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74 &f)t ILCatiCt. [SATURDAY,
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PARLIAMENT.
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PROGRESS OF WORK DONE. HOCJ8E OV COMMONS...
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HISTOttY OF THE WEEK. The Stomp Duties B...
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Transcript
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Is France Hastening To A Crisis ? We Mig...
paradise . " Nor is the Roman spirit confined to the Capitol . The rebellious Bolognese refuse to attend Te Deums for the battle of Novara , refuse to hang out their festival embroidery ; but shut their windows and blinds as on a day of mourning , and provoke even clement Austria to " the most rigourous measures . " In Piedmont the ecclesiastical privileges are abolished , and the Papal nuncio puts an end to his relations with Turin . Verily the Papacy is decliningin spite of the return .
, The Greek question is yet unsettled . It is said The Greek question is yet unsettled . It is said that the Czar insists on the restoration of the vessels captured- by England before he will consent to any of Baron Gros ' s proposals . And of course the Czar must be consulted . Lord Palmerston surely wiU not bully him , even though the Czar insist upon a change of Ministers in Turkey , because the present Vizier is well-disposed to England . Diplomatic relations are not yet resumed between Turkey and Austria .
The Danish quarrel shows a likelihood of settlement ; at least of some temporary patching ; for Prussia is growing tired of the farce , having no further ends to answer by her love of German nationality . " The Erfurt flame is not yet quite burnt out . The Von Gagerns are very assiduously blowing at its embers : but , as if it were no more , Prussia looks out for other objects of affection ;
coquettes with Austria , and keeps up a secret correspondence with the Muscovite . Rumours come of offers from the Czar to occupy the Polish and Baltic provinces , and so leave Prussia free to employ her energies in the West . Russian barracks are rising along the Prussian frontier ; and it is said that plans have come to Berlin from St . Petersburg , in which even the cantonments of the Russian
troops are marked . The election contest in France is but a type of the European war to come ; a war in which the ' * Peace * ' party can certainly have no concern whether in its course or its results .
74 &F)T Ilcatict. [Saturday,
74 & f ) t ILCatiCt . [ SATURDAY ,
Parliament.
PARLIAMENT .
Progress Of Work Done. Hocj8e Ov Commons...
PROGRESS OF WORK DONE . HOCJ 8 E OV COMMONS . Bills Read a Fiasr Tim a . —Extra-Mural Interments Bill . Bills Rkau a Second Timb . —MedicalGhatities ( Ireland ) Bill—Pirates' Head Money Bill ( Lords ) . IN Committkr . — Stamp Duties IJill , an amendment rcducingthe scale of duties carried against Ministers by 101 to 135 . Motions . — Mr . Milncr Gibson ' s motion for the abolition of the taxes on knowledge was negatived by 190 to 89—Mr . Sluney ' fl motion for n committee to consider and suggest nuaiis of removing obstacles and giving facilities to safe investments for the savings of the middie and working classo-. curried .
Histotty Of The Week. The Stomp Duties B...
HISTOttY OF THE WEEK . The Stomp Duties Bill was discussed in committee , on Monday evening , and a number of clauses was agreed to , but the linal consideration of the measure was prevented by an important amendment being carried against Ministers . Sir Chaut . km Wood took considerable pains to show that in the bill before the House there was no increase whatever in any branch of the Stamp Duties , but that a considerable number of reductions had been made . The
obicct proposed was , to afford relief in transactions of' u small umount . They thought that a rich man , borrowing a large sum , might be fairly called upon to pay a higher proportional duty than a poor man borrowing a small sum ; the great mercantile house borrowing its £ 200 , 000 or £ 300 , 000 ought to pay a higher per contuge-duty than the humble shopkeeper borrowing his tew hundreds or his few tens . He calculated that the entire loss to the revenue , from the change , would be about £ 320 , 000 or £ 330 , 000 . Mr . Disua . ei . 1 was not at all satisfied with the
proposed measure . They were led to believe that its object was to relieve the smaller landed proprietors by a modification of the Stamp Duties ; and this was accepted as a very praiseworthy act on the part of the landed interest ; but now they were told that the relief to the smaller landed proprietors could only be given at the expense of the greater proprietors , by subjecting the latter to ad valorom duties . Had the Chancellor of the Exchequer repeated his original offer , to devote £ 300 , 000 o ( the surplus revenue to the relief of the smaller landed proprietors , this
-would have beta a boon to the agricultural interest ; but the mutter assumed a vory different shape when ho proposed to take the £ 300 , 000 out of the purses of the- l . irgo landed proprietors . Sir CnAiu . ua Woon ( Chancellor of the Exchequer ) dunied that the principle of the measure * * Jfe howprotiis' & JVta * different from what he formerly ' * " fXn ^ ie & Tf WJywtt 7 "h"Q brought forward the budget ho said ho wdtftl & QVV *^ make alteration in the Stam p Duties wlwJr ' wdujCT occasion a l ° es to tui - revenue of about £ 300 | p 00 ( jiivlmall sums ; that ho intended to adopt the n < fwlifc 6 ff principle throughout , the effect © C which would ^ fte to diminish the burden upon all transactions whiter £ 1000 or £ 1200 , uud to increase
cellor of the Exchequer , to Is ., the numbers were , for the motion , 151 ; against it , 135 : leaving the Government in a minority of 29 / As this adverse decision involved a principle applicable to mortgages and other parts of the measure , Sir Chari . es "Wood said ho must take time to consider what course he would pursue . The proposed reduction would involve a considerable loss of revenue . The House then resumed , the chairman reported progress , and the committee was fixed for next Monday .
