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believe that a " penny tax" on the different law , commercial , and general documents I have to some extent set out in my former letters , would create a revenue much beyond . what was at first anticipated ; and I have prepared a schedule of such law , commercial and general " paper-writings , " comprising a vast variety of documents , most of them in daily use , and which may be extended or contracted , as circumstances shall require , which will fully bear out my calculations !
Considering the principle of taxation I have stated as applied to "law proceedings , " there cannot be a doubt that the increase of expense is a bar to the extension of that principle to any large amount , but it was not considered when the subject of those duties came under enlightened review , some years ago , that a large amount of revenue might have been obtained , and yet a boon given to " the public , " by retaining a small
amount . A very large revenue might be obtained without an unequal pressure on those who require " law documents" either for the prosecution of their rights or for their defences against any unjust claims , or with regard to the transactions ( under " law forms" ) which belong to the sale or transfer of estates . A small impost ( a " penny stamp" on the documents referred to ) would realize a large aggregate prepaid amount .
In a commercial point of view , there could not be any serious objection to the adoption of a small impost on the scheduled writings in my former letters , or on writings of a like nature ; but it maybe said that if it can be made to produce so large an aggregate amount as 700 , 0002 . a- year , it must fall heavily somewhere-Now , I should very much doubt whether , in most instances , any receipt be given for salaries paid by cheques , the " crossed cheque" ( and more especially when accompanied with the endorsed name of the evading receiver or payee ) being deemed sufficient , and so in many other cases ; and a general " bill of discovery "
under " equity law , " by some " informing adept , " would show up the contents of a qua " curiosity-shop . " All this class of cases , therefore , is merely brought by this plan under the operation of the Stamp-Act on receipts . It is true the payment would not fall on the payee , as it does at present , but I think the protection ( and really we must have protection as a quasi " Freetrade Protection , " after all ) to the payer , by declaring it to be as valid as a " receipt-stamp , "—in fact , to be a substitute , ( namely , a " delivery-stamp ; " and what is a newspaper-stamp but a " delivery-stamp ? " ) would compensate for that which , under the present system , is no real protection whatever . As regards other
cheques for government duties , bills ^ co mmercial transactions , payment of rent , and purchase-moneys , it is presumed that the transactions are so multifarious , that though the revenue to be derived would bo very large , there would not be any payment from any one party exceeding 30 Z . per annum . At any rate , any party giving these cheques can in every instanco be assured that lie is protected from penalties ! It is well known that some thousands of millions of pounds sterling pass through the hands of the London bankers in the course of a year ; and I think the immense profit arising from the sale of consignments might well afford a penny duty on the delivery of goods on the dock-warrants , &c .
Ihe general list which I ottered , and which embraced , as its largest item , " railway tickets" can bo supported on the principle , that , in these " travelling days" it will roach nearly every one , and yet bo so moderate as to raiso a smilo rather than a shrug , or any aversion at all ; and I think that it would afford matter of congratulation , rather than o therwise , that , in our "fashionable amusements" wo wero giving
somolhing to rohevo " the springs of industry , " by paying a penny , beforehand , on the ticket of admission . The schedules , which I have rathor elaborately prepared , but which I cannot trespass on your space for insertion , include such u variety of items , and capable of almost illimitable and boundless extension , that " the public" would bo found , as the day passed , giving thoir contributions , and adding , aw it wore , unconsciously to tho stability of tho " ( Jovwinnont of the- day . "
It must bo borno in mind that , in continuing the Income-tax and assessed taxes , wo so far" 'perpetuate the system , no \ v generally condemned , of maintaining an iinmoiiHC array of qQiciaU , ( who have now , inter alias , " tho Diggings" and lands of gold opoii'to them , ) to carry out the law , and bring tho fruits of it into the lOxchoquer . The expense of this CHtiibliHlunont in very great ., and it nuisl , create surprise to hear tho Government congratulate itself upon having saved the country such a Hum as 100 , 000 / . a year , while , tit fho samo time , tho suppression of that establinhnient , which ought , to increase its facility tenfold , in sedulously punned h V > 1 W ««* requiring heed or ronrnrk ; and thorelore pruy lot , thia letter on a tenni / prepaid stampedpapa- newspaper , Ik , respectfully entertained , hh ii gcnUo auggcHtion . I will not onlurgo on tho statement
of Mr . Hume , that the Income-tax is , at any rate , only half collected , but we may be sure that , in many cases , it is avoided . Here are two evils , both of a financial character , which are very great , and which might be avoided , by other modes of raising the revenue . It has become the principle of leading statesmen of the present day , to proceed as if consumption had reached its highest figure , as regards the money which , by the course of taxation , is brought to the Exchequer . In fact it seems to have been regarded . as a hint , that other modes of taxation should be sought for ! Another
principle mutually agreed upon , by the heads of all parties , is , that taxation , as it previously stood , could not , upon the new system of trading , raise a revenue , and therefore that a direct system of taxation was the means left them . Indirect taxation , or , in other words , customs ' -duties , having been abandoned , it certainly was necessary that recourse should be had to some other mode of taxation , but I think that impassively following the steps of Pitt and Peel , and by declining to investigate the subject , either with their own resources or from the suggestions of others , the " leading men " of the day have missed their way , and will , ere long , find themselves without followers .
