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Leader (1850-1860), 29th November 1856, Edition 2 of 2, Page 11

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      S V H C Y E H A V N A F O P F C 1 A C ] ...

      a right to a peerage , —for him that would be tit a promotion downwards , —a disqualification co : for taking the best place in a political lead , du But he would have a right to expect that , if of he accented the invitation , and if he nro- su ; duced his scheme of Parliamentary action , Hi he should receive a strong and united sup- be port for himself and his measures . th r _ + rt the of He been to

      November 29 A 18b6.] The Leader. 1189

      November 29 a 18 B 6 . ] THE LEADER . 1189

      Iffisponsibilities Of Libekalism In De F...

      IffiSPONSIBILITIES OF LIBEKALISM IN de FRANCE . mi It may be assumed , we suppose , that the sc liberal party in . France is not engaged solely th in ridiculing and hating the Empire . In the ha course of nature it will have to appoint the av successor of "Louis Napoieon- —the President or the King representing the .- recovered th independence of the French nation . That is opportunity may not be far distant , but it wl were better deferred for lialf a century than H that France should not apply her Freedom to a in wiser use than in 1848 . That year was made si illustrious by a demonstration of public vir- cl tue such as France has not since displayed ; If but it was , nevertheless , a year of error—not p < of incidental error only , but of error based fi < on principles which were long ago adopted sj by the nation , but which , the nation may d ] have now learned to discard . Cardinally , V the Republic rendered its own existence im- tl possible by calling to its councils men who rt neither expected nor understood it r but who m aimed at ensuring its dissolution . Such men m were among the framera of the Constitution , p They purposely planned a weak political ma- c < chinery ; they knew it must fail | they were p only disappointed when they found that a g band of obscure adventurers , " : up on the ruin . t < of the IR , epu"blic , seized ilie positions which fi they , its hypocritical friends and founders , fi long known to Fraace and to her statesmen , I hoped to fill . They placed tlie electoral law 1 < at the mercy of the reaction ; they agitated t the countxy , that the country might yearn j for repose ; they were allowed by their generous dupes , tlie more honest and less crafty i republican leaders , to create objects of ridi- < cule in public institutions ; they voted an 1 ideal ; they vested power in an uncontrolled - executive ; they confided the government to a liOUis 1 STAPOI . EON in such a form as convinced i intelligent observers among tho ranks of i statesmen especially , that , -whatever the ^ change might be , some great change was in- ] evitable at the expiration of his presidential i term . These were some of the reasons -why ,. in December , 1851 , each party was meditating its coup d ' etat . Fatigue had done much , fear did the rest ; and , while tlie royalists were awaiting their recal , the Empire , born in the night , overshadowed France , and possessed bhe ground for which expectant parties ¦ were preparing to contend . But other causes must have been active . There must be reasons , deep in history , why 3 ? rance , after sixty years of progress , submitted to the humiliation of the Empire , temporary as it may be . Louis Na . poiiEOir , undeniably , represents something , some weakness , some vice of the nation . Xothiiig that happened between 1 S-1 S and 1 S 51 suffices to explain how France , which in 1850 possessed a National Griiard of two millions and a half of men , of whom two millions . were armed with firelocks , should bo sup pressed , silenced , disarmed , by a man who , four years before , had come , poor and powerless , to solicit hei suffrages . M . de Tooquevii-le , in his work on France "before tho Bevolution , ascribes many of the misfortunes of the French people to their preference of equality boforo liberty . This opinion had been frequently put forward ; and , by candid writers , its truth is not denied . The extenuating argument urged in reply is , that the existence of privileged orders up to the had the is in If , to . , I - - ¦ ¦ - l I 3 : 1 , f e i- il t ,. i- i , ; s n 3- 3 s e . iy > c , D- io ig if- 50 us ns ip io , > r- ice ho eir his xl ; ed . is , to

