high compliment which his Ma-
jesty pays to a body of men uniformly represented by
their opponents, the Whigs, as a mass of corruption ;
for it is expressly stated that the Royal Act alluded to
has been made in favour of the Town Council " in con-
sequence of the liberal, impartial, and judicious use
which they had hitherto made of their academical pa-
tronage." This is a valuable testimony as to the unex-
ceptionable manner in which vacant Chairs in our. Col-
lege have been filled even under the old close system. It
differs certainly in foto from the statements urriformly
put forth by our Whig contemporaries: but as his Ma-
jesty did not surrender his patronage until after making
"proper inquiries into the conduct of the Council," the
obvious inference is, that the systematic detractors of our
civic dignitaries have been all along dealing in their
staple commodity—delusion and misrepresentation--
Edinburgh Adrertiser.