It is impossible to assert , iaving in view the principles of taxation , and the purposes for which it is levied , that the expenses of the Government of this country are within fair limits . The expenses exceed by what they ought , fully a third . So much before we proceed to consider what are the principles upon which taxation should proceed . Taxation , to be bearable , should be equally spread , and every man in a condition to do so should contribute . It should be raised without oppression , inquisisition , or expense . Our country having gradually
emerged from the ^ oppression practised under the system of "farming" taxes , and from the tyranny of " arbitrary" taxes , is , let us hope , destined to escape from the exciseman and the " surcharge" system , and to find itself at comparative ease with " prepaid taxation . " The fact is , that so wedded are people , even in this " goa-head age , " to old ideas , that they expect a " budget " as regularly as a " pantomime s" but it is a mere prejudice , and I am satisfied that a scheme of taxation may be devised which will supersede much of the conventional characteristics of our Chancellors of the
Exchequer , As the water now so interferes with the land , let there be , for the benefit of the poor farmer , a Watertax . Let us have a " sea-tax , " and prepayments can well be borne by her who " walks the waters like a thing of life , " much to the relief of the land . It must come to a " Sea-tax" as well as a " Land-tax , " for there is the flow of population . On the ocean are always now migratory tenements of human abode . There are the prepayments to be had , and comparatively not felt !
It must be hurtful to commerce and to trade to bo expecting changes , and to have a remission or addition of duties brought forward in tho way to which we have been accustomed , without having tho power and even tho firmness to insist upon them . It is utterly impossible , notwithstanding its main features aro good , that the present scheme will attain its proposed existence , inasmuch as tho Income-tax is fundamentally vicious , ( all taxes arc , of course , only expedient , but there is a morbid expediency with reference to Income-tax . ) It
is not acquiesced in by tho nation at largo , and no minister of statesmanship , nor any other party , will cvor make it popular . Now , a proposition to put a trifling prepaid tax upon such things as enter into quasi consumption , avoids both the difficulties of a " Poll-tax" and a tax upon food , and yet would realize a largo amount . Its amount , too , would not vary , and if it did , it would bo rather on tho increaso than otherwise . It would avoid tho expenses of collection , and might , with a firm purpose , bo rendered independent of pains and penalties !
Lot legislators feel that tho " Corn laws" aro not substantially repealed until the Malt-tax be repealed ! Wheat-corn and barloy-corn ought to bo synonymous . Can Sir John barleycorn call tho present atato of affairs l ' Yeo-trado ? IinpoHsjblo ! I am , sir , your most obedient servant , KioirAKi ) John Com . 12 ' , Furnival ' H Inn . Juno 10 , 185 U .
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The Teaching ov Necessity . —A grand necessity elevates man ; a small ono degrades him . From Goethe's Opinions .
