HC Deb 23 July 1835 vol 29 cc951-2
Mr. Hume

presented a Petition signed, as he stated, by nearly all the printers in London, and forming a volume, praying the repeal of the taxes on knowledge, such as the stamp duty upon newspapers, the duty upon paper, &c. When they were abrogated, it would be soon seen that the art of printing in all its branches was only in its infancy. He had also received a similar petition from the printers of Carnarvon, and he might take this opportunity of saying that it appeared to him that the public voice demanded that Ministers should give way on this point. He did not wish the Chancellor of the Exchequer to relinquish so large an amount of revenue if it could not be spared, but he thought that a substitute might be found by imposing a payment on the transmission of newspapers by the post.

Mr. Robinson

took occasion to ask the Attorney General whether it was the intention of Government in the existing state of the law to suppress an open violation of it in the metropolis. He gave no opinion on the propriety of the tax upon newspapers, farther than to say, that he had always supported the repeal of this and all other taxes obstructing the dissemination of useful knowledge; but while the law remained unaltered, as prosecutions had been instituted against inferior offenders the publishers of penny magazines and others, he thought it unfit that greater offenders (and he was told that some great persons were implicated) should be allowed to escape altogether.

The Attorney General

replied, that the question as to the continuance of the tax was not in his department, but in that of the Chancellor of the Exchequer. On the propriety of enforcing the existing law he had no difficulty in saying, that he had taken steps, and should continue to take steps, to secure obedience to the law. Justice to the fair trader required, that while the tax remained, it should not be evaded; it was injustice to those who obeyed the law, if those were not punished who disobeyed it. If the hon. Member for Worcester would point out to him any individuals, high or low, without respect of persons, who offended, he would instantly put the law in force against them.

Petition laid on the Table.