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    December 11, 1852.] THE LEADER. 1187

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    TAXATION REDUCED TO UNITY AND SIMPLICITY...

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    The Budget. I. Oun Examination Of Mr. Di...

    in the mode of levying our revenues as may contribute more to the satisfaction and welfare of the community ; whether such alterations can be effected in our system of taxation as may remove from various classes not an ill-founded sense of injury and injustice ; and , above all , whether we may not take this opportunity of establishing our financial system on principles more adap ted ' to the requirements of the times , and especially to the industry of a country pre-eminent for its capacity for labour . " Here , as elsewhere , is ample admission

    for the evils of our present system of taxation ; here , too , proposed , in words , a noble object , viz ., the establishment of just ; principles of taxation . But no new a principle" whatever is introduced into our taxation by this Budget , which differs from its predecessors onl y in its adjustment of details ; and however that adjustment may have been adapted to the immediate purposes of the Chancellor of the Exchequer , we have yet to seek principles of taxation ; in respect of them Mr . Disraeli has taught xis nothing .

    The author of the budget says , "If you decree that the community are to receive low prices , your policy oug ht to be one which will put an end as soon as possible to hig h taxes . " And then he proceeds , not to a reduction of the total amount of the taxes , which is what his argument indispensably requires , but only to a redistribution of them . He can only meet the requisition of the standard he has himself set up by a reduction of expenditure , not in any degree by a variation in the details of taxation .

    But if by the word " community , " he meant onl y n part of the community , ex . gr . the agricultural , then his argument and his plan may be understood . " Low prices" and " high taxes" refer to that part of the community ; and the plan is , under cover of an argument for reducing taxes , really to transfer taxes from the part of the people to which the words "high taxes" and " low prices" apply , to the rest of the community .

    But further : "high taxes and "low prices are here put into one of those false relations which pervade political and social discussions , especially when prosecuted for party purposes . Taxes have no more to do with prices than has food , or rent , or any other kind of expense : the amount of tax depends on one set of circumstances ; the range and elevation of prices dejwnd on another . A community which , while turbulent and rich , is also resolved to be kept in order internally by the Government , and effectually defended also

    at its frontiers , must pay high taxes ; but it may easily afford to pay them . A poor and lawless community may pay low taxes , and hardly be able to pay them at all . The prices each may obtain for its exchangeable articles will be just the same for the same goods in the same market , whether they come from one of those bodies or the other . This broad illustration applies to the ciise then under Mr . Disraeli ' s exposition ; but intent on making a point in his speech , he forgot Ins logic .

    Unt if low prices are necessarily and of themselves to rule low taxes , what are we to say to our manufacturing interests ? The fall of price in wheat since the pence is small in comparison witli that in calicoes , woollen cloth , hosiery , lace , iron , ships , and almost every production of industry . Must we lower the whole taxation of the United Kingdom because prices have gone down?—suid without inquiry into , or allowance for , the causes and circumstances of the decline ? Our taxes depend on the necessity of our expenditure , and not on prices ; : ind perhaps wo lmvo spent too many words on thin glaring i ' alse relation .

    Mr . Disraeli says , tlmt in 1819 ho urged largo changes of taxation for the relief of certain kinds of propert y , on tho ground of its special burdens ; he says now Unit the burdens having been diminished , and tins ratio which this property bears to other property being hanged , ho alters his views , and declines £ <> propose any alteration in its favour . Hut what must bo the system which admits of such an argument P What if Mr . Disraeli had boon successful in 184 !) , and tho changes ho proponed hud boon mado then ? Clearly , b y his own argument , all parties would have been in u hilso and unjust position now . And so must it bo with every . system of taxation which is founded on , and every 'inancier who nets with exclusive reference l , o , tho mere