Fatti / ts in those we Love . — The discovery of faults in those whom wo believ ed to bo perfect , is always a sad temptation to injustice . Our vanity is concerne d ; wo have deceived ourselves but do not acknowledge- it ' and insist on believing that wo have been imposed upon by others . And wo fling guilt , anno yance , and hatred on a person , who certainly was not the eauso of our mistaking him for what ho novor desired to be thought —From Goethe ' s Opinions .
Iiks * Lovio .-Sho put down her veil again immediatoly ; her lips moved involuntarily as who lowered it I thought I could seo , through tho laco , that the slight move ment ri pened to a smilo . Still there was enouU oft to look on—enough to chhnn . Thero was tho little rim of dolicato white lnco , encircling tho lovely dusk y throat ; there was the figure visible , where the * shaw l hnd fallen o pen , slender , but already well developed in its slondorncss , and ex quisitel y supple there w . ib the waist , naturally low , and loft to it « natural place and natural sizo ; there were tl . o little millinery and jewellery ornaments that sho wore—Himple and common-place enough in themselves—yet each a beauty , each a treasure , on her . There was ' nil tins to behold , all this to dwelt on , in spito of tho veil . Iho veil I how little of the woman dooH it hide , whim tho man really loves her l—Gownsm ' a JJaail .
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qqq THE LEADER . [ Saturday ,
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Aoukumknt . —Ho who agrees with himsolf agrees with others . It has struck mo that I bolicvo in the truth of thoso ideas only which aro productive to my mind , which assimilate to my modes of thinking , and assist my progress . For it ; is not only ponsiblo , but also very natural , that such an idea does not assimilate to other minds , —that , instead of assisting , it impedes thoir pvojri-eHs , and tlmt they think ii ; wrong and erroneous . Any ono who is convinced of tjiiw , will novor engage in a controversy . —From Goethe ' s Opinions .
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BRITISH BEER . { To the Editor of the Leader . ) Sib , —Your remarks on " Free-trade ife British Beer " are well-timed and true . No other journals have taken up that point , of the monopoly being rooted in the soil . Being largely connected with the building interests , I am prepared to prove what you say to be true . But it must be said , in justice to the builder , that he does not at all times reap the benefit of the licence being so sold , seeing that the original ground landlord oftentimes gets more ground , rent for the spot whereon to build the public-house , than for an ordinary house . " Thirsty Soul , " and other writers in the Times , ask how is it that the great brewers do not answer them ? Had those clever but half-informed writers known what
you have stated , they would not have asked so foolish , a question ; for so long as land is let in the manner it is , and so long as ground landlords derive a benefit from placing the sale of beer and spirituous liquors in the category of " soap-boiling / ' " bone-crushing , " and other offensive kinds of business transactions , so long will the large brewers have a monopoly . More than that , I am not so certain that the public cares so much about the monopoly of the great brewers . Having had some experience on that point , I am inclined to doubt it . Tho only effectual method of destroying the monopoly would be for the public to take their own affairs in their own hands , either by combination or by singly brewing for themselves . — I am , &c ., Wilxiam Stevens .
Metropolitan and Provincial Joint Stock Brewery Company , 13 , Upper Wellington-street , Strand , London , July 6 , 1853 .
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NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS . Replies to some of our correspondents aro necessarily suspended during tho tomporary absenco of the Editor . The question of " A Pollowkb" shall bo answered in our next number . "Wo have received many inquiries for tho Letters of a Vaqabond . They havo only boon Icopt out by Iho press of master during a busy session . They will shortly bo resumed , and brought to the conclusion .
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There is no learned man but will confess he hath much profited by reading controversies , his senses awakened , and nis judgment sharpened . If , then , it be profitable for Trt-nn to read , why should it not , at least , be tolerable for his adversary to write . —Milton .
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[ IN THIS 3 JEPABTMENT , AS ALL OPINIONS ; HOWEVEB EXTBEMB ABE ALLOWED AN EXPBESSION , THE EDITOB NBCESSABII / Z HOLDS HIMSELF RESPONSIBLE FOB NONE . ]
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Leader (1850-1860), July 9, 1853, page 666, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1994/page/18/
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