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Leader (1850-1860), 6th November 1852, Edition Country of 2, Page 17, NOTICES TO COERESPO^DEJSTTS. The continu...

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      Taxation Reduced To Unity And Simplicity...

      . . infinite variety and intricacy of forms . A Vorous application , however , of the very principle on Vch the taxW > leness of reversions is asserted , leads , as follows , to the tome result . If the protection of the State is for the benefit of the xt reversioner , so is it also for that of each one of the ndefin ite line of rerersioners , designate and non-desig-1 te who will succeed him . For the sake of argument , ft the first reversioner be made the representative of . % who follow , and let him be charged accordingly by with the of each future

      the present possessor , quota owner to the present expense , whatever that quota may be ¦ and let him pay it . When he comes into possession , he will have , for each year , exactly the same claim against his next successor ; exactly we say , for the elision of the first life from the indefinitely extended series does not practically affect the result . He thus receives in one year just what he had paid in another . Each successive owner comes into the same position , and is thus placed in the same situation as though he had paid the expenses for his own time , without the right of charging any portion of them to the next

      re-. It would make no difference if the next reversioner were entitled to the future fee simple : all the future non-designate reversioners would then actually be summed up in him to just the same effect as , for argument's sake , we have supposed them to be represented by him . If in this view there be any remaining difficulty , it relates only to the commencement of the system , the present owner not having had the advantage of former exemption . But the disadvantage could not be serious , and it is doubtful whether any measure could be framed to remedy it without incurring greater evils . We believe , however , after all , that the true view is that which considers the tax an annual payment for

      the then present annual expense , no party looking forward to the indirect and uncertain consequences concealed in the future . But whoever takes the other view must nevertheless come at last to the same practical conclusion . A reversion then appears to us to be no fit subject of taxation , and the State we conclude ought not to interfere to enforce a partition of the tax between the present owner and the next reversioner . The Owners of Patent Rights , Copyright , or Manorial Rights . — These are rights to acquire future income . Except as to legal disputes , they are not capable of protection from government . When their income is realized it is necessarily taxed , whether it be spent or saved .

      Foreign Commerce . —This costs us a large sum for its protection , while under t he proposed system it would be entirely free from duties on the subjectmatters of its occupation . We cannot renounce it ; neither can wo leave it unprotected . It would be altogether impracticable to apportion its advantages amongst ourselves , and so follow its advantages with taxes ; nor could we make any such attempt without letting in principles which have led to the vast and manifold evils of indirect taxation .

      Nor do such devices seem to bo required . Iho existenco and wanderings of a British ship are always known ; and there is little doubt as to her value wherever she may be . The nature and value of her cargo are always known , approximately at least , to her owners , as well as attested by documents essential to the management of the business in which she is employed . We have unid before , that although our present illustrative statements and deductions proceed on the supposition of all property being taxed by one uniform rate ,

      yw ; tliat piirticular kinds of property may appear from ^ xperienee to incur to the State different proportions of ' xpriise for itH protection , and lnny , therefore , bo discovered hcresifter to be justly chargeable with different •' ates of taxation on the value . Of these- classes possibly fli pping and foreign commerce may form one , to l » o ''hinged wi | , li a rate somewhat liiglier than the average . lj (!'' us suppose il , to be found reasonable berenitor Mint ^ hip . s and cargoes be charged two per cent , per annum '" slead of ono p (; cent ., the result would be somewhat il ;) follows ! ¦

      ''"'¦ export commerce may bo Inkeu at ( JO millions I" ' " annum , mid ( lie import must be about of the t \ n . \\ w value . ^ Taking Mm ; average length of voyages for this — ' *> mi llions , and remembering tbut British ships an ; ' '"ployed in much commerce which never conuw to Ml laiid , W ( , ( . lu , r ( Hy <> stimnta the cargoes aflonf . at ( 'MS than f >() millions sterling . The vessels themselves " , lll 0 » i > t to : { , r ><)(> , ()()() tons , which at , 8 / . per ton would | W | " value of 2 H , 000 , 0 ( Ktf . The total 78 , 000 , 000 / . at ^ > ]>(!)• cent , would yield 1 , 5 ( 50 , 000 ^ . per annum , and O | lr ( iiiKiird would at the same time be freed oi ' uuUes ^'" ounting to 22 , 000 , 000 / . We need employ no words ^ j ' unil t < H , ho effect of such a elmngo on the activity " extent of our foreign oommoroo , or of the internal U UfJtr y whjch must bo consequent upon it .

      These instances of the application of our principles will supply answers to perhaps all the case 3 which in practice can be proposed . We need hardly repeat that any error in the actual figures employed does not invalidate the correctness of the principles . We purpose next to enter on an examination of M . Enlile de Girardin ' s work , L' Impdi , and through it to exhibit the actual taxation of France .

