§ Mr. Humepresented a petition from Brechin, complaining of the Two-penny Stamp Duty, which brought an inconsiderable revenue, was unequal in its operation, and attended with vexatious litigation. The petitioners also complained of the legacy duty, which was attended in its operation with great inequality and hardship. When a poor person died—a person, for instance, who might not have more than 20l.—it was necessary that all the articles about him, even to the night-cap and old shoes of the deceased, should be taxed by this act, for the repeal of which, the petitioners now prayed. Again; a man who might have assets to the amount of 1,500l., though he owed that sum, and even more, yet, before those assets could be touched, they were subjected to the duty of 60l. The petitioners also complained of a practice that prevailed in Scotland, that no person could institute a suit for the recovery of any sum above two guineas, without being subjected to a duty of 4s. 6d. All these duties were levied with great hardship, and the amount which they brought in to the revenue, would be more than compensated by the reduction of one useless regiment of cavalry, or of infantry.
§ Mr. Brightconcurred in opinion, that these small duