speech of great length, in which he stated that his former opinion, respecting that species of impost remained unchanged, but, at the same time, he could not say that it was possible longer to refuse that mode of raising the supplies. He retraced nearly the same ground which Sir Robert Peel had travelled over a few days before, arguing that the deficiency in the revenue could not be supplied by reduced taxation on consumption. He thought, however, that if an Income-tax must be imposed, the same rate of taxation ought not to be imposed on all incomes equal in amount, but varying in kind. The injustice of such a principle became strikingly exemplified, when applied to incomes arising from professions.

He could not conceive anything more lamentable than the state to which a professional man might be reduced, from the state of his health-from sudden weakness of mind, or from a debilitated frame -with distress falling upon him and premature decay, and with his income falling short of his wants, and having no capital to fall back

upon

"Optima quæque dies miseris mortalibus ævi

Prima fugit; subeunt morbi, tristisque senectus,

Et labor, et duræ rapit inclementia mortis."

These casualties were of the number of those which fell to the lot of the professional man; and these matters should be duly taken into account, before it went forth that you intended to impose the same tax upon his income as upon that of the landowner, the fundholder, or other capitalist.

He suggested a graduated scale, applicable to the several sources of

income: "He would make the per centage less upon the professions and upon the life estate than in the case of the tenant in fee, even though they should increase from 3 to 4 per cent. the amount levied upon the one, and diminish from 3 to 2 per cent. the amount levied upon the other. If in the case of the professional man, the clergyman, the physician, the lawyer, the literary man, they lowered the per centage to two, though they should be obliged to increase it in the case of others who had capital to deal with to four, he should still by all means counsel them to make the reduction. But it was his most confident expectation, that it would not be necessary; but that, leaving 3 per cent. to be charged upon the one, and lowering the other to two, and giving relief to the tenants, occupiers of land, and professional persons, they would still have enough to supply the deficiency in the revenue.

After a compliment to the Queen on volunteering to subject herself to the Income-tax, and a regret that so splendid a national resource should not be reserved for a period of war, he concluded by moving the following resolution:

1. That a direct tax upon income ought never to be resorted to unless in some great emergency of public affairs, when an extraordinary expenditure may become unavoidable for a time, or in some pressure upon the finances of the country, which can be sustained by no other means.

"2. That such a tax ought on no account to form part of the ordinary revenue of the State, but to cease with the necessity which alone could justify its imposition; inasmuch as, beside all the other objections to which it is liable,

its inquisitorial operation being equally vexatious whatever sums are levied, the facility of increasing its amount, according to the real or supposed exigencies of the public service, offers a constant temptation to extravagance on the part of the Government; removing the most effectual check upon improvident expenditure, and dispensing with the necessity of seeking a revenue in retrench

ment.

"3. That although the actual deficiency in the revenue to meet the expenditure, amounting to about seven millions and a half in five years, and the estimated deficiency for the next year, amounting to above two millions and a half, besides probable demands arising from the state of affairs in the East, may render the temporary recourse to an Income-tax necessary, after an attempt to increase by one-twentieth the duties of Excise and Customs had ended in obtaining a two-hundredth part only, thereby proving the impossibility of drawing any further revenue from increased taxes on consumption, while the relief which may justly be expected to commerce and to finance from lowering those taxes cannot be made immediately available,-yet it behoves the Parliament, as faithful guardians of the people's rights and interests, to take care that during the temporary existence of this tax, its pressure shall be distributed in such a manner as shall make it most easily, most patiently be borne.

"4. That, with this view, it is first of all necessary to satisfy the people that there shall be no invidious exemptions, but that the highest personages in the State shall be permitted to have their

due share of a burthen which abso lute necessity alone could warrant the Parliament to impose.

"5. That with the same view, it is expedient to make a distinction between income arising from from capital of every description, and income arising from labour merely; levying a smaller proportion of the latter income than the former.

6. That with the same view, it is expedient to make a distinction between income possessed by persons who have only an interest in the same for their lives, or for some lesser term, and income possessed by persons who have an interest in the capital from whence the income arises; levying a larger proportion of the latter income than of the former.