    ' "'cunistancos of tho passing time : the circumstances Will Change , mid leave all schemes broken , ' and nil , tho " homers stranded . Wo need to replace those shifting device by hoiiio permanent p rinciple , unchangeable , ! ll > d universall y accepted from its equity alone . Thin very properly , by Mr . Disraeli ' s admission , lias 1 )( 1 ( ' » greatl y relieved ; but it in agricultural property which has been relieved by tho repeal of taxes passed ' the Hpeeiul profit of agriculture , which laws acted < . l » roii Kh liscal machinery . That is , the fiscal change produced an cH ' ecl , exactly opposite to tlmfc expected lrou > it ; and ho has it lumpencd iiIbo in every case of

    the removal of so called protection . Now , if changes of this kind produce effects so unexpected by many of those most interested in them , how can we so trace the effects of indirect taxation as to rely on them for a fair or even a bearable distribution of the public expenses ? As to any approximation to an apportionment of the public cost to each person according to his rightful quota , it seems , from such a fact , to be altogether beyond the capability , the pretension , or even the wish , of any plan of indirect taxation , "XT __ 1 1 . 111 . . . I ¦• • I < I 1 , -m , . m A doubttho

    . No , ex-protectionists allege that the improvement of agricultural as well as other property is due , not to the removal of the corn-laws , but to emigration and the gold discoveries . It is , however , so easy to show that these are insufficient to the effect , that we need not , for any such covering device of a retreating party , disturb our foregoing argument . Mr . Disraeli first proposes "to lay the foundation of a system which shall enlist in its favour the sympathies of all classes , " and then he transforms half the malttax , supposed to be a burden on the farmers , into an increased and extended house-tax , known to be a burden to the townspeople . He has thus raised an opposition which threatens the existence of his Ministry .

    This change is not made on any allegation that the farmers have hitherto paid more , or the townspeople less , than their share of the common expense ; still less is it attempted to be shown that the proposed change , if just in kind , is of such an amount as to establish a true balance for the future . The reason given for it is founded on the interests , not on the rights or obligations of the parties ; and quarrels founded only on interests have no principle hy which they can be terminated . Moreover , a system which is so void of principle as to admit of being changed in this direction

    to-day , will admit also of being changed in some other direction to-morrow : it leaves the country always liable to a strife of classes : every man feels it may any day change by some of its caprices the value of his property : and the continual upsetting of Ministries , of their policy , and of all decent practical persistence in some general principles of government , is a disastrous and almost certain consequence of a policy of taxation which has no standard principle , and no better guidance than the guess , the pressure , or the party strength of the day .

    Mr . Disraeli abolishes part of the li ght dues as unjust ; the injustice consists in their being a payment above that requisite for the service rendered , resulting from the improvident grants of former sovereigns and parliaments . But , according to established doctrines , the length of time during which these dues have been paid should have cured the original defect of right . All interests have adjusted themselves to the circumstances : the shipowner , when he cmharked his capital , knew of these burdensome claims , just as he knew of tho natural risks of tho sea ; therefore , on the principles of some , no injustice is now done by these imposts . Nevertheless , Mr . Disraeli abolishes them , and we think him perfectly right . Our comment is , that

    all real injustice , obvious to common apprehension , eventually works itself out , in spite of the artistic defences of theorists . Originally an injury , it leads to discontent ; it lives a life of ill consequences , not tho less constant or inveterate ; from being concealed ; and it ends often in violence , — at best in condemnation and failure . A negro knows when he marries that he muy any ( lay be separated for ever from his wife ; not the less for bis knowing the risk he runs does all humanity revolt against the wrong . So with tuxes on false principles ; time and the alleged adjustment of interests do not take from them tho consequences of their original injustice . If the rest of our system be unjust , it will follow these abandoned light dues .

    The measure rightly set up by the Chancellor of the Exchequer for the amount of the light dues , is that of the cost of the service rendered . lie says : "The shipping interest will then have to j » ay for the lighthouses which benefit them which guide their ships and save their lives ; and 1 am sun ; they will no more complain of a tax . levied for such objects , and upon such principles , than any other class of the community will complain of the peculiar ( axes to which they nr « subject , but for which they gain in return peculiar advantages . " lint are there no other parties paying

    much more than they receive in return in the form of advantage ? What of the tax on public vehicles , really a tax on walking ? Does it take ten shillings a-week to pay for the dim porforinauco of tho duties of the ( jlovernnient in respect of a London street cab ? And might not some of our Free-trade M . I' . s , as well as tho Chancellor of Mm Kxcliecpier , find some injustice * to bo redressed , us well as some impolicy to be remedied , by applying the principle of the foregoing extract to tliis neglected instance V Practice in the use of Urn princip le would soon lead to the detection of many

    more cases which as truly , though not as glaringly need its application . Give us , however , this principle , and we want nothing more for the foundation of a just and permanent system of taxation . If payment only according to the " advantages" " received in return" be right in the case of lighthouses , it is just as right in that of government . Let us learn what are the " advantages "