the duty upon higher amounts . Mr . BxtiGHTdid not believe there was any reduction of taxation in the bill as it now stood ; and , however good the ad valorem principle might be , the rate proposed was much too high . After a desultory discussion which lasted some time , several clauses of the bill were agreed to . A division having taken place upon a motion by Sir Henry Wiixoughby to reduce the duty upon bonds under £ 50 from 2 s . 6 d ., as proposed by the
Chan-Mr . Mii-nek Gibson introduced his motion in favour of the repeal of the taxes on knowledge on Tuesday evening , by moving the following resolutions : — " Whereas all taxes which directly impede the diffusion of knowledge are highly injurious to the public interests , and are most impolitic sources of revenue , this House is of opinion" 1 st . That such financial arrangements ought to be made as will enable Parliament to repeal the excise duty on paper . " 2 nd . That it is expedient to abolish the stamp duties now payahle on newspapers in Great Britain and Ireland . " 3 rd . That it is expedient to abolish the duties now payable on advertisements in Great Britain and Ireland .
" 4 th . And that the customs duty on foreign books ought to be repealed . " Beforetentering upon a discussion of the resolutions he explained that he did not ask any Member to vote for the whole of them at once , but for each one separately . The first resolution called upon the House to declare its opinion that such financial arrangements ought to be made as will enable Parliament to repeal the duty on paper . The produce of this tax is about £ 800 , 000 a year , and that sum is not obtained without a vexatious interference , a constant prying and meddling with the entire busirestrictions
ness of the paper-manufacturer . Ihe on this branch of industry limit consumption , because they render us unable to compete with foreigners in neutral markets . No article employs a larger number of men , women , and children in its manufacture than the paper trade . Mr . Crompton has calculated that the repeal of the paper-duty would employ 40 , 000 additional people in London alone . The expendituie of £ 3000 a year by a newspaper , caused an expenditure of £ 15 , 000 a year on wages , a most important consideration at a time when the supply of labour was so much greater than the demand . But the worst evil arising from this tax is its effect in preventing the spread of cheap instruction among and the educational
the working classes , retarding efforts that are made by Parliament and individuals . The duty on the paper required for the Penny Cyclopedia , a book intended chiefly for the poorer classes , amounted to £ 10 , 500 . What an enormous sum to be levied on the publishing of one book ! How can legislators pretend to be in earnest in their anxiety for popular education , squabbling about church matters , and doling out a small amount annually for national schools , while they maintain so heavy a tax on the raw material of education ? During the last twenty years Charles Knight had spent £ 80 , 000 on literary labour , and £ 50 , 000 on duty on paper . Here is a tax on capital , and a still heavier burden on mind and talent : —
41 In the more expensive description of works the duty increases the risk of literary speculation . Suppose a man publishes a work , how is he to know how many volumes of the work may be sold ? He may have 1000 printed , but does he know that he may sell l 000 ? Every volume is to pay a tax , and if he only sells one or two hundred out of those thousand , he is to suffer a loss by the duty upon those that find no other end but by being sent to the Imtterman or cheesemonger . The Commissioners of Excise Inquiry dwelt upon this branch of the subject , and said that undoubtedly it was a great Injustice to mnke the publisher of a book pay duty on a
large portion of that for which he never got a sale . You do not treat the dealer in gin , brandy , and tobacco in this unjust way . Before they sell to the consumer you do not require' the tax , they may bond ; but when you are dealing with the publishers of books , who are as important a class as the dealers in gin , brandy , and tobacco , you proceed with a recklessness of injustice , it Bectns as if , because they may bo powerless in producing an effect on this House , and , because they may not have interest in the election of boroughs , and because the paper-manufacturers arc spread over the kingdom ,
and small , and , politically spoakinjr , powerless , you neglect the obvious principles of equity in the levying of your taxes . If wo ought to impose those faxes , they ought to exist with something like common justice , and we ou ^ ht not , by imposing a duty on the whole impression of the work to be published , so materially increase the risk of literary speculation , and deter men of intellect from giving the benefit of their talents to the community . " Parliamentary committees have already condemned the paper-tax , and lie could not help thinking that had tho honourable Member for Tumworth been in
