The Rutland herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1850-1852, 1850-06-13
TERMS PkN YEAR.
TAXES ON KNOWLEDGE IN
GREAT BRITAIN.
ny J. u. SYN

open the press. This screw acts with
a fertinacious, suppressivc gravity
upon the press Of great Britain, re.
tarding the progress Of the mind and
the interchange Of free thought among
the very class that the aristocratic
faction brands with ignorance when
they demand the righ, of enfrapchisc.
ment. In the year 1S4S there was
duty Of about forty thousand dollars
levied upon foreign books-not books
Of British authors that had been sur,
reptitiously published abroad and
sought admission here for a market,
but chiefly French, German and 9th.
er European productions that came
to supply our authors for literary pur.
poses, and our libraries for the use Of
the poor students. On paper alone,
in 1896, duty Of nearly four mill.
ions Of dollars was paid. For adver.
tisements nearly one million Of duty,
and for newspaper stamps about two
millions. The duty upon foreign
books is vcxatious and oppressive in
90 far as it tends TO circumscribc the
operations Of AUTHORS, who are the
medium through which our neighbors'
minds arc revealed to MS; but its cf
fects are not so generally vicious and
absurd as those Of the paper and ad.
vcrtisemcnt duties. II you wish to
start public journal in Great Britain
you arc taxed for telling the people
your intention Of doing so at the ra te
Of one shilling and sixpcncc sterling
for each advertisement over and above
the publishers charge; then they pay
tax Of three half.pcnce per pound on
the paper, and one penny Of stamp
duty upon each Iaper published
A newspaper circulating 10000 CO.
pies daily, pays the Government for
paper duty alone, about 10000
w. & Il. Chambers, in remon.
STRANGE to the Government. state that
the cost of their series of Tracts was
c25,766 sterling-of which sum,
f5.43l were for paper duty, being
nearly four times as much as was paid
for authorship, and nearly half as
much as the cost Of printing. These
publishers solcmnly declare that the
Government by their i,npost, derive
more profit from this one enterprise Of
educating The people, than they did
who had all the labor and risk.
The triple tax upon newspapers,
which 80 circumscribcs their circula,
don, is enforced by heavy penalties;
and the Government assumes to die
tate what a newspaper ANY pub
6cation sold at less than sixTcuce-
occupying less than two large sheets
-pubished at intervals not exceeding
t~rnty-one days-and containing an
account Of public events, or CONNIE n,
thereon--is declared to be a newspa.
per, and taxed accordingly. Any
person possessing one number Of an
unstamped newspaper is liable to o
penalty Of twenty pounds sterling,and
Tor distributing copies Of the same, &
a penalty Of fifty pounds sterlins.--.
A printer having copy, forfeits al
his presses and typecases to the "a
ternal law; and his premises can bt
broken opep: upon the suspicion OF
his having such paper. The stamp
duty uron q paper at fourpence half
penny, the general price in Grea
Britain, is upwards Of twenty pei
cent;.a very pretty profit truly. The
advertisement duty is most dispro
portionate and indiscriminate one also
tor the poor girl who, in Eve line
61geois, asks leave to toll, pays a
much to the rapacious treasury al
does the quack for his half column
small piea.
1t Is no wonder that the press o
Great Britain generally treats uncn
franchise with scom. That pres
is almost under the control Of tn
n,oneycd class. A large capital mus
at the very outset Of Q newspaper
career, be sunk TO meet the imper
tive demand Of the kings tax gath
crcr At the door, and caationers mus
be found ready to pay down the fine
that the Law may see fit to exact fo
cases Of libel. 1t is no wonder tn,
the Times" cheers on Haynau, an
delames Kossuth and Mazzini. 1t
an instrument Of Q few capitalist
whose wealth depends upon tho ST
biity Of the brutal desrOtism to who'
they have lent it to suppress hbeIt,
No poor man, be he . Thomas Ca'
lyie OF William Hewitt, can publis
IN independent paper here. Our n
olest hearts aud brightest minds ma
write, bu, the rich determine VIII