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THE PARLIAMENT OF THE WEEK . FINANCIAL DEBATE—DEFEAT OF THE MINISTRY . After four nights' debate of the Budget , Ministers have been defeated by a narrow majority of 19 , in a House of 595 members . The debate was resumed by Mr . Davisokt , who , ** as member for Belfast , " approved of it . Mr . Cobden , iii prefacing an extended exposition of
some of his viewn on taxation , observed that the question ( the House-tax ) did not touch the constituents of tho member for Belfast ; it touched the taxation of the people of England , who though subjected to Belfast competition , were burdened witli u tax from which their competitors were free . Mr . Cobden then approached tht ; general question , giving a telling description of tlie incidence of the House-tax .
" I say , on tho part of Froe-trade ™ , that we do not object to direct taxation when it is shown to an that it is levied equally ofl nil descriptions of property ; and whon it is shown that a direct lax in one which is beneficial to all tho interests of tlit * country . Hut wo do not rccogiiisu tho grievances of gentlemen opposite , or any claim arising out of Free-tradu which entitles them to come and levy a tax on property in the towns in order to roliovo property in the country from taxation —( cheem)—for that would be u onesided , partial , and unjust sy . slom , and just tho kind of system which wo havo been Btrugglinjj for the hist fourteen
years to Rot ml of by tho rnpoal of tho Corn-laws . ( Hoar , hoar . ) That would be adopting tho odious principle of compensation . ( Hear , hoar . ) We deny that tfciitlornon opposite Imvo Buttered any loss wh ich entitles thorn to coma to thin Houbo and unit lor exemption from any tux that ' other persons pny . Tho proposal now made with regard to the I Louse-tax is most unjust . What do you propose ? You imposo a Property-tax of three per cent , on all land and on all houses . You noxt go to Kchudulo A . You lay on an additional Jlouso-tax of nineix-iico in tho pound , making tho tax on Iiouhch to be at tlio rnto of tlj por cent ' , additional an ajrainot throe per cent , on land . Thou you t
Bay , VVo wanmoro money by direct taxation , ' and you come witli your ncheine of compensation , or rather , 1 nhould call it spoliation ; and you go to Hchedulo A again , and lay on another nirutponce in tho pound on I » ouh « h , or another « lj per cent ., thus making the tax 104 per cunt , on houaen as against threo per cent , on land . \ Uit that is not a . 11 ; for wo all know that in muking an assessment on real property and on housoH . you iiwwnh houses at a less numbor of years ' purchase than you do land ; for land is usually usnoased at 30 yeara' purchase , while . hoiiNoa are only ussossod at 16 years'purcha «»; ftnd , thoreforn , if you lovy the uuno tax on botk of tliwM , yoi * ciuuto a double prwmuro of Luxation
If you invest £ 1000 in laAfl < uq . g | dSlQDO in houses , while the one is assessed at jp ) years' purchase and the other at 15 , if you lay the earn * tfix on bdth of them , it is in fact double on the sum inverted , making actually 10 £ per cent , more ; and that brings the whole amount you levy on houses up to 21 par cent . * and that is what you propose to leyy on houses as against three per cent on lana . " This was reviving the contest between town and country . Tlxe tax would be especially oppressive on the saving artisan ; such men as had through the gency of Freehold Land Societies purchased cottages worth 101 . a yenr . Mr . Cohden then referred to the Malt-tax- He agreed with Mr . Disraeli that it was a
tax for the consumer ; but it was also a grievance on the producer . Therefore , if the revenue could afford it , he would abolish the Malt-tax ; but he objected to the repeal of one-half : he objected to halving an excise tax . Also , he did not believe that beer was a necessary of life—indispensable to the health and strength of the labourers . A "large , a growing , and an influential body" [ the Teetotallers ] held it pernicious ; and high medical authorities had testified the same . Thus , the House-tax would press on many unbenefited by the repeal of half the Malt-tax . Even if the House-tax were passed , it could not be maintained : the agitation
against it would be continuous , and should be successful . Touching the Hop-duty the policy of repealing one-half was particularly paltry and trifling ; the tax was uncertain and insignificant , while it was cumbrous and costly in collection ; the total repeal was plainly the proper course . "With regard to the distinction between the taxes on permanent and precarious incomes made in the Budget , he . gave the Government all credit for a course , remarkable as coming from the " territorial " party . But this good part of the Budget was leavened by a miserable , paltry attempt to get a special benefit for the tenant-farmer ; instead of charging the
tax on one-half his rent , you charge it on one-third , when it is clear that the farmer ' s income is in all ordinary cases much more than one-third of his rent . Direct taxation was good , but let it be on all incomes and all property : let there be no exemptions ; but this was impossible while you had indirect taxation pressing heavily on the receivers of 6 inall incomes and the labouring class . In some instances , the new Incometax would , act thus : a farmer paying 2801 . a year rent for 250 acres of land , having horses , cows , and sheep , and employing labourers , would pay no Income-tax ( one-third of his rent not being 1001 . a year ) , while the
poor clerk in a town , living on 100 ? ., should pay 5 ^ cl . in the pound . The advocates of Free-trade were not necessarily the advocates of direct taxation—that was a distinct question : nor were they always seeking low prices : they sought abundance , which sometimes by suggesting a demand , increased rather than lowered prices . Mr . Disraeli called beer a necessary of life ; and iiow was he going to cheapen it ? By raising the price , of lodgings . Were not lodgings as necessary jis beer ? A new name also had been found for
Freetrade— " unrestricted competition "—he objected to the name : Free-traders had a right to choose the name of their own party . Mr . Cobden , after pointing out the injurious nature of the soap and paper , duties , concluded by hinting ( " even though culled a Quaker for doing so" ) at the late increased expenditure [ Tor national defences ] . He admitted that oi > this account and others the extension of direct taxation was necessary ; but be could not see any direct tax he could substitute for the Malt-tax .
