The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1848-03-14 00:00:00

tbt tturpool attanbarb.

TUESDAY MORNING, MARCH 14, 1848.
Wia did not hesitate, last week, to express our
censure of the vote given -by one of our representa-
tives Mr. Cardwell, against Mr. Horsman's motion
1,-,.,;„6111,,ch just modification of the Income Tax, as
ni-,;,.`" render that impost more tolerable and equal
rrri-e7„Pressi, ure. As little do we object to the pro-
!ion an expression of the general sense of the
beints.--"eney, with respect to the offence committed,
110,:n conveyed in a constitutional form to the
t:ccrable member himself. We cannot, however,
o"ltnend the tone of the document, to which the
their signatures.
Liverpool have since been urged to affix
signatures. it is unnecessarily dictatorial—
almost, indeed, personaly offensive ; and we are sa-
iisfied that these violations of good taste, on the
Part of those by whom it has been drawn up, will
deter many from signing it, who would otherwise
have done so most cordially, and will thus far ren-
der the document, when presented to Mr. Card-
well, a much less influential one than it might have
been. It was perfectly competent for the majority
of the electors to have conveyed to the honourable
member a knowledge of the fact that, by pursuing
a certain line of conduct, he had forfeited their
confidence; and to have suggested to him that,
under such circumstances, being no longer a repre-
sentative of their opinions, his resignation of the
trust imposed upon him would be the fulfilment of
a duty, not only to them but to his own reputation.
Perhaps, however, strict justice would not have
been outraged, whilst courtesy would have been
Preserved, had Mr. Cardwell been invited to offer
some explanation of his conduct, before sentence
was summarily passed upon him. His vote was a
silent one; and, as we stated last week, it was one
which from a previous demonstration of his disin-
clination to decide upon it hastily, he may have ar-
rived at a conviction of the propriety of giving,
Whichlvalthoukh we must confess it is hidden from
. to him, we doubt not, appeared at the
(I,,lme'„well grounded. Rejecting, therefore, as we
affecting r that, with respect to questions
mattenig the taxation of the people, or any other
rg' the representative is to be regarded or to
regard,, himself as their mere delegate—bound irre-
trewvelY of all other considerations, to carry out
"Pressed and exparte views of the public meet-
Alga, or public bodies, professing, like the National
Confederation , to speak "in behalf of the people"
-awe conceive that the honourable member might
ve had accorded to him an opportunity of reply
to hjs accusers. The second paragraph of the me-
°nal, however, seems to us, by its peremptoriness,
ca,ieulated, if not meant, to put all chance of ex-
Peeination out of the question. The unatoneable
alleter of the offence is assumed as established ;
an
laud the sentence of expulsion is pronounced in
ngliage such as that we would address to a clerk,
Zr a servant, whom we had proved guilty of dis-
mane t •
8 Y, after a fair hearing.
Ad" 'We cannot consent to repose any further con-
ba_elice in you as our Representative; nor can we
'it the interests of the people of Liverpool
▪ tiger- to remain under your charge."—We must
,iviiatit that this is not precisely the language in'
to tichh a gentleman, who has been so recently elected
p ).#-,:e high honour of representative of this im-
"(e3-"aat community in Parliament, ought to be ad-'
sp stied:- and we repeat our conviction that it is
e;°,.! likely, not only to deter many influential
j'ea from signing it, but materially to impair the !
°l'o,e which such a document would have carried
uit, if expressed in more respectful and consti-
terms. To him, to whom it is addressed,
4 Calculated to convey a sense of personal insult
rrather than of deference to those whose names are
ePended to it; and, by the world at large it may
the-ewed, and probably will be viewed, rather as
calm expression of party illwill than as the
great tztil matured expression of the feeling of a
,:,nking community.
of the
ovfever, now turn to an examination
unnigfht, e the hon. gentleman on Friday
xplanatory of what we cannot but term his
made vote, and which appears to have been
atie, by anticipation, as a reply to the charges of ,
the
Memorialists. Mr. Cardwell represents himself
li
as having been influenced in giving that vote by
two considerations—" first, by the duty which he
owed to the great mercantile constituency whom he had the honour to represent, and, se- eondly, by those higher considerations which
arose from a due regard to the general interests of
twhich he country. He was very sensible of the pressure
any income tax must bear upon the industry
urea
lthe country ; and he knew how much that pres-
was aggravated when an income tax, made
atean estimate of former years of prosperity,
t
be collected at a period of unparallelled
teitvlT,BB. But having these considerations bearing
on his mind, yet when he looked at the
what condition condition of the country, and considered
That Pre the exigencies of the exchequer, and
depend" very possibility of a revival of trade
found :ed upon the condition of the treasury, he
the It impossible to withhold his support from
e Proposition of her Majesty's Government."
state ig, we must say, a slight confusion in this
are fully Pent of the hon. member's two considerations.
agree
with him both that the exigencies
el the exchequer, or of the nation, have a powerful
,„_4l°l upon statesmen, and that their being fully
t':°Yided for tends to the " revival of trade," and
Zrestoration of confidence amongst a commer-
• it community. But in order to produce such
th,36lllta some regard must be had to the nature of
tie sources by which the exigencies of the ex-
t, -Niter are to he supplied. A "revival of trade,"
ata restoration of commercial confidence, can
n nicely be effected by the levying upon the corn-
ynity of a tax whose " pressure is aggravated,"
.use being "made upon an estimate of former
lion of prosperity,"—what a heavy condemna-
.4" ef such a tax is here conveyed ?—it "has to
kirilected at a period of unparallelled distress ;"
vie 4r. Cardwell might have added, from a peo-
eide`!' Ignant at its injustice. This plea of con-
izi ration for the interests of commerce by victim-
anilteg_c_?minunities, we think will he admitted as
nati "sole; and little less happy is that urged on
°nal
vvitil . grounds. History does not furnish us
I,;!itietance of a nation being rendered power-
troin'a‘ne acquisition of a full exchequer wrung
INA z grudging people. On the other hand our
OptEtayLnals—not to go further—furnish us with
$1 sq;,,tances of attempted aggression from with-
le " and driven from its object by the spec-
ci, a People willing to bear the cost of their
t
nee. And, we would remind Mr. Card-
ale Of Tat Such is the spirit' in which the peo-
id o'iverpool would gladly contribute their
We oZveroment in the present crisis.
tali serve that the honourable gentleman is
ziosern "ed with the modification proposed by Mr.
Isio an. Its details are alleged to be imperfect.
ve
.legiz"itt4tiubt they may have been so. But there is
colt
M abilitons y enough in the British House of
trieoeonzoi to render perfect, or approaching perfee-
abilityl such measure. We have no fear of the
Parliament, if they would set themselves
ht _sy to the task, to get rid of the difficulties,
s)r they are, of providing a fair and just tax
40'4! operty and income; and it is not quite in
rethzniinsabfri:errebwtehiinatht obu.r. own views of the fairness of
tolda day to be withheld. We can
dtaoosetleaotnoe
kos mtupaprnesstcort
iobweah
uokami
tni
dlMhoref.
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