Bradford reporter. [volume] (Towanda, Pa.) 1844-1884, 1855-04-28
The Abolition of the British Stamp Duty

The Abolition of the British Stamp Duty.
The abolition of the British stamp duty by
the British Parliament will tend to cheaper the
press Of Great Britain, and bring its advantages
within the reach Of the humbest of the popula-
ton. There is no such thing known in Eng
land as newspapers afforded at as low a cost as
the penny papers of the United States though
the city of London, by its dense population and
It's 9ref.t business, would now be one Of the We
~ best fields in the world for the establishment
of such cheap paper Hitherto the newspa-
pers OF Great Britain have been subjected to a
stamp duty OF one penny for each number, equal
to nearly two cents of our currency This tax,
for the acre privilege of publishing a newspa-
per, put it out Of the power of any publisher to
give the masses Of England as cheap reading as
the people in our large cities enjoy through the
penny papers. The prices of the English news
papers being high, the circulation of them has
also been limited, and in the whole kingdom
there is not as many copies of newspapers pub
Shed as in some one Of our cities In return
for the payment Of this stamp duty, the news
papers had free transmission through the
mail. This duty on one hand and free postage
on the other have operated altogether to the
benefit Of the London press. A union of mo-
noycd power there succeeded in building up
large establishments, such as the Times news
paper, and it enjoyed almost monopoly Of the
business, for the stamp duty effcctually cut off
the most formidable competition. 1t enjoyed
another advantage, excluding the wholesome
effect of competition, in the duty on advertise
ments, which made advertising so costly that
It was necessarily confined to a single newspa-
per, and that the one having the largest circu-
lation. This built up profitable business for
the Times, and, On the abolition of the adver-
tiscment duty, advertisers still found it the most
advantageous to continue their advertising in
newspaper coafcSscdly the greatest in circua-
ton and in influence
The removal Of the stamp duty now opens
for the first time, newspaper publishing in Great
Britain to free competition, and the effect will
soon be felt throughout the kingdom. Instead
of having one Thundcrer," rejecting the SEN
timcnts of only one class of the public, there
will now be started newspapers through which
will be heard the public opinion of the nation,
and particularly that portion of the English
nation which, by its physical industry at home,
contributes so largely to its wealth. and does
nearly all its hardest fighting abroad, and yet
has but a very limited control of the acts of
the government, which affect so powerfully the
social and physical condition Of the industrial
population. As these masses become more in
telligent, through the teachings of the cheap
press, and better informed in regard to the
workings of the Government there will be a
powerful sentiment, not now felt, operating up-
ON public legislation, and out of free discussion
in the press, which English liberty sustains so
proudly and so grandly, there will come many
amchorationS in the political condition of the
nation which will tend to greater equality of
condition among the people, and be the best
security, by the gradual accomplishment of
these charges, of the stability of the govern
ment. The preponderating influence of the
Times is probably lost forever, though its abli-
ties will always command their proper respect
and.power. 1t is upon these that it must here
after depend, for the protection which it enjoy
cd from the Government is gone, and it finds,
even in its vast business, restriction under
the law other newspapers are free from Be
sides losing the benefit of the stamp duty which
excludes competition, it will be, in effect, sub
jected to double postage, inaslnuch as a single
stamp will cover only its regular sheet of read
ing matter and its advertising supplement will
require another ; while other newspapers, which
have 10 supplements, will be subjected to no
corresponding tax. Since the passage of the
new bill, new daily newspapers are announced
in nearly all the thickly populated towns, some
at penny and some at half-penny.