Lord John Mannekh claimed special credit for . the distinction in the Budget betweon precarious and permanent incomes , and anticipated from the remission of half the Malt-tux an increase in tho consumption ol the " line old English beverago" of beer . Hero Mr . Rich and Mr . Lowe rose together . There were loud cries for " Lowe , " but ho £ tivo way . Mr . Rich allowed , from the proportion of malt used ill making beer , that the proposed alteration would alFoot tho price of strong 1 l > eer one ]> euny por gallon , and cheap beer scarcely ono farthing per pot . Mr . Lowe , taking a wide view of the circuinstanceH of the country , and . showing tlio surplus that hud arisen under the present system , denied the necessity
of a change iu our financial system . Hut , this proposed change seemed bused on the anticipation that our present unexampled prosperity Would continue uneheckod . Tho proverbial zeal of convert ** had led Mr . Disraeli to this sanguine view . Look ut this emigration of our people ; it Wtt » rapid enough . Ho did . not wish to hud it increased ; and he dopnrated l , he impulse tlmt would bo given to it by measures Hiir . lt art the Uiulget , which would forcibly siufgcut to thu people U |« t there wore countrios whoru thc . ro was uu Houhctnjt , no Inoome-tiix , no HHneHtwd-taxOHj no uxfiinQ . Tho Mult-tax ]> ro ]> os ( M . l to be partly remitted was a tux easily levied ; coumimerH had never objyctud to i ' # und ( , ho reunion of half tho duty would not cheapen tho < jont of beer , for tho monopoly of tho bruwuvB prevent yd . tho
of the reduction had passed into the hands of the brewers although it was manifest , without going into details , that the brewers could have afforded a considerable reduction to the consumer . How was it that prices were kept up notwithstanding the diminution in the cost of production ? The thing was very simple . Persons with large capital possessed themselves of all the public houses , and let them to tenants , with whom they made a stipulation with regard to profits . He believed the profit on London porter was 4 s . per barrel ; and considering the expenses incurred by the tenant for rent , gas , &c , that was an allowance which would never be submitted to if the retail dealers were not entirely in the brewers' hands . The result of the system was a large amount of adulteration . There was another
unrestricted competition that could alone cause a reduction in . the cost of prpduction to act Upon the price " There was not in this country such an iron monopoly or one so difficult to deal with , and so growing , as that of the brewers . It was gaining strength every day ; the trade was constantly getting into fewer hands ; the system was becoming better and better organised : and the notion that by taking 16 d . off the cost of a bushel of malt they would materially lower the price of malt liquor , while that liquor had to pass through the hands , of wealth y monopolists , waa entirely fallacious . Let them , look a little at the past . Malt had been very much cheapened by the repeal of the corn-laws ; and yet every one knew that the consumer had not been benefited in the least . The whole
class of brewers wh © ,-faanufactured beer , which was sold by the retail dealers under the name of bitter beer . He did not know what were the terms on which these gentlemen made beer ; but he did know that both the quart and the pint were getting less , and be supposed that by-and-by they would come down to the size of medicine-bottles . That was the state of the brewing-trade ; and he asked the " House what better proof they could have of the existence of an iron and inexorable monopoly , which left the retail dealer no choice between one of two courses—either to adulterate himself or to leave the liquor genuine , and take
oil about a fourth of the quantity r Jnow , if that were the state of the case , what chance was there that any part of the lQd . which they were going to take off malt M'ould find its way into the pocket of the consumer ? He thought it would descend , like other reductions , into the pocket of the brewer . There was one course open , without which any reduction of taxation would be absurd and useless , and that was , to break up the brewers' monopoly . But how was that to be done ? If the House were really anxious to give the people cheap beer , let them do away with the system of licensing—let them allow any shopkeeper to sell beer across the counter like any other article . "
It was also objectionable in the proposition , that the remission was not to take place till the 18 th of October . This revision of taxes not to take effect for some time was " a system of post-obits ; it was raising immediate popularity , and drawing bills on futurity to pay the cost . " But the effect of the system in this case would be , that the reduction in the Malt-taut , instead of affecting the year ' 53 , would not act until ' 54 ; and thus Mr . Disraeli relieved himself by saddling the deficiency on the Chancellor of the Exchequer for 1854 . He could not anticipate that the expense of the harassing contest in Katl'raria waa at an end . As to the Exchequer Loan Commission , he regarded the matter in this point of
