TAXATION AND REFORM.

HC Deb 10 November 1830 vol 1 cc353-8

Mr. Hume

presented a Petition from the inhabitants of Mary-le-bone, agreed to at a public meeting, where 3,000 persons were assembled complaining of Distress. He begged leave to call the attention of the House to the petition, which spoke the sense of the majority of the inhabitants of that parish, and he believed of the people of this kingdom. The petitioners say:— That this country, unparalleled in the annals of history, has been brought to a state utterly at variance with its knowledge, industry, wealth, and enterprise; that this state is the consequence of a bad administration in its affairs; that this bad administration is the inevitable consequence of the popular branch of the Government not having been elected by the people, nor accountable to the people. On this point he agreed with the petitioners, who went on to say— That the Members of your hon. House are returned by a very small minority of the male population of this kingdom who are householders; that the means by which a majority of the Members of your hon. House are returned, are—by the undue influence of Peers; by the undue influence of a few wealthy persons not Peers; by the undue influence of the Treasury; by the influence of terror, as it is in various ways exercised over electors; by the purchase of seats for rotten boroughs: by persons who are returned for their own boroughs; by bribery and corruption, now again all but openly practised, and other modes and practices, all calculated to make your hon. House dependent on the aristocratical branch of the Government, instead of being, as it ought to be, dependent on the people, and on the people only. No relief, he was persuaded, could be effected without a change in this system— without, in other words, putting down the monopoly in the manufacture of Members of Parliament. It was the monopoly of a set of men, who used every exertion to put into their own pockets as much as they could of the public taxes. That was his opinion; and he was happy to find, that the people, who were of the same opinion, were now beginning to come forward, and express their sentiments upon the subject. The country was in a state of the greatest wretchedness, and the squalid appearance which a large portion of its inhabitants presented, was such as to excite feelings of compassion for them, but disgust for the persons to whom they owed their misery. Such a state of things ought not to be allowed. The petitioners said, that undue influence was still kept up in different parts of the kingdom by bribery and corruption, which no measure was so likely to prevent as voting by ballot. That formed in his opinion one of the most important subjects of Reform. The petitioners also stated— That the taxes levied on the people are so large in amount as to exceed the sum of one million of pounds sterling for every six working days in each week. The people of this country were taxed in a degree never equalled in the history of the world. He was sorry to hear the right hon. Baronet opposite state a few evenings ago, that the Government was not prepared to say whether there would be any reduction of taxation. The Ministers would not make up their minds on meeting the new Parliament, to make reductions and retrenchments, because they were determined to wait and ascertain the temper of this Parliament. But although they could not say anything on this subject, they were ready enough to state that they were determined to oppose every measure of Reform, from whatever quarter it might emanate. He understood that it was stated by a noble Duke in another place, that as long as he had any control in the Government, Reform should never be conceded. If such were the case —if it were the fixed determination of Government to oppose with all its power, the important Question of Reform, all that he would say, was, God send that their time may be short. He was satisfied that this declaration had already greatly increased the dissatisfaction of the people, and unless something was speedily done, that dissatisfaction would increase to an alarming extent. He was afraid this spirit of discontent would so increase as to affect the security of property, and to occasion alarm in the heart of every person having property to lose. He could not help expressing his apprehension at the declaration, that, notwithstanding the strength of public opinion in favour of Reform, and however it might be expressed, Ministers were determined not to listen to it. If the petitions of the people in favour of Reform were not attended to, how could they be satisfied? What measures would Ministers adopt to prevent them from looking to some other resource? As for the taxes, it was impossible for the people to bear them. The petitioners said,— That so numerous are these taxes, that an adequate description of them and their operation would fill a volume. That these taxes, so enormous in the aggregate, are unequal and partial, favouring the rich, and unjustly oppressing all the rest of the community. That not only are the taxes oppressive which the people are compelled to pay, but the misgovernment they have engendered is even more inimical to the welfare of the nation, as they have induced Ministers to abridge the liberties of the subject; to maintain an immense standing army in time of peace, an army greater than ever existed during any war preceding the last; to proceed in divers ways to preserve their influence; to depress trade; to injure manufactures; to impede commerce; to embarrass agriculture, and to do great evil to all the useful portion of the community. That these oppressive, unequal, and enormous taxes have engendered very general discontent, which is every day increasing, and may lead to consequences, the bare contemplation of which is calculated to make every reflecting man shudder. That this lamentable state of a nation, so ingenious, skilful, intelligent, and industrious, would never have been brought about by a House of Commons fairly chosen by the people. That it is a state equally disgraceful to the nation and to the Government, in the opinion of all thinking men, both natives and foreigners. That these evils, enormous as they are, might and would with ease be remedied by a House of Commons elected by a majority of the householders; in such a House the people would place implicit confidence, support its measures, promote its views, and in conjunction with the other branches of the Legislature, speedily work out the salvation of the country. This was the result of a most monstrous and abominable system. Even this evening the right hon. Baronet opposite, with all the coolness imaginable, admitted