"7. That with the same view, it is expedient to make no distinction in favour of persons in the civil service of the State, or of persons receiving pensions from the State.

"8. That it is neither consistent with justice nor with sound policy, to levy a greater proportion of tax upon larger incomes than upon smaller; and that an exemption of even the smallest incomes from the operation of the tax can only be justified upon the supposition that their owners are wholly unable to pay it.

"9. That while it is the duty of the people to bear those burhens which are necessary for supporting the credit of the country, and maintaining the security of its widely-extended dominions, it is equally the duty of Parliament to afford them every procurable relief, by enforcing the most rigorous economy in all the departments of public service, by discouraging all proceedings which may endanger

the continuance of peace, and by adopting whatever measures may best conduce to the improvement of our commercial resources; and that it is in an especial manner incumbent without any delay to remove any income-tax, whatever be imposed, as soon as it shall appear that the ordinary branches of the revenue have recovered from their temporary depression."

The Earl of Ripon, speaking in a merely financial point of view, thought that Lord Brougham's success in opposing the continuance of the Income-tax in 1816, might have increased the subsequent financial difficulties of the country; though he agreed that such a "splendid resource" should be reserved for times of immediate necessity. Admitting many obvious truths in the resolutions and the mover's speech, Lord Ripon thought it would be very inconvenient to prejudge the mode in which a bill to come from the other House should be framed; for it might reduce them to the ridiculous alternative of relinquishing their recorded opinion, or of rejecting the bill. He contended that Lord Brougham's precedents did not jus tify his present course; but refrained from entering upon the topies of his speech. He moved "the previous question," which was carried, with only a few dissentient voices.

A few nights afterwards in the House of Commons, Sir Robert Peel entered into an explanation of the details of the measures previously announced, especially with respect to the machinery by which the Income-tax was to be collected, The debate was commenced by Mr. T. Baring, the late Chancellor of the Exchequer, on the mo.

tion to go into Committee of Ways and Means.

Mr. Baring began by finding fault with Sir Robert Peel's calculations. He did not consider him warranted in supposing that the falling-off in the revenue was likely to be permanent. He entered into some arithmetical statements on the subject of the deficiency, and contended that it was owing to casualties, such as the Canadian insurrection, and other extraordinary and unforeseen events, for which the late Government ought not to be deemed responsible. He held it a mistake to suppose that taxation upon consumable articles had reached its limits. He entered into some defence of the financial measures proposed by himself and his colleagues the year before. The sources to which he had then looked were not exhausted now; and it was therefore unallowable as yet to resort to that extreme, tax which this Government was seeking to levy. The new plan was to raise 4,300,000l.; of which only 3,000,000l. was required to meet deficiencies, the remainder being intended to effect alterations in the Tariff, and afford a surplus for other objects. He objected to the protection accorded to imports from the colonies; and, especially, to a differential duty of 100 per cent. on colonial asses and colonial eau de Cologne. Had taxes of any other kind been proposed, those Members who had belonged to the late Government would, indeed, have taken the choice of the House as between the late plan and the present; but, if beaten on that comparative question, they would not further have opposed the taxes of the Government. But this was a tax they must oppose.

Mr. Goulburn observed, that the state in which the Government now found themselves, was the consequence of the policy pursued by their predecessors, who had neglected to provide for difficulties which they could not but have foreseen. He entered into a general defence of the Govern

ment measure.

Lord Howick believed the country gentlemen would find they had made but a bad bargain for the land in setting up a slidingscale, and getting an Income-tax as its consequence: on casting up their accounts, they would find their sliding-scale a very expensive luxury. He dilated upon the advantage of ulterior taxation upon consumption, especially in the instance of sugar; made the imputation of insincerity against those who objected to the encouragement of foreign slave sugar; and concluded with a strong censure of the Income-tax.

