The Statesman.
London, England, 1818-12-08 00:00:00

helves to the claiming of this right in a peaceable
way, and in tumble and respectuons language. •M
'to the Pxtimaion of The Right of Suffrage to their or-
der, my humble opinion is, that it would only warm
the taapt-already laid upon them, and lead the way
to fresh impositions. They would obtain no influ.
enre from it in Parliament • though their masters and
cmptoyerx might : it wool wetter be to them ti means
of defence, bat it might become en instrument of of-
-here In tbs tends of theisto whose will they must
atabasit.
Those who have treated the scieneenf Govern-
ltnent on philosophical principles have said, that
every man hes a swiped right teenier), as much liberty
as he may be able to ezercise consistently with the
safety rd. the rights of others, end no more. This
limitation is feeinled in justice; and it is obvious
that it must Tar, accordiog le different cases; a 'clay
labourer, what depends on the will .or caprice of
another man for his doily aehsistence, is more likely
to abuse any Elective Franchise with which he may be
invested, than he who bas a sufficiency to make him
independent. if be pleases to be so. Five hundred'
artificers in the employ of a large manufacturer would
be expected to vote according to his dictetea; sod,
their critical &hoiden considered, florid, hardly be.
blamed for doing so ; what then amid be the result
of GenersiAolfrage iu sith a cm? Would,
paid industry from oppresolve Wallet% ? By we
.emess,—it redid only lucre's' Eh) piensa the NMI..
sectary interest of the gent Manufacturer, eef;
woks man's Whose, dangerous to its
kigloft of a Freeholder, vibe, though ,his freeholo-
- a thousand a year, wouldhave bat one vole.ri..
Can any thing be mface unjust than that men Jibe
themselves have no pf.operty, should be able,Ao in.
vest their Representdiee witb a power of voting away ,
the property of otters. Ido Dot estactly tuow the'
length that GenVral Stiffrage is meant to go. bat
Universal Suffrage, as set forth by Major Cain'.
WiclanT, for y.hoel I entertain, notwithstandiug,
snuck esteem, inasmuch so I believe him to be a very
honest but rirstaken Gentleman—Universal Suffrage,
I "peel r stends the right of voting even to the come
soon soldier, to the man, in short, who has no pro.
perry even in his own person,—to the man who has
carried hie own flesh end bloockto market, sold them
for einat he could get, and spent the money in vicious
disfipation ! Ought such a man to he trusted with the
74 lit of nominating a Representative, end investing
arias with the' power of giving away the property of
*NOM $
. I shall awe premed to tale exhibition of my author
shies, for the purpose of proving beyond ail power
of costar/Won, thatlaxation had always a reference
to property, and never was indicted, save only iu
the attempts at a Pali Taxon those who had none—
the emu of industry, the mats who derived his sole
support from the labour of bis lauds, having been
by the laws and customs of our ancestors, perfectly
free and exempt from all aids or subsidies raised by
aotherity of Parliament. 'the first author I shalt
spaote is the Marquis of II ALIANA.Z. who, in the year
1694 arsinie an Essay on Tales, which is published
4a the foutb volume of Lord Somers' Tracts, from
..-Mhence the following passages are taken
" As to the matter of aids our ancestors have ob-
'erred these roles :—First, they mast not consist of
Airings of consort NICESSITY Or LIVELIIIOoD, but
Vetof superfluity. Secondly, they must not bur.
oer Duties commodities and manufactures.
Tttirdly, they have always avoided to impose on
-.things wherein the People bad no benefit or 'Riven.
test, but rather on land, trade, and other gainful
64prOfIROINISS. Fourthly, they have always avoided
mew and foroigst tales, and when proposed, have
declared they could not grant them without advising
with those that sent them, and several rebellions have
happened on this occasion." I must take leave to
...swileark here, (bat I concur in Lord lIALLITAx's in-
terpretation of the words 66 peregiaus et impositionet"
which is contrary to that of Sir EDWARD CORes,
who renders it impositions on foreigners, or on fa.
reign merchandise. The causes of rebellion here al.
hided to, thew that this was not the thing meant, but
that it was foreign precedents in the way of taxation,
end particularly of the Poll Tax, which excited the
%w-Fs of our ancestorsond drove them to open resistance
Aglinst t heGovernmeut. To return to this writer, he in.
Terms us—that greet allowances were made to the
INlnbles for their port, and the support of their
dignities, but tirtne to the rich usorer, or tradesman,
or consideranle frehoider, whose estate is generally
in his own bands, because they had no need to keep
up such dignity, and that the subsidy, if coulined to
201. for WOOL was called a spareable part ; and as to
ihe common artificer and labourer, says e, " they
were usually esemptecl, unties by reason of money
or personal estate they fAI withiu the 'toddy, never-
theless (says he) in the Poll Acts, which came bet
rarely, these inferior sorts were sometimes brought
in tobeer their part."—Fortber on he says, "As to
the equality of. imposition this has been strictly ob.
served, being always the same rate in the pound.—
iNleverthelvis with such qualifications and exceptions
\sonde )(rather a moral equality than a mathematical
one, hiving respect to the conditions of, the persons,
ta I have before showed, and limiting the sums both
lot real and personal estates, below which
.they
should not be chergedl&e.&e."—so that if an artificer
did by the eiertions of bis industry ocquire en estate,
either real or personal, still be was not taxed unless
that estate amounted to a certain income.
Respecting the Marquis of HattraX, I think it right
to say, that he was a man of such ability and in-
tegrity, that the Upper Hesse in the Convention
Parliament, which certainly acted free from any Go-
vernment influence, chose him as the properest per-
son to discharge the office of Speaker, under circurn.
stances of peCuliar difficulty. In the Rolls of Par-
liament, vol. IL pages 446, 447, and 448, are several
documents respecting the manner in which subsidies
were assessed : one in particular, written in Norman
French, respects a subsidy granted to EDWARD 111.10
the seventh year of his reign ; it begins thus—
" Gee est la forme quote les .dsseours d Taxours de
Quine : eyrie grannie a N. S. k Rai deivent gander,
asteer, taxer, a lever." It orders that the chief
tams shall cause to come before them the most die.
croon persons in each city, burgh, and title in the
coaisty, and from them choose four or five persons
VW shall be sworn to make a fair valuation of every
Iwo property upou oath, proceeding thus free
lifOrfired to hundred ; and out of this valuation are
alas eacepted " the UMW* the siding-hems, the ,