      Ff6¥E»Rtfer 6, 1852.] The Leader. 1069

      ff 6 ¥ E » rtfeR 6 , 1852 . ] THE LEADER . 1069

      Dessert Banquets Toe Pitbiic Meetihos. T...

      DESSERT BANQUETS TOE PITBIIC MEETIHOS . There is one thing which public agitators may learn from the Manchester school , and that is , the pleasant way of getting rid of the cumbersome part of a public dinner . Few men engaged in such affairs have not felt that , to close at a reasonable hour , the evening was too short for hearing all whom they would wish to hear ; and on tho otherhand , tlxat the dinner -with which it commenced was a tedious incumbrance . Considered as a feast—which is something worth thinking of , in itself—the public dinner is generally a failure : the viands are seldom selected with . such exquisite tact as to elevate the feast to the true standard of aesthetics ; the cookexy , be it said with all respect for meritorious servants of the public down stairs , seldom has a fair chance ; and it is very rarely that the price of the ticket is sufficient to cover the machinery of attendance necessary to make the whole go smoothly . The dinner is never quite what we expect , save in some extraordinary instances , possibly , of three guinea tickets ; and the politicians who can deal in three-guinea tickets are a limited class .

      But the money' spent in the dinner might procure a much more agreeable occupation for the teeth of the listeners , if it were spent in a light dessert , pleasantly sustaining , rather than encumbering , the faculties under the operation of the speaker . The Manchester people introduced the practice , with the organized agitation for Freetrade . In process of time , the improvement will no doubt be carried still further ; but the idea is a good one , and it was well illustrated at the great Manchester banquet .

      Reporters , indeed , may regret the loss of a savoury perquisite ; but for the company at large , wo believe , it is agreeable to be relieved of an untimely obstruction of fish , flesh , and waiters , and to carve as soon as possible at the speaking , which mixes as pleasantly with the wine as the walnuts do . London is still behind Manchester in this reform .

      The Accnflbu. A Young Lady Who Advanced ...

      THE ACCnflBU . A young lady who advanced some of the most telling charges against Miss Sellon , and tho Sisters of Mercy at Plymouth , has been brought to a police-court for robbery . It will bo natural for tho frionds of Miss S . ellon and the enemies of Ultra-Protestants to make much of this catastropho , which appears in itself to destroy the evidence against them . To us tho incident has a deeper moral , which all parties might well consider .

      It is much to bo doubted whether Diana Campbell is capable of tho turpitudo implied in her actions . She furtively took certain things from a lady with whom she was living ; and her apology , that sho took them to provide for two young ladies who wero to bo placed in a Convent , or for some other equally benevolent purpose , may bo rejected as worthless . But tho readiness with which she has appropriated property not her own , tho facility with which she made hernolf tho subject of a police investigation , and ( hen tho alarm that who showed at the inevitable reunify when nho wan committed to prinon— " Oh ! don't msnil m « to prison , for I am an oflioor ' a ( laughter and a ( jtmend ' s grand-daughter "—suggest tho idc-a that hers is one of thoseeasily moved unreasoning minds which are at the mercy of any temptation for tho moment . There is cruelty in dealing harsh with hor , as there- is in dealing with all weakness ; but it is to be observed that this police investigation has not altered her character , nor can il . have ; disclosed its essential features an they ought to havobeen discerned previously , by any discovery . Tho young lady must always have had an unstable , uncertain , irrational mind ; not quite capable of distinguishing between right and wrong , and ready to do either in a small way upon compulsion . To suborn evidence like hern against people , impressed , howovcr erroneously , by a grave . souse of duty and tho desiro to fulfil an earned . iuinnion , is afar worse offence against right than any which Diana Campbell could have committed . Neither Catholic ; nor 1 ' rot . ostant should consent to found much upon tho actions or asseverations of u poor girl who cannot keep oat . of a polico-oflice , and who ro » tH lior hopo of judicial wdvalion on her military birth .

      Tub Clock A I-A Kuancaihh. Wirrciv Mr. U...

      TUB CLOCK A I-A KUANCAIHH . Wirrciv Mr . Uabbngo was boforo fcho Nelect Committee on hia calculating machine , according to tradiliyn , a noblo savant asked him whether , if a question wore put

      incorrectly , the faithful and intelligent instrument would , nevertheless , return a correct answer ? Such is Mr . Babbage ' s reputation for candour , that , although he was the inventor of the machine , he is reputed to have replied modestly in the negative ! The electric telegraph is not more infalliblo than the calculating machine . The gentlemen who were on Cornhillthe other day , proclaiming the French . Empire and other important truths , exchanged information with their confreres in Paris about the time of day . At ten minutes past two the telegrapher in Cornhill asked the telegraph , in Paris , "What is it o ' clock ? " " Ten minutes past two , " was the reply—the difference of longitude notwithstanding ! The interchange of question and reply however , clearly shows that either in London or Palis theso imperial telegraphers don't know what ' s o ' clock .