Lord John Russell condemned the construction of the Tariff for not working out its own principle, but sparing certain important articles, as in the instance of sugar, merely from fear of the influential interests connected with them. The present Ministers complained of deficiency; but that deficiency was occasioned by their own refusal of the remedies proposed for it. He repeated the usual objections to the Incometax; and announced that in Committee he should vote against Sir Robert Peel's resolutions, and sub. sequently propose other resolutions of his own, in order to place upon record his sense of the nature of the financial situation in which the country was now placed, and his opinion that it was not necessary to have recourse to this very

odious, and, if unnecessary, very unjust tax.

Sir Robert Peel began by severely taunting the leaders of the Opposition on the nature and motives of their hostility to his measure. That hostility had neither surprised nor disappointed him. "Notwithstanding the silence of the other night-notwithstanding the calmness with which my proposition was received-notwithstanding the declaration that my proposals should be considered as a whole, I felt that in the attempt to meet the difficulties in which this country had been involved by the financial administration of the late Government—I felt that whatever efforts I might make, whether by the continuance of loans, whether by the imposition of taxes upon the income and property of the country, whether by burthens upon the working classes by means of taxes on articles of consumption, I had not undertaken an easy task; but I was confident that my chief opponents would be those who had involved the country in difficulties." They had said they would not submit to onerous taxation, unless convinced of its necessity to equalise the income with the expenditure. He could assure them then that upon the actual expenditure which they would require for the current year, the probable deficit would be 3,000,000Z.; and if in their calculations were included the entire cost up to April 1843, of the expedition to China, the clear net deficiency would be brought up to 3,800,000/. In the face of this deficiency, however, he wished, for the great object of removing burthens which now pressed upon the springs of manufacturing industry and commercial enterprise, to incur a fur

ther deficiency. If it was politic to remove prohibitory duties, and to reduce those which attached to certain articles of consumption, and to those raw materials which entered into every object of commercial enterprise, a fresh addition of from 1,000,000l. to 1,200,000l. must be made to the deficiency of the year. The question then for the House to decide was, whether with the view of supplying this defalcation they preferred the means which he had proposed to them, or the fixed duty on corn and the alteration of the sugar duties, which would be proposed by Lord John Russell. He did not for a moment deny that there were objections to a tax on the income of the country; but the argument that it should be reserved for periods of war was idle. It was alike appropriate to a time of urgent necessity, whether of war or peace. Besides, the country was actually now engaged in war, and subject to the expenditure which war involved. The great argument against a Property-tax, its inquisitorial character, could not be wholly denied; but apart from that, he believed it was one of the best of taxes. The large amount required by urgent public necessity, could not be raised in a more equal or less onerous manner. And he had a strong conviction, that if the whole of his plan should receive the sanction of the House, the diminished expences of living would go far to make up to individuals for their contributions to the Income-tax. The question was, not whether any objections or cases of hardship might be urged against the present proposals, but whether it would be possible in any other mode less burthensome VOL. LXXXIV.

to procure the required amount of

revenue.

Sir Robert Peel then proceeded to enter into his promised explanation respecting the details. and machinery for the collection of the tax; and stated that he proposed to adopt, speaking generally, the same mode of collection as was applied by the Act brought in by Lord Henry Petty in 1806. A reference to that Act would show the nature of the machinery which was now to be resorted to. There were, however, to be two provisions embodied in the new bill, which were not contained in the former Act. The first was an option given to parties surcharged, and who desired the benefit of secrecy, of appealing either to the Local Commissioners, or to Special Commissioners who would be appointed by the Government, would be strangers to all parties, and sworn to secresy; the second provision would give facilities to enable parties who had once made a return of their incomes under the Act, to compound for their assessment for three years. Furthermore, to obviate the objections of persons who disliked to pay the amount of their assessment to the local collector, whereby the exact amount of their incomes might be divulged, it would be provided that payment of the assessment, when agreed to, might be made into the Bank of England, without any name being mentioned, on account of the Property-tax.

In conclusion, Sir Robert Peel said, that further consideration had satisfied him, that it was not desirable in the peculiar situation of this country with respect to other countries, to advise any alteration in the duty on foreign sugar, [G]