view"The Government had borrowed money on Exchequer Bills in order to lend it out , and they had lent it out at a profit . But , now , was that a legitimate financial operation ? Ho maintained the contrary . It would not be legitimate for an individual , and it could not be so for a nation . Ho would auppose a gentleman to be possessed of a lar ^ o farm , and to Imvo no ready money ; he would suppose him to havo an opportunity of putting ono of his sonn to great advantage in business , but that 6 ( XX ) Z . was required for that purpose ; ho would suppose him to Imvo mortgaged
his estate to tho extent of the 5000 J ., on the condition that his son should repay him by instalments according to bin ability ; and lastly , lie would suppose tho son to havo prospered in tho world , and fa have continued refunding tho money until ho had repaid the whole , H « aslcwl live House whether a person in . that situation , having a landed estate , as they had in thin island , and having a poHtmity , as they had , to provide for , would bp acting ay u ciuolul , prudunt father of a family , if n « he received tho . se inslalmcritH ho spent them as part of his income ; or whether he ought not to carry them to tho accountof the mortgage .
Mr . Mills opined , from the " universal murmur of dismitiHiaction" with which tho Budget had been received , that it " must have been conceived in a wpirit of impartial justice ; " but he objected to the increase , though not to tho extension , of tho House-tax , . special ly as tho Malt-tax for which it was substituted wan not coinpluined of by the consumer . Mr . Bash defended the brewers ; theiv was no monopoly ; the dements of success in the trade were , superior skill , good management , and tho usual advantage * ( lowing from largo capital . Tho proposed remission of hall ' the . Malt-tax would bo beneficial to both beer-consumers and barley-growers---- . Micro
" For himself , ho hud tlo hoHlluHon in Hay ing that would bo a reduction of from 4 m . to » 5 « . a barrel , according to the wtrongth of khn boor . ( lluur , h * ur . ) Light buer , of rou wo , would , uut l > t . w so lurg »> a . veduntion « n . nl . roni £ Itoor- ( luughtor ) --and it would ) w quito u » rouHonnl > h' to expect any lurgo reduction in tho price of pal «> a' 1 ' - Hhouthi of laughter grouted this uh ' nouncomctit of Ihohongentleman ' * , that in tho particular article for which l » o ih ho fuinouB , the public would not' « Kp « ri « nro « ny groat iwnolit from tho reduction of l , homull , duty . ] ( , Lord A . V&xn uuprovud of tho Jjudgot . Mr * * .
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1198 THE READER . [ Saturday , - ¦ ' ¦ - ' " ¦• • —in . y ' j" 3 " "' i ¦ " ' ' ¦ ' - ¦ —— _ '
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The aggressive preparations of France continue to expand , and the only question is , where they shall first take effect . The Rhine is the point popularly looked to . Napoleon is devoting his attention to the formation pf fU ) ^ orpiOus army , and is unscrupulous in finding th © means . Our correspondent ' s assurance , given months ago , that state lotteries are to be revived , will goon be verified , and the shocking traffic in . demoralization will aid in swelling the treasury . To the military developments Louis Napoleon attends personally . A new invention of his own will render the artillery uniform in calibre and very powerful . By a new plan of recruitment , the whole of the adult male population of France will be rendered available as an army 3 , 760 , 000 strong . No man makes engines on such a scale without a proportionate purpose . Before this fact the other foreign news appears insignificant . Pleased with the submission of Belgium , Napoleon graciously regrants the commercial treaty , and in her coals , restored to favour , Belgium may conceal her tears for the loss of independence .
Spain pauses in her coup-d ' etat . The Royal household is not quite strong enough to seize absolute power ; and Spain is not civilized enough to be concentrated for seizure in a single night . In more distant lands , the news is like a repetition of old reports . In the United States they aver that the Japan expedition is to set out ; and hence infer that Cuba will occasion no pretext for difficulties . At the Cape , more war , with no prospect of an end . On the Rangoon , more war , pedantic old General Godwin taking it coolly . It is evident that both wars will outlast our floods at home .
In California and Australia , gold working continues to make progress ; the produce of Australia within the current year probably exceeding 10 , 000 , 000 / . sterling ; and most of it passing first through the hands of working men ! Think of that , men struggling fer sixpence a-day more , to dig up black coal from the darksome pit !
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 18, 1852, page 1198, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1965/page/2/
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