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Leader (1850-1860), 12th April 1851, Edition Town of 1, Page 343, Untitled Article

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      only persons who were considered were those who had declared that the right honourable gentleman was not worthy of public confidence —( hear)—and that those alterations should have been made at the expense of that very party which had treated him at least with courtesy , and with the respect due to his eminent position . ( Hear , hear . ) On that occasion the right honourable gentleman , after readjusting his scheme for the repeal of the window tax , which required a greater fund than had orginally been at his command , found those resources in a quarter which was unexpected , and in a manner I think unprecedented . { Hear , hear . ) The right honourable gentleman wanted something like £ 200 , 000 more than his original plan had demanded . And what is it

      that he does ? He takes up his pen , he scratches out the two remedial measures which were introduced to mitigate the distress and to assist the difficulties of the suffering land of England—( cheers from the Opposition ) , — andntates as a reason , 'The propositions were receive in soungracious a manner that I shall now show my sense of your conduct . ' ( Laughter and cheers . ) I have always thought that Ministerial propositions in this House were the remit of gr ^ ve counsels , of mature deliberation , of Cabinet conference and communication—( hear , hear )—that they were suggested by a sense of public duty , by a large and urdmpassioned survey of public circumstances —( hear , hear)—that they were not brought forward in levity , merely tc gain party support— ( h-. ar , hear)—nor ,

      on the other hand , were they to be withdrawn from a feeling-of parliamentary or personal annoyance , and in a tone of flippant caprice . ( Hear . ) But the fact , whatever may have been the motive , remains ; the fact is , that we were so ungracious who were only silent under the relief that was proposed by the Goverment , I am bound to believe as the consequence of mature counsel and under the sense of public duty , that it was withdrawn on the plea of our ungraciousness , and it was extended , in addition to the great relief which had already been proposed and proffered , to I will not say an adverse , but to another , interest which had particularly distinguished themselves for the manner — the almost indecorous manner—with which they had treated the financial statement of the Minister . ( Hear , hear . )"

      He went on in the same strain at some length , and then a » ked if such conduct on the part of Ministers was calculated to establish confidence in the suffering classes ? As to the fact that there was suffering among the owners and occupiers of land , no one would attempt to deny it . Rents have fallen on an average ten per cent ., and are likely to fall much farther . The capital invested in the cultivation of the soil , estimated at £ 300 , 000 , 000 , had diminished in value one-third . If , then , there was a surplus revenue , and only one class enduring distress—all the other classes enjoying unprecedented prosperity—it became the Government to consider , if they distributed the surplus , in the remission of taxation , how they should

      mitigate the distress of the sole suffering class . The Government , after pressure and deliberation , had proposed two remedial measures ; he would suggest , in addition , an exemption from the expense of gaols . But a larger amount of relief to the occupiers of the soil might be found by dealing -with the poor-law expenditure , amounting to £ 6 , 200 , 000 , of which less than £ 5 , 000 , 000 was applied to in-maintenance and out-rclief of the pauper population , upwards of £ 1 , 700 , 000 being expended upon establishment charges and fixed Balaries , which was fastened upon real property , and the proportion paid by Ireland fell exclusively upon the land . Mr . Disraeli discussed the details of this practical measure for the remission of a burden pressing upon the agricultural interest , urging upon the House that these were charges of which it could

      not be said that they were inherited with the land ; lie believed they never would have been placed upon the land had the repeal of the corn law taken p lace in 1830 . The strain of this burden fell upon the farmers of this country , who , in the unprecedented struggle in which they were engaged , while their eufFeringB were recognized and their hopes encouraged by the Government , found themselves , year alter year , in a worse position ; and he wanted the House to s / ustain them by assurances of symp athy and justice . It wus because he n ; lt that the resolution was conceived in a spirit of justice , and that no Hontiinent of false shame need deter the Government from again reconsidering their Budget , thut lie hoped the House would , by carrying the resolution , terminate that senso of wrong , and soothe the wounded feelings of the cIubh he had mentioned .

      Mr LaHouoiibiik contended that the motion wiw a mere truism . He denied tlio allegation that the BudKet hud been adapted to obtain popularity in the towns ; ho contended that the landed interest wiib OHpocially benefited by it ; he wiib ready to bIiow that the relief to the farmera in the commutation oi tho window tux would outweigh the , iciihhbioii of the income tux to the extent proposed by Mr . HorricA , Independent of the efleot winch the measure would exert upon the movnl hubitB iuiU ( military condition of the labouring elates .

