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    oW descended to the level of the servants ' ri Our policy is taken upon credit from f reien courts , and our footing in Europe has qnnied a totally new character . a conduct of diplomatic affairs ought to be ^ mmodated to the new machinery at our coma nd . If WG have no longer a diplomatist to rep resen t tis , we should do our best to bring diplo-P V within the rules of cookery . As one nation , JLiJor its forts , stipulates that a powerful neighbour Should do so , we might stipulate that other coun tries should employ Cooks in the conduct of interna tional relations .

    The new arrangement would fall in very well wi th customs in high places . In England much is done at the dinner-table ; political results depend , in a great degree , upon the entertainment ; and it is the "little more or less , perceptible to the uneduoatedpalate , " which the accomplished cook throws into hia compound , that may enable the host to succeed , or condemn him to fail . How

    many a political object has been attained , by the nice adjustment of a made dish . Let us confront the fact , and regulate our expectations accordingly- If we could induce other nations ; to adopt the like principle , England would not be at so great a disadvantage . It i 8 true that England cannot maintain , on the field of cookery , that supremacy which she Jias supported at Sea .

    Her flag may have braved a thousand years , &c . ; but her casserole mast bow to that of Prance . By this new arrangement we , should meet the desire of French ambition , and ' avoid offending the foreigner . The French journals claim to share with England the supremacy of the seas ; and perhaps English pride would as much resent f / iarf concession as Eord Derby recoils at the idea of confessing to Free Trade ; but by transferring the contest to the kitchen , the supremacy of France would be secured , and England might succumb with the better grace , and the safer . , ......

    On the continent , the new" arrangement might be accepted witli more than acquiescence . It is the custom ^ at thi s festive season , for family quarrels to be . adjusted , for new family connexions to be cemented , and for old grudges to be replaced by new alliances . How pleasant a party the new Emperor might summon for the stated dispensation of royal charity . There evidently is a disposition in the scattered family of royalty to patch tip old quarrels , for foar of losing credit out of the family circle , and , perhaps , with , credit , existence . It would be a graceful thing for the youngest member of the family to reunite its scattered limbs . Bound his board

    might be arranged those well-known faces-Naples , with his slanting . forehead , his vacant countenance , his imbecility ; Young Austria , not longsince popular , now absolute , though bis cheeks still tingle with the maternal slaps ; Prussia , good-humoured , \ vell-it > tentioned , but a little benmzzed between , revolution , hopes ' of'German empire , and habitual champagne ; anxioiis Belgium , dragged into the family party against his will . And , at the head of the table the host , with the stranurosfc . countenance of all , that

    impenetrable musk of stupidity covering Cruelty—a frost of hypocrisy over a Satmiw' fire . And J ^ ng lan (|~ llow , indeed , could Queen Victoria be there P Ho \ v could hoi * constitutional and independent tongue conform itself to the conrplimepts of the season in such a ]> art-V P Evidently there is one mode iif which , l ^ ng lahd might be represented Micro ; " England" repre-Hoiited hy that eminent , artiste " with whom niOMt of your ' lordships arc indirectly acquainted , ""England , " we Hay , might cook the dinner .

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    THE BUDOKT . n -, Tun celebrated livv-n » ur » ' * pi'C < : h of the Chancellor of tho Kxehequer requires further comment ; not , however , Mo , much for the . purj » p «> of forming any estimate <> f that l ' utf h f . unetioimry , !» s <> '' learning what wo . may from his treatment ol' the cHiestion . s ho undertook to discuss . : . ,

    On one point , if not more , w - may # iyo credit to tlmri ^ Ut honourable , ^ ntloni : vn for ^ l-cafcr consistency of opinion than that of inoht of those wjio have entered into this debate II" Hu , yn thai- tl »« repeal <> f Mir Malttux will . be a djmt benefit tf > the cOmunicr mid an indirect benolit to the farmer ; and from this statement , ho doe * not nwerye . In other quarters , ox . 1 reme dUIerence and uncertainty prevail . Some ( jay the benefit of tho repo . il of , t % M » 'lt tux would K (> ll ) l \ < - > « lim (! r ; "oinooay Uwoudd , yo to , % iwnior ; uncl aj ^ uui , aome ,

    perhaps the greater number , affirm it would go to neither farmer nor consumer , but to the publican and brewer . The speech of Sir Charles Wood , the late Chancellor of the Exchequer , contains in different parts all three opinions . We are not now going to pronounce for or against any of these conclusions ; the subject of the ultimate incidence of taxation requires separate aud carefnl discussion . But if authorities so differ as to the effect of one indirect tax , how is it possible to know whether

    by means of any given system of indirect taxation you are taking from each his fair quota of the public expenses ? For anything which can be shown , you may be exempting a man , or a class of men , from effective taxation altogether , or you may be crushing them by the occult accumulative incidence of many indirect taxes on one point . And if tho ti-uth on this subject , cannot be ascertained , by those who devote : themselves to its investigation , how can . there exist that popular confidence in the wisdom mid fairness of our'fiscal system , which is essential to its permanence and to the general

    contentment and prosperity ? ! : Mr . Disraeli says , " What you want is » that you sliall have as much as possible unrestricted industry and its consequences , as far as the cultivator , of .. the , soil , is concerned . " And , this he gives as , a reason for the reduction of the malt tax . No doubt the levying a . tax on any article to the exclusion of others is an nir terfer . enee with industry ; it is the opposite of . protection . If a tax be drawn from , one ^ article or . from the parties ' interested ' in . it , which , is not .: equally i dr ^ wn from others , then those . ' . ' dq ' . j iqt . pay . the . tax , are , favoured , protected , at the / . expense of . those , . who , do . A certain , sum o ^ money must , be -. raised , in the whole , and . if malt or anything , else pay more than its share , others pay less , and so are protected . This is '; not if it is

    " unrestricted industry . " Moreover , objected that a man who has an income of 150 . 1 . per annum is unfiiirly clealt . with . ' because , his neighbour with l . QQZ . per annum leaves him to bear the burden of both , it may equally be objected by the maltster that the blacksmith in like manner puts on him a double share of taxes . , £ or , be it observe ^ , that the unfairness lies not in like articles being differently taxed ,, but in articles , however < ligerent , which are defended in like manner by the strength , of the whole , being unequally taxed . It is just as unfair if calico is not taxed like malt , as it is if a house of 10 £ rent is not taxed like one of ^ 202 ., and just as unfair } f the park or picture gallery is exempt from taxes which fall , on the factory or the workman ' s ' cottage . In either case one party is made to pay , the other is protected .

    If , however , this argument calls for the repeal of the Malt-tax , it calls also for much more . No tax is consistent with the fundamental principle of Free-trade but an equal and universal tax on property : for a tax of any other kind . protects one at the expense of another , whether the exemption arise from the inequality of taxation of objects of the same kind , or from that taxation being raiido to fall only oh objects of certain kinds to the exclusion of the rest .

    The Chancellor . of the Exchequer , hi discussing the reduction of ' the lnsdt tax , quotes Sir Henry Parnell to the ' effect that an ; article may be taxed of which the supply is } limited by ' natural causes ; for then a part of tholi ' ig-ji price which ' would go to the possessor of the special natural advantages , could nob escape goiu . g to the Slate . So long an the . supply of barley was limited to the growth andl ) ytli (! exteiitofour < nvn soilJso long youmiglit tax it ; sindin ' that case youhad bettor not reduce your tax , because , reduction of tax per bushel could not incveuso tho consumption ( tho nupply being limited ) and so brin " up ti ^ uin the total amount of tho tax . But who

    known or ' can know that the supply of any article is unlimited ? We all thought that of gold and silver was limited , and the form and mode of the dealing * of the whole human race with each other are founded almo . sl , entirely on that supposition . Hut we now kmm how wmoh that universal base bus latterly been affected . The productive power of our own soil was believed to be limited to that which it liad usunlly exhibited , mid Hy . stcins of political eeonomy had been reared on Unit ground . We now Hud it rasy to ecMi t . or

    in < M' (> a ^ e our crops T >() ]> er vnore . (» uano and drjiinage might' have done lor tho . supply of barley what Sir Henry Parnell anticipated as only possible from a ' repeal of the Corn-laws . iTow can we say , tl \ eu , of any artjele li » freiiller , that its supply is liinifed , and that it may tiierefore bo ti | x <; d ? Moreover , . supply i * amvhitvd tV > deirnind , and a . substitute for an articln , or a ehang (! of desire for it , may rentier atuipply efVectively gvoiitrr which ' Iiiim not acLually been increased , inid the condition of taxibili ( y is then iuvaliditlcd ( an often happens ) in another direction .