that it was intended to allow a reverend gentleman, about to be made a Bishop, to retain the spiritual charge of a parish containing 12,000 persons, the tithes of which amount to 4,000l. a-year. Was it proper, was it consistent, that a Bishop, residing nearly 400 miles distant from this parish, should be allowed to hold the living? He was happy that the hon. Baronet, the member for Cumberland, had given notice of a motion for an Address to the Crown upon the subject, and he trusted that it would be sufficient to induce Ministers to make Dr. Phillpotts resign this living. If Parliament were reformed such things would not be allowed in the Church, nor would a Minister get up and defend them. After the declaration made by the Ministers on the subject of reform, and after their refusal to state whether they intended to make any reduction in taxation, the House ought to bring them to a proper sense of their duty, or compel them to resign the helm of government to those who would attend to the wishes and feelings of the people: they might learn something of the sentiments of the people by this passage of the petition. The petitioners said, that they were Resolved to do their duty to themselves and to their fellow-citizens as long as any hope remains. They beg to call the attention of your hon. House to means which may be used to enable your hon. House to abolish a large amount of taxes. These means are—the abolition of all sinecure places of every kind, and by whomsoever held; the abolition of all pensions where no services have been performed; the reduction of all pensions to a sum commensurate with real service; abolition of all useless places; reduction of salaries of all overpaid useful places to the lowest sum for which needful services can be adequately performed; reduction of the standing army; reduction in the Ordnance department; abandonment of every colonial establishment for which the colony is unable or unwilling to pay; the most economical arrangement with such colonies as are able and willing to defray all the expenses they may incur; application in aid of taxes of the revenue under the management of the Commissioners of Woods and Forests; economy and saving in every department, and in every office; strict accountability of every person in every public employment. The people, the hon. Member continued' had no longer the means of paying for these enormous establishments. The profits in trade had materially diminished within the last few years; yet a man was called upon to pay the same amount of taxes now, as when his profits were three times as great. Taxes were now three times more burthensome owing to the change in the value of money than they were twenty years ago. The petitioners urged very strongly the importance and necessity of reducing taxation: if, however, to do that were left to the Ministers, he was convinced that no reduction would be made. Indeed, a declaration had gone forth, not only against reduction, but even against an inquiry as to whether reductions could with propriety be effected. The petitioners concluded by stating, We beg to direct your prompt and serious attention to those of vital importance—the assessed house and window taxes, which your petitioners feel, beyond the general pressure of taxation, in consequence of the inequality with which they are laid, rendering them unjust in their operation: they further expose your petitioners too frequently to the vindictive feelings of the collectors, and prove a formidable barrier to improvement. We therefore pray your hon. House to take such measures as may enable you to repeal the same, and thus grant immediate relief to your petitioners. The petitioners prayed for reduction of taxation to such an amount as to give relief to the whole people, and it was his firm opinion, that retrenchments might be made in our various establishments to such an extent as to give relief to the amount of seven millions a-year. This would enable the House to take off the coal-tax, the assessed taxes, the taxes on candles and paper, and, indeed, on all articles which were at present under the control of the Excise. To all these taxes he objected most strongly, not so much on account of the money they levied as the restrictions they imposed on industry; restrictions which checked enterprise, and were utterly and completely at variance with that spirit of free-trade which the Ministers had pretended to adopt in our commerce with other countries. But our domestic industry was of more importance than our foreign trade; and a wise government would consider, that its highest duty was, to encourage domestic industry. The abolition of these taxes would immediately revive trade, and give renewed activity to every branch of manufacture, of commerce, and agriculture, as well as allay the growing discontent of the people. Why, too, he would ask, might not the corn-laws be repealed, which operated as a tax to the amount of ten millions a-year, without being of the least benefit to any class of the community? It was his intention to bring that subject under the attention of the House at a very early period, when he hoped that he should be able to shew the impolicy of these laws. He was convinced that they were beneficial neither to the farmer nor the landlord, and that, so far from putting money into the pockets of the agriculturist, they were prejudicial to his interests, by increasing the amount of poor-rates and tithes. When the subject was brought regularly before the House, he would prove that relief could be safely given to the amount of between seven or eight millions a-year, by deductions and retrenchments, and that also a further expense to the country might be saved, of ten or twelve millions a-year, by repealing the corn-laws, which were of no benefit to any class of the community; and also that those taxes, which at present pressed so heavily upon the productive industry, might be transferred to property. By adopting this system, he had no doubt that a saving to the amount of nearly twenty-one millions a-year might be made. If the corn-laws were repealed, those fluctuations would be prevented in the price of agricultural produce, which at present operated most prejudicially to the interest of the consumer. He was satisfied, that by the repeal the situation of the farmer and the agricultural labourer would be materially improved, and great relief would be afforded to all the other classes in the country. He feared, however, that the measures which he recommended would not be adopted unless reform took place, and it was to reform alone that the people must look for an efficient reduction of taxation, and efficient relief.

The Petition to be printed.