office this heavy burden on knowledge would have followed the duty on glass . The amount of revenue derived from the newspaper stamp-duty was about £ 350 , 000 . Many people fancy that this is not too large a sum for the postal privileges which , newspapers enjoy ; but what he complained of was that newspapers had to pay for that privilege whether they used it or not . The Stamp-office has already adopted a distinction with scientific and humorous publications—the Atheneeum , the Builder , Punch , and others . There are no less than fifty-three registered newspapers in London
which , are printed and published with a portion of their impression unstamped : why not grant the same privilege to a # new spapers ? It is urged that the penny stamp is necessary in order to maintain the respectability of newspapers . There never was a greater absurdity . At present the most infamous trash is published in defiance or with the connivance of the Stamp-office , in cheap publications which pay no stamp- duty . As for the argument that the newspaper stamp is necessary to prevent political theories from being spread among the working classes it is equally absurd . The present system only prevents
news or information from being circulated without a stamp . There is no obstacle to the publication of the wildest theories , or the most reckless attacks upon public men . The great mission of directing the minds of the working class , in political matters , is thus left entirely to the unstamped press . The regular newspaper , with its penny stamp , is too dear for them . Lord Brougham had said that " if newspers , instead of being sold for a sixpence , can be sold for a penny , there would immediately follow the greatest possible improvement in the tone and temper of the political information for the people . " Lord Campbell went still further : he hoped the day would
come when newspapers would be published for a halfpenny . The penny stamp would be a tax of 100 per cent , on a penny paper , and 200 per cent , on a halfpenny paper ; and but for that , newspapers might be as cheap in England as in other countries . We might have a penny weekly paper , and , perhaps , a penny daily paper ; while many of the penny publications would , no doubt , become newspapers—furnishing the working man with information , not only respecting the political movements of the day , but also regarding the state of the labour market in different parts of the kingdom . Such newspapers would be of immense use for enabling the working classes to obtain accurate information about the
factory system , the Ten Hours Bill , and other questions where they were apt to commit mistakes from want of information . The advertisement-duty , which was another of the taxes on knowledge : — ** It is a tax of great inequality in its operation , and pressing with great unfairness on the poor—making the po « r servant pay as large an amount of advertisement duty on his application for a place as is naid by the rich proprietor who wishes to dispose of his estate , both paying the same amount , eighteenpence . I remember that Mr . James Mill put the question very clearly . He says that the old fashion was to advertize wares through the public crier , and he puts a case . Suppose that when the public crier was about to announce to the world the event in
sale of a bankrupt ' s stock , or some important the way of news , or to inquire after some lost child claimed by a distracted mother , the exciseman should bo close at his heels , and when he attempted to open his mouth , should stop him , and insist upon eighteenpencc as a necessary preliminary to each amiouncement ( for it is a tax upon speech , the only difference being that by being put on paper the announcement is given more correctly . ) But Mr . Mill goes on to say that the exciseman making such a demand would be met with universal execration ; indeed , he is not sure whether the people would not in such a case try physical force as a means of getting rid of him . Why , the advertisement duty is a monstrous tax upon calamity . You cannot advertise a subscription to a ragged school , or the sufferings of some deserving individual , without paying a large fine to the state . "
The amount which the revenue derived from this tax was only £ 150 , 000 a-year ; a paltry sum compared to the injury which it must do to trade , to industry , and to those in distress . The last resolution related to the tax on books , which produces only about £ 9000 a-year , a small sum in itself ; but amounting to a heavy per centage on the foreign books imported into England . Mr . Giiison concluded by moving his first resolution—desiring to take the opinion of the House upon the points severally .
Mr . Cowan , who seconded the resolution , was not ashamed to say that he owed all he possessed to the manufacture of paper . He described the serious injury inflicted on the trade by the heavy duty , and expressed his regret that nothing was to be done this session . When the deputation waited upon the Chancellor of the Exchequer , all the satisfaction they could get from him was that he could not do what was just and proper , in consequence of the state oi tho revenue .
Sir Ciiaulbs Wood objected to the repeal of these duties now on the ground that the revenue would not allow it ; and he objected still more strongly to g ymg any promise as to what might be done hereafter ,
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), April 20, 1850, page 2, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_20041850/page/2/
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