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point blank resistance , which would have heen the strongest cour&g ,, but the plan which he did adopt , is not without ' uu ^ h to conunenij jt . Jjfc conceded the inquiry , \ lut he made it one mto the effect of t xie permanent grant , and he entrusted it to a Royal Commission , instead of a Committee of the jfcise : At last , therefore , we shall have some trustworthy information ; in lieu pf the exaggerated reports that have been circulated , by the
enemies of Maynooth . Possibly , the Commissioners may find some very objectionable book ? on the shelves of the institution , as they would find on the shelves of other professional institutions , books unfit for general perusal . But it is quite notorious , that the amendment of Maynooth is of a liberalised kind ; the professors are more open to charges from the ultramontane party , than the Protestants , and the enquiry will no
doubt establish the true relation of the institution to the country , and to the church to which it belongs . Out of doors , while Barnstaple and Taunton are again called upon for an election , and Maldon is subjected to an enquiry into its corrupt practices , Huddersfield has succeeded in seating Lord Goderich , retrieving the mistake at Hull .
Of striking political events there are none . The meeting at "Willis ' s Rooms , to promote the establishment of Bishoprics in the colonies , is meritorious , on Church of England grounds , and meritorious for its modest proposal , to act upon the selfrelying principles . The reception of Mrs . Beecher Stowe , at Glasgow and Edinburgh , the vain attempt of the colonial postage reformers to bring Lord Aberdeen down to 3 c ? ., and the successful
attempt of the working classes , in "various parts of the country , to bring up their wages to the high level , which begins to rule generally , are the principal events . Mrs . Beecher Stowe is the freshest novelty ; the flourishing condition of the working classes is the most interesting fact . "While Sardinia is protesting against Austria in the face of Europe ; while Turkey is awaiting what comfort she may get from the presence of the English Ambassador , returned to liis post at
Constantinople ; while Holland is moved by popular indignation at the establishment of a territorial hierarchy , under an encyclical letter from the protege of Austria and France , Pope Pius the Ninth , Spain is suddenly pulled up in her backsliding towards Absolutism . Continuing the attempt of Bravo Murillo , totally to supersede the power of the Cortes by that of the Crown ,
General Roncali attempted to dissolve the Cortes without the ceremony of passing the annual Budget , an anti-constitutional attempt that resulted in a break-down ; and the so-called Liberals are obliged to cede the Government to the Moderate party , under General Lersundi , who is expected to assume at least the appearance of more constitutional courses .
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- THE WEEI IN PARLIAMENT . MiNisi'Eiis opened another week by ono of their greatest feats , the statement of Mr . Gladstone , in the House of Commons , on Monday , of THE BUDGET . After romurking upon the circumstances which rendered the tusk before him one of unusual difficulty , lie proceeded to net forth , in the first place , the state of the accounts of the country—accounts which gave larger and larger proofs of the elasticity of the revenue . In April , 1852 , Mr . Disraeli had taken the revenue for the- year at 61 , 625 , 000 / ., but in the- following December he hud estimated it at 62 , 825 , 0002 ., and it had actually amounted to 53 , 089 , 0002 . Tho expenditure for the past year had been calculated at 51 , 1 G 3 , OOO 2 ., but , it had actually reached only 50 , 782 , 0002 . Thin gave ft surplus of aMffrOfttf , „ lint whereat ) tlio expenditure for 1852-8 > wfcij [ eon ^ iflVlagJ % j ||| OOOL , that for 1853-4 would Mo & 3 hsr f ! fflt '> j $ tWtrMrk of which was voted , ami t ^^^ J ^ Jrf 4 « CTi (^^« fiififlHbj of the above surplus Wt 1 >() Ji ^ p ^ f ^^ jTO ^ jliM ^^ y 3 £ uwtiinutc < l tho revenue *'< "' A ^^ i ^ m ^^^ k ^ hn ^ V , "f ter deducting tho al > ovi ^^ it ^^ x ^)^ Muj ^<^ jal ( l allow an apparent Hui pluX ^ liKl ^^ m ^^ qj ^ hWiOwovor ,, 220 , 0002 . coflwstoa of jvonoyaritoa ' B&ijfiiifptbom permanent or
recurring sources . He therefore recommended it as safer to consider the estimated surplus as 700 , 0002 . only . Such was the state of j ^ e public account . Before approaching the question of the Income-tax , he ' mentioned thftf . as regarded jfcbe West India interest , Government" fyad not thought tlwfc , consistently with their duty to the public , much could be done for i ( al relief except that , if a reform could be effected in the constitution of Jainaica , a guarantee for ' its now expensive jfeTbt might pe given at home . 'After stating th ' at it was not the intention of the Government to propose the abolition of the Exchequer Loan Fund , which had realized a net balance of 237 , 0002 ., the right honourable gentleman proceeded to the subject of the Income-tax .