      THE The " the of and tha "ben for on ' in the him > > the 3 are - yet ; T his . i p 1 3 3 is i - f b c s 1 of > t a t t - I . Le 3 . r . r- a is se : h . id 3 _ , 1 S : y » h 3 b m 3 d ir- ad u , t a , ve he es , ice pi- re- nt , for ; he ct , ith ta- lor the cc- tbo hnt , han end of the last century , and the great relief Tl consequent upon their destruction , had in- Ti duped the Prench to exaggerate the benefits su equality . M . de TocqtjevtlItE himself "be supplies ample justification of this remark . th < shows that , if the French people have of , misled by a passion for equality , all an those classes of persons believing themselves "thi be something better than people , had been sb depraved by the appetite for privilege . The co : middle classes , despised "by the nobles , "be scorned the tiers etat . If retribution were foi true object of political change , France on suffered more than she has ever since 'k avenged . '¦' ¦¦ ¦/ In Reform , however , and not retribution , is po "true object of political change . T 3 ut what in the animating thought of all those liberals mi who pant for the downfal of the Empire ? tli Have they spent the period of their sorrow pr preparing for the day in which France hi shall be released and suffered once more to m choose laws and administration for herself ? th they have riot , if the public in France is ar persuaded that they have not , that is a suf- y < ficient plea for the continuance of the existing cl system . We are well aware that every party h : dreads to be the successor of the Empire , ci When the unnatural tension ceases—when p the men " who have been irretrievably injured tl return to France -with nothing but the tl memory of their wrongs— -when tlie gigantic is mockeries of the past five years have been o : popularly exposed—when the necessity of re- ai constructing the State , and the Opportunity of C punishment have arrived together , with vast c < gaps in finance to restore , and large classes lc appease , which the Empire lias maintained o : from artificial funds , there will be work to do u from which temerity itself might shrink ; but a France is worth the labour and the risk . At least it is the duty of the liberal party not a to let the new crisis come upon them un- t prepared . ¦ '• ' . ¦" They knew what was the part taken by M . r de TocQTJEviiiiE during tlie debates on the t Constitution , and during the siege of Home , e But he is not less their historical Mentor , c They cannot refuse to hear "M . de Mok- ¦ d TAXEMBEiiT , when he utters that which is c worthy . of himself and his age , merely because £ they remember that in the tribime which t was struck from under his feet he had ' < preached tlie doctrines of reaction , and pro- i moted the interests of conspiracy . M . de i TocQUEViiiiE , then , may "be listened to as ^ though he had never been false to the liberty } lie affects to love . He tells the French ] liberals that it is their task to establish freedom , and that freedom will give them whatever equality is possible in an organized community . They have not only to extirpate privileges , but to acknowledge and sanction rights ; not to destroy authority , but to- distribute it ! " The idea of forming a single class of all tho citizens would have pleased Richelieu , " said Mirabeau . The confusion of classes , the abolition of titles , the punishment of old middle-class arrogance by new working-class ostentation , the annihilation of artificial aristocracy , without replacing it by any other balancing element , all this may be effected ; the passion for equality may be satisfied ; but while " the love of freedom frequently changes its aspect , wanes and waxes , grows or declines , with the course of events , " any constitution established in Franco , must be liable to suffer from tho perfidy of its magistrates and the folly of its natural-defenders , These are somo of the preliminary Toflections that occur when wo ask—How aro tbo liberal party in Franco preparing for that opportunity which must corao , and may come sooner than they hope—sooner even than they dcaire ?

      The Uismg Against The Income-Tax. The In...

      UISmG AGAINST THE INCOME-TAX . Income-tax is one of the badges of the subjugation of the English people . It has become aretribution for the working class upon middle class , although in truth some part the working class suffers from it directly , multitudes indirectly . It is not a tax t any people would impose-upon its own shoulders . A ratable contribution out of income or means , indeed , is what a community t upon raising cash might very well devise itself . We have known cases of rates levied that principle ; as , for example , in the land-ward parishes of Glasgow . But the Income-tax is not an impost assessed in proportion to income and means ; it is assessed ^ proportion to income and means . The man of 99 / . 19 s . per annum pays nothing ; man of 100 ? . Is . pays 61 . 13 s . 4 d . The professional man , whose business compels / to live in an . expensive manner ^ drags money out of his pocket for expenses which . Commissioners would not recognize , they so mingled -with personal expenditure ; lie has to pay the saine rate which , is charged upon the independent man , who gets money as if it were from heaven , and can choose his residence in . the cheapest lace he can find . .. ' . The Englishman of ' just three hundred jpounds a year , ' basking on the shores of Sicily , and the Englishman who constantly overtaking the day amid the omnibuses , cabs , and eating-houses , the rates and taxes of London , are treated aa equals , Certainly the men themselves would not reognizeany such quality . The liOndoner would loot upon the Anglo-Sicilian as a gentleman ease ; the Anglo-Sicilian would look down upon the Xiondoner asa ¦ person' obviously in lower grade of society . The still humbler classes have not escaped ; although there is a profession of relieving them . At the city meeting on Saturday , Mr . Winoceii stated his own case . He is in receipt of just a hundred a year , but he has to support four children , a blind wife , and an aged grandmother ; and in no sense could he be considered a fit subject for such tax . " We have within our own knowledge eases of people wlio have been charged without even the legal pretext , but charged peremptorily . One is a man who supports himself and wife upon 701 . a year , but they have a son , who is in a perfectly separate employment , supports himself , and does but lodge with his parents ; yet because the income of the lodger is also some 701 . a year , the father is called upon to pay the tax upon 1402 . Another is a man who , making but YOZ . or 802 ., is gradually drifting into insolvency ; but the Commiss ' ioneiy seeking whom he may devour , chooses to assume that the man ' cannot' support himself and family , in the house they occupy , under something above 100 / . a year ; so tax is charged ; and the man is relieved only by the consummation of his insolvency . Nor are these isolated cases ; columns , pages could bo filled with the recital . ¦ ¦ t . "Why is it that the tax is so unjustly administered ? All Income-tax commissioners arc not wioked men . In some places the collectors may "be harsh and dishonest , but in others they exercise a fairness , a carefulness , and a transparent honesty which receives but little credit in their pay . "Why is it then . that commissioners and collectors appear to bo in a conspiracy for the purpose ot miixing an unjust tax . It is because the tax is in its very nature unjust ; and the effort to develop ita full resources drags its iniquity at the very roots . In our extremely coraphcatcd trading and social system , it is abso lutely impossible either to ascertain the uicome of individuals , or to classify the enormous variety . For those two reasons alone ¦ ¦

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 29, 1856, page 11, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_29111856/page/11/