      Abd-Ex-Kader And Archdeacon Hale. The Cr...

      ABD-EX-KADER AND ARCHDEACON HALE . The Crescent has more than once taught true religion to the Cross . Our Sabbatarian friends may take a lesson from the Moslem . While the Earl of Shaftesbury , and that strange compound of Church dignitaries , ArcMeacon Hale , with his eighty London clergymen , would fain forbid their poorer fellow-creatures to worship God in his marvellous works , because , cooped up all the week , they will not , on the one day of rest , inhale foul air , liko proper " miserable sinners , " in orthodox pews , Abd-cl-Kader extorts the resject of the Catholic Archbishop , by the simple fervour of devotions offered up to the one God , not once or twice , but many times in the day , in the crowd , tbo palace , and the street . The prayer of the Arab springs from the heart ; the " divine service" of tbo Archdeacon and bis clergy savours too inuch of" the Scribes and Pharisees wlio sit in Moses' seat . "

      Notices To Coerespo^Dejstts. The Continu...

      NOTICES TO COERESPO ^ DEJSTTS . The continuation of" Letters of a Vagabond" is unavoidably omitted in our present number by extreme pressure of political and other matter on our space . Tlie series of letters will bo completed in twenty numbers . _ Several communications , in type . Mr . Dry ' s letter is rmich too long . Deduced to half its length we would endeavour to insert it . "VVe are obliged to a high-minded subscriber for a note on tho subject of a passage in our last Paris Letter , and we can assure him that we are very far from sharing the moral prejudice tho

      sentence alluded to would seem to him to convey . In speaking however of the hereditary pretensions of an imperial crown solely founded on a certain putative descent , it was doubtless tho object of tho writer of the Paris Letter to expose the hollowness of tho claim , and the delusion of BonapartM France . No iuul-u . 1 prejudice ottn lmvn dictated a sentence in a purely political letter , and our frank and generous subscriber only does tho Leader justico in supposing that it would repudiate any such vulgar notion . We heartily echo tho doctrine that . "No man can bo degraded save by hia own act . " We wero only showing that it ia by that test , and that alone , that Louis Napoleon ought to be judged .

      Ciraractkrrstios Oi' A Bore.—Our Bore Is...

      CirARACTKRrSTioS oi' A Bore . —Our bore is admitted oh all hands to bo a good-hearted man . He may put fifty people out of temper , but he keeps bis own . lie preserves a sickly solid smile upon liis face , when other faces are ruflled by the perfection he has attained in his art , and has an equable voice which never travels out of one key , or rises above on < - pitch . His manner is si manner of tranquil interest . None of

      his opinions are startling . Among his deepest-rooted convictions , it may be mentioned that he considers tho air of England damp , and holds that our lively neighbours—be always calls the French our lively neighbours—have the advantage of us in that particular . Nevertheless , lie is unable to forget that . John Hull is John Hull all the world over , and that England , with all her faults , is Uugland still . — DlUKKNb ' ti JLousvkuld Words

      Saw yk Johnny Comtn' !—The laughter and applause which followed this tune , which the band played after drinking the health of Lord John Russell at tbo late dinner , attracted the noble Lord's attention , and led him to inquire into the canst ; of Lord Kinriaird . His lordship gave him the words of tin ; popular nir and the ex-minister was not slow in making tho application to an expected return to Downing-st-reet . 1 IU lordship was said to liavo been highly amused with the appositeness of the musical figure , and considered it quite a harmonious call back to ofliee . — I ' crt . h Courier .

      Manciikhtior Kuioio lii iikarv- —The number of per-Hons who visited ( his institution on each day during the week ending Saturday , October 2 , was as follows : —¦ Monday , 2251 * ; Tuesday , VMO ; Wednesday , UHH-l ; Thursday , UUlM ; Kriday , " 10 ( 57 ; Saturday , 2-100 : total , l : $ , (> 38 . Tho number of books taken from the ( shelves in tho reference library on each day was—Monday , 321 $ ; Tuesday , : nO ; Wednesday , HOI ) ; Thursday , 15 !) 1 ; Friday , 2 h ' : J ; Saturday , Wl . : <<> tal 1847 . Tho number of volumes issaed from the- lending library was—Monday , 251 ; Tuesday , 2 ( 50 ; Wednesday , 25 ( 5 ; Thursday , 2 i ) : j ; I'Yiday , 2 <)

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 6, 1852, page 17, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_06111852/page/17/