If the committee determined to put an end to that impost at once , he thought it might be effected by means of three measures—a land and house-tax " Gd . in the pound , a system of licenses for trades at an average of 72 ., and a change in the legacy-duty ^ system . But he did not recommend this course , because he believed it would give more dissatisfaction than the present tax , and would impede other beneficial reforms . ¦ He earnestly appealed to the committee to consider the enormous importance of this subject , reminded them of what the tax had done for the country in bad times , and might do again if it pleased God that such times should
return . Had there been the courage to impose this tax earlier , our debt would not have been so large . After a detailed argument to show the value of this fiscal engine , and after urging that , if not destroyed , it might again enable us to defy the world , he described it as a giant originally created by Pitt for the purposes of war , and aroused by Peel for those of peace . It had , in its second life , "been the means of achieving , and might be the means of completing , commercial and fiscal reforms . His conclusion was , that it was not desirable at the present moment to dispense with the income tax . But it ought not to be regarded as a source of permanent
revenue , especially without the removal of its inequalities . He entered into a scrutiny of the tax , and , taking it at 5 , 600 , 0002 ., and a 28 th part of it at 200 , 0002 ., he showed that land and houses paid 12-28 ths , that trade paid 9-28 ths—the two classes together paying threequarters of the tax—and the funds , salaries , and professions , paying the remainder . Uow , the question had been raised whether distinctions were to be drawn between precarious and real income ; and , placing trade under the former head , he urged that , in the question of the justice of the prese nt relations between land and trade , must lie the solution of the question whether tho income-tax were just in the main . He entered into an elaborate argument in order to answer the inquiry
whether there was a difference between the respective payments by land and by trade ; and the result of a mass of statistics and estimates showed that while trade paid but Id ., land paid virtually 9 d . in the pound . After asserting his belief that trade returns were generally fair , lie adduced , as an instance of the frauds that were committed , a case , in which 28 persons who claimed an aggregate of 48 , 0002 . a-year before a compensation jury , and actually got 27 , OOOZ ., collectively returned to tho income-tax only 9 , 0002 . a-year . He dismissed this part of the subject , with the proposition that there was no case for reconstruction of the tax as regarded the foregoing interests . As regarded schedule E , which comprised tho salaries of public servants , ho thought it would be hotter even to make some separate
arrangement than to disturb tho tax on this account . As to schedule C , affecting tho fundholdors , he said that ho agreed with Mr . Pitt in his interpretation of the words of the Loan Acts , and lie emphatically denounced tho doctrine of capitalizing tlie fundownern' income , declaring that it involved an injustice to that class to which ho Relieved the committee would never assent , and which would , he solemnly declared , change our entire relations with those who had trusted uh . In regard to the actuaries' distinction between industrial and'lazy
incomes , ho said that there won no actually lazy income ! , except that , derived from the funds . Ho considered that tho property of tho country was not a subject out of which to raise its income , but that incoino should supply income , though ho would not puHh this doctrino to extremes ; and if we were to lmvo a property tax , let us liuvH an honourable ) and equal one , as proposed by tho actuaries . But tho propositions of these gentlemen , aa applied to an income-tax , ho described oh a mere mathematical speculation on paper , and not ono
which could be produced in tho Home for the consideration of practical men . Then , Author examining into tho only instance- —namely , that of tho f uudownorBin which a case for reconstruction could be urged , ho showed tho variouH cIushohwIio held stocks , tho immense amount held by persons otherwise- than in their own right , and he contended that tho reconstruction in this respect would demand un instant and largo exemption of tho vory classes upon whom it was proposed ' to ' lay the higher tax . In respect to profeswonj , ho
stated that about oaf twenty-second part of the tax was paid b ^ r ^ env ^ Afl be expressed his sympathy for tqe case of ^ professional men , which was an additional reason why ifclfe tax ' should be temporary only . He described the itopossibjlity of arranging exemptions as regarded these classes—described their position as hetter than thaf ; of small tradesmen—and then asked whether breweftf , andt physicians , and lawyers , were to be exempted , while a Heavier tax was to be laid upon desolate and defenceless women wjth life annuities . Following up the' argument of the impossibility of exemptions without breaking up this invaluable tax , he ^