    J } ut . still more : th'H argument Kujij > oseM . that tho Statu has ii iigl't to tako > uon <\ y , at its own pleasure , vvhorever it can find it ; a pretension wo do not huuitnto

    to deny . The relation of the State to the individualthat is , of all the members of the State to any one of their own number—is just as amenable to moral principles as that of its component individuals to each other . It is just as possible for the State to steal aa any one of its members , If a man has cultivated peculiar faculties , or is rightfully possessed of special natural advantages , the State has precisely as much need of a moral justification in taking any part of their produce from him , as any private person would ^ have . Suppose a man had acquired a unique capability of making a finished chronometer in a day , and so earned ther

    wages to the amount of a lordly income ; or ano had a spot which grew exclusively a special quality of lavendar , and so had a lucrative market and high prices to himself ; how should the State set up a pretence to share the proceeds ? ' Why is either of these men to pay a heavier contribution , " to common expenses , when he incurs , to . his fellows no special cost ? It is not enough , to say , " thjs . man will get neither more nor less for his goods , if I tax him for them , and therefore I will tax him . " ¦ The Stato must ahow what right it has io take that particular amount from that particular man ,, and it ; is ju . o .. answer , tp declare , ns our . current systems of ' taxation do declare , " . I . want money , and

    here I find it . ' , '; . : . We object ,, then , to : theyery principle of Sir , Henry Parnell ' s argument , and of course to Mr . I > isr . aeli ' s application of it ; and we haye adverted to this point the . more at length ,. because . we feel , at every step , the necessity of placing the whole question of taxation . ^ grounds very different from those on . which financiers and , epeonomists . usually discuss jit ., .

    The right honourable gentleman believes that pur prosperity "defends upon conditions . tuidcircumstances which have never , before prevailed in this country , — upon natural circumstances and permanent conditions , and that , if we only act with prudence , with such advantages as we derive " vora a low rate , of interest , arising from natural causes , this country has before it an opportunity of material progress such as never occurred before to the vision of . any statesman . "' .

    If this prosperity now depends on . " natural circumstances and permanent conditions , " it is certainly not to be attributed to Corn-laws , which are not to be classed with such chcumstanees and conditions ; and possibly this might be included in Mr . . Disraeli ' s meaning . If he did really intend the sense we have put on his words , we fully agree with him . . The fault of artificial systems is , that being only interferences with ,

    and contraventions of , " natural circumstances , " they are always changeable , and . deceptive . They violate natural justice in a thousand unexpected ways ; they , therefore , keep up perpetual discontent ; and their crude , conjectural devices fail just when society , in the extremity they themselves bring on , has most need of their aid . Happy is that , nation which rests its material well-being not on the temporary , changing , and ill-understood devices of artificial regulation , but on the

    enduring' basis of " natural circumstances , " and , therefore , on tf permanent conditions . " Jhit then there are such things as , " natural clrcumstances and , wei / niaiient conditions , " in relation tu taxation , us well as to commercial policy : and injustice , disappointment , discontent , and weakness , or justice , confidence , and strength , just : us much follow the violation or observance of these directing principles in one ease as in the olbcr . Let any man look at our fiscal . sysl em , cither standing , as aforetime , or us it is proposed to be by fbt ; present iludgtst ,, and say whether there is in i (; tlu ; ^ lightest eoherenco of principle , tho faintest unify of design , or the least regard for " natural circumstances or permanent conditions , " If amended attention to these indispensable marks and objects of true policy has done h <> much lor us in one ; . ' , reiit , department of our common iut , eiv : 4 . < , what , vnay it not do in another , where one-sixth of our total national income , is ' now dealt with by means of ancient devices , more empirical , more complicated , and less excusable , than even 1 lie coin-laws ? What bopo there tuny be of a " financial reform" in accordance with tliune views , it , is perhaps notyef . time to say . H , is clear , however , that , a . vague preference for Nome sort of " direct taxation" is ^ ainhi K hold of the public mind . l \ lr . Disraeli ( who lias thoroughly unsettled the ' old system ) insinuates difficulty in execution , but Hot dissent from tlic principle ,. * In all other quarters there Jire perpetual references to il as to un approaching ( piext inn which must , be seriously entertained , ¦ whatever the ultiimiie decision . Perhaps as fe \ V venture now t . t oppose il . wholly on principle , UH continue to assert , < be justice of treating all' kinds of income alike . Hut the success of any attempt to

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    * Mi' niiilie .-i , 'h owever , ( he til railed miMdike of wiying ' , llit >(! >> y moiuni of indirect , liixnlion " ( bo inmlt , ! o of tho imliu'o ' aud ole tho-eoM . u |;<> arcs taxed all connmdo / n tfropor * lunwlof ' " '

    I December 18 , 1852 . ] THE LEADER . 1209

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 18, 1852, page 1209, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1965/page/13/