    " received in return" for our general as well as for any special taxation , and let the tax on each person be in proportion to his " advantages , " ( in proportion to his direct " advantages , " as the ship-owner is to pay for the direct advantage of the lighthouse , ) and we shall then need for the establishment of our taxation on such a system only that constructive and administrative ability of which it would be a shame to suspect our lack .

    This is not the only instance in which natural principles force themselves through the surface of Mr . Disraeli ' s speech and Budget . Nor is he singular in this respect . While taxation is everywhere what M . B . dc Girardin says it is in France , " the confusion of taxes , " and while , in the words of the Times , our present systems leave us " no alternative but to confiscate what and where we can , " every writer , in laying the foundation of his theory , and every statesman , when he has had to defend some one tax , has resorted to natural principles . Mr . Pitt said to the fundholder , " If you expect from the State the protection which is

    common to us all , you ought also to make the sacrifice which we are called upon to make . " The error begins when the statesman , bewildered by the strife of factious and traditional interests , fails to retain his grasp of original principles . He then produces a Budget which , like the present , affords not a principle , nor even a settlement , but the materials for new strifes of party , the objects of new discord of classes , the occasions of new embarrassments of practical statesmanship ) , and an absorbing interest in temporary and everchanging questions , which perpetuates an habitual neglect of all the higher functions and nobler ends of government .

    The long and suggestive speech of the Chancellor of the Exchequer requires further comment , and the Budget itself must be examined in more detail .

    December 11, 1852.] The Leader. 1187

    December 11 , 1852 . ] THE LEADER . 1187

    Taxation Reduced To Unity And Simplicity...

    TAXATION REDUCED TO UNITY AND SIMPLICITY . Supplemental . TAXATION" AT FLORENCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES . M . dk Girardin quotes the example of Florence in the fourteenth century , for a successful instance of direct taxation . The facts seem to he these . The political power of that city was in the hands of the upper classes , consisting of the noble families and the men of commercial wealth , when , in 1378 , a revolution uncxpeetedly transferred that power to the lower tradesmen and artificers ; below whom , however , was still a numerous class , not comprehended in any scheme of government yet in operation . Among the complaints of the lower classes which led to discontent and revolution , one seems to have been the uncertainty of justice , and another the unfairness of the existing system of taxation . These two grievances almost always appear in the discontents of states where power is exclusively in the hands of particular classes , whatever may be the actual form of the government From this time , various changes , chielly of a factious character , took place in the government , the classes formerly excluded from it retaining , however , a much larger share of influence than they had before . In 1427 , under pressure of the taxes required for a long and unpopular war , the fiscal system of the state * underwent revision , and a property tax was established , founded on actual schedule and estimate of each person ' s property .

    It appears that before this fiscal' revolution , tho taxes were assessed on individuals at least v / ith uncertainty , and often according to personal or party feelings : i ( . HeeniH , too , that tho bin den was made to fall chielly on the less wealthy classes . The new ti \\ , j > rr . s xiny proportionately on all , was odious to the richer merchants and the nobles , who endeavoured , both by artifico and objection , first to prevent its adoption , and afterwards to deprive it of effect . Besides the bate they bore it from its depriving them of aristocratic ?

    distinction , they objected to it , that as they gave their timeto the republic , it . was unjust to tax their property also ; and they alleged that it was impracticable ) to tax men according to possessions which must ever be * fluctuating in the amount . To this tho lens wealthy classes answered , Mint others would bo quite ready to take their plncn in managing tho all ' airs of tho republic ? , and that , the assessment could always ' he made just , if it , were renewed with due frequency anc ' . cure : ( . hey , moreover , charged ( . heir opponents wit ' i disliking tho tax because it prevented them ( him going to war te *

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 11, 1852, page 15, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_11121852/page/15/