declared that if this were done , it must be by men who took a different view of the duties and exigencies of the country from that of the present Government . He hoped the House would never nibble at the tax . If , as Lord J . Russell had said , the country could not bear a revolution once a year , neither could it bear a reconstruction of the income-tax once a year . He then stated that the intention of Government was to put an end to the undesirable uncertainty on the subject of the tax , and also to mark it as temporary . It was proposed to introduce certain mitigations , to extend tjie principle of composition to professions , and to let a
premium on a deferred annuity or on life assurance be a matter of deduction . By this the ta ± would lose 120 , 0002 . a year . Government itself was to becojtae an assurer of life , as it now was a vender of life annuities It was proposed to renew the tax for two years , from April , 1853 , at Td . ; for two more years , from April , 1855 , at Gd . ; and for three more yearis , from April , 1857 , at 5 d ., by which tho tax would expire in April , 1860 . It was proposed to renew the fax on the terms of associating it , during the years it had to run , with a great and beneficial remission of taxation . But first
the means must be looked to , and the question whether the income-tax , if continued , should also be extended . It was not proposed to trench upon labour , but it was intended to charge incomes between 150 J . and 1002 . with 5 d . in the pound , which would produce about 250 , 0002 ., but this year would only bring hair that sum . The case of Ireland demanded a special consideration , but there was no reason why the tax shottld not be levied on that country for the remainder of the term . This would bring 460 , 0002 . a year , but this tax also would yield only half the amount for the
coming year . He next approached the legacy duty , which was ua « just , and which must be dealt with . He proposed to alter and extend the duty to all cases of successions by death . The scale of consanguinity was to be retained ; but relatives by affinity , who now were treated as strangers , and paid 102 . per cent ., were in future to be placed on the same footing with blood relations . The exemption of real property was no longer to exist , nor was that of settlement . A new distinction was to he created , and every advantage was to be given to rateable over non-rateable property , the succession to the former of which was to be taxed on the life interest .
after deducting incumbrances . The first year ' s produce would be small , for legal reasons , and would not exceed 500 , 0002 ., l > ut would afterwards be greatly increased , making a permanent accession to the revenue of two millions per annum , and giving to intelligence more relief than could be contemplated by tho reconstruction of the income-tax . Tor the present the English spirit duties must stand over , but a shilling was to be added on those in Sootland , which would give 318 , 0002 ., and an allowance was to bo made for waste on " spirits in bond there end In Ireland , in which latter country the revenue deparjb *
ment waa to bo improved by aid of the constabulary and an additional duty of 8 < 2 ., tbo not gain being 198 , 0002 . The allowance for waste was to extond to England , and tho total gain on tho spirits would be 436 , 0002 . A now system of licences would give a' heW 113 , 0002 . All theso amounts , with the surplus , w 6 uld givo for romisHion of taxes 2 , 149 , 0002 . After dwelling : upon the advantage of establishing an equal system of taxation in Ireland imd England , he said that Government , proposed that the Irish Consolidated Annuities should bo wholly wiped away aa from and after the 29 th Stmtombcr lust .
He was now at tlie top of the Alps , and tho plains of Italy—remission of taxes—lay before him . The first ense was ono of excise . Tho soap-tax—tho repeal of which would , aa ho showed , indirectly do much to extinguish the sluve-trado by developing a legitimate traflic in piihn-oil—was to be abolished in J ^ ily . In stamps , the tax on life assurances to bo reduced from 2 . v . ( id . to Gd . Receipt stumps to bo abolished , and 1 # . stumps , to bo written over , to bo used instead . Apprenticeship indentures , without consideration , toboreduobd from 2 O . v . to 2 s . Gd . In consideration that legislative iheasuroH have interfered with the business of attorney * , the certificate duty to bo reduced from 122 . and 8 f . to 02 . and til ., and tuo duty on wMglea of clerkship Jfrojoa
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386 THB L , S A ^ ER , _ [ Saturd ay ,
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), April 23, 1853, page 386, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1983/page/2/
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