      Mr . UI . AUHTONB wa « not natistlud either with the Hudget or with the amendment . Lft » t session ho hud voted with Mr . Disraeli for going into committee to consider the poor law with reference to the relief of agricultural distress . But at that timo there was no propoHttl to restore protection . The cane wan altered now . Lord Stiuiley had doclured his intention to propo 8 o u duty on corn , uhould become into o / Iice , ho thut

      the present motion must be viewed in a different light from the one he supported la * t year . Under these circumstances he felt himself bound to oppose the amendment , Mr . Staff . > kd followed on the other side . Mr . Axcock should vote against the proposal of Mr . Disraeli ; not because he did not feel deeply on behalf of the farmers and landed interest , but because he did not choose to follow a leader who was totally inconsistent and self-convicted of political dishonesty . Mr . J . Sandabs opposed the amendment because he did not think the land unjustly taxed . Lord John Manners said the House was aBked to decide whether justice should be

      refused to the agricultural classes , or in principle at least accorded . When complaints of agricultural depression were met by appeals to the prosperity of our manufactures and commerce , it should be shown , fir * t , that that prosperity rested upon a firm foundation , which he doubted ; and , secondly , that it must react favourably upon English agriculture , whereas the reaction was in favour oi the foreigner . He endeavoured to show from trade circulars that the cotton trade was not in a very flourishing state . Mr . Bright remarktd that the followers of Mr . Disraeli embarassed their leader , who renounced any project of returning to protection as the merest delusion . His proposition was , that the owners and occupiers of land ( the labourers being excluded ) had a special claim to some special relief ; but he had not proved that they were suffering at all , and , if

      they were , he had failed to make out any special claim . The fall of rents had been to a very small extent— 'all property was liable to vicissitudes , and Mr . Disraeli had admitted that the fall of rents gave no claim for relief . The only agricultural class suffering real distress was that of the occupiers , owing to the low prices of produce ; but this was not a rare malady connected with the land , and he denied that it proceeded directly or indirectly from legislation . The proposition of Mr . Disraeli was based upon the assumption that the land was unequally burdened in respect to the poor rate , whereas he believed that the land did not pay more than 40 per cent , of the whole poor rate in the kingdom , and the amount of the rate itself had fallen from £ 8 , 600 , 000 in 1833 , to £ 5 , 395 , 000 in 1850 . The true remedies for the distress of

      the occupiers must be found in the reduction of rents , the increase of produce , and the skilful adaptation of the powers of their farms ; there was no remedy that Parliament could give . Mr . Reynolds made a long speech , against free trade , and in favour of the amendment . Sir Charles Wood said he need not have taken so much pains to defend his intended vote , as he had previously declared that on all occasions he would oppose the Government . He contended that his amendment of the proposal on the window duty gave the agriculturists far more relief than did the original plan . Taking the principal agricultural counties , he showed that the relief to Lancashire would be to the amount of not quite half what it now paid ; to Yorkshire one half , to Hampshire two thirds , to

      Bedfordshire three fourths , and the same to Essex , Lincolnshire , Norfolk , and Suffolk , and that , in fact , the agricultural portions of the kingdom would gain far more relief than the towns . He next denied that theic had been any such reduction in the wages of agricultural labourers as had been asserted , or that wa ^ es had even fallen one half , as the prices of manufactures had . Mr . W . Miles , Mr . Nbavdeoatb , Sir Koueht Pbkl , Sir W- Jolliffe , Colonel Sibthokp , Sir T . D . Acland , Mr . Kkooh , and Mr . Giiattan supported the amendment . Lord John Russell characterized the amendment as a delusion , and culled upon the Protectionists to take up u bold and honest position rather than try to impose upon the country by these hluua motions . The House having divided , the numbers

      were—For Mr . Disraeli's motion 250 Against it 263 Majority for Ministers 13 The result of the division wus hailed by the ProtectioniBtB with several rounds of cheers . The House broke up ut a quurter past two o ' clock .

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      We understand that the third performance of the Printers' Drumatic Society will take place thin evening at the St . James's Theatre , for the benefit of the Primers ' Pension ( Society , under the patronage of Ills Royal Highih'hb Prince Albert . Her Majesty iius ordered her box to be retained . The members of the Senior United Service Club held a meeting on Wednesday , and decided thut nil fleldoiliei'iH , etiptaiiiB , nil tl commanders in the m ; rvioe of AinericH , or other foreign BluteH , who limy come to England on duty , or properly accredited to their own minititcr or ambuHHiidor , ahull be admitted honorary members of the chili , and entitled to all it . 8 privileges during their Htay in Knglnnd .- —United Service Gazelto . After a pretty hard atrungle the contest for the representation of Ayleabury ended in the return of Mr . Hethdl . The vot » H at the clone of the poll stood as follows : —Bethell , 644 ; Ferrand , 518 : majority , 26 .

      The Globe announced , on authority , that the execution of L < ivi Ilnrwo <<< l ami Samuel Jonen , convicted of the murder of the Jtuverericl Mr . Holhut , at , Friinley , will take place on Tuenday next , tit llorBtinon ^ cr-liine Ciuol .

      Untitled Article

      THE INCOME TAX MINISTERS AND THE INCOME TAX MEMBERS . A false system of representation results in a bad system of taxation : the Income tax is a punishment on the middle class for their endurance of an exclusive suffrage . The debate of Monday displays at once the inability and the unwillingness of the " People ' s" Chamber to deal with this subject . No party can achieve the fulfilment of justice j each one is deterred by some frivolous collateral difficulty , or aims at some indirect object .

      There were two questions before the House of Commons—First , shall the Income tax be continued ? Secondly , if continued , shall it be rendered just ? Both these questions most vitally concern the public , but the public interest was set aside , and neither question was fairly handled or truthfully placed before the House . The continuance of the tax was not discussed on its own merits ; the tax was not defended on the principle by which alone it stands—namely , that it is desirable to transfer taxation from industry to property . The proposition laid by Ministers before

      the House was , to continue the Income tax and the Ministry , or to discontinue the Income tax , turn out the Free Traders , and admit the Protectionists to " power , " as it'is called ; in other words , the House was called upon to vote for the joint continuance or discontinuance of Income tax , Whiggery , and Free Trade . Now those three things are not inextricably bound together , and it is " a mockery , a delusion , and a snare" to pretend that they are so . It is the deliberate choice of the Whigs to bind themselves to the Income tax , and any Ministry that chooses to do that is not worth keeping in

      office ; certainly not worth any sacrifice of principle or any sacrifice of general convenience . When next you pay your Income tax , you may remember that what you are paying for its the continuance of the Russell Ministry . Free Trade demanded no such sacrifice . Everybody knows that it is perfectly safe . With a strong interest to promise largely , the Stanley party dares not say that it can set aside Free Trade or restore Protection . All who are acquainted with the history of the country and its commerce , and with the state of feeling in the country , know that the first attempt to restore

      Protection or abate Free Trade would arouse an impulse to settle the question , once for all , by finishing off at a blow the uncompleted extension of Free Trade . The expectationswhich theStanley party has aroused among the fanners must be satisfied in some other way . Indeed , the joint Land and Labour question is coining on with an urgency that will not await the contention of parties , though the factions , lost in their petty wars , will probably find themselves unprepared to deal with something far mote awful than Free Trade in its gigantic dimensions and inexorable necessities . Meanwhile , the most

      moderate proposal of a restrictive policy , say a hvo-Bhilling duty on corn , would be tantamount to proclaiming a rebellion , not only in Manchester , but in Hampshire . How then can the Free Traders in Parliament pretend that genuine substantial Free Trade was in tho slightest degree at stake on Monday ? Was it servility to the Lords of Downing street , or was it simple-minded cowardice , inero littleness ot faith ?

      lint Ministers , tyrannizing in their weakness , demanded tho continuance , not only of the Incometax , but of tho unimp roved Income tux , and tlio " popular" Members consented ! Thin was a gross dereliction ot principle as well as duty . JEvcry argument by which un Incoino tax ie justified demands a re-modelling of this iniquitous tax , which spares its pressure on property to press the harrier and the more mischievously on trade and professional industry . Hut , bewildered by their petty fears , their pettier dislikes , and titill pettier likings , the Commons precluded themselves from dealing

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      April 12 , 1851 . ] & \) t lLfafcft \ 3 *

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      There is nothing so revolutionary , because there is nothing so unnatural and convulsive , as the strain to keep things rixed ; when all the world is oy the very law or its creation in eternal progress . —Db . Arnold

      ^Ttliltt Mates.

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      SATURDAY , APRIL 12 , 1851 .

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      Jp , % r — ¦*> ' —

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), April 12, 1851, page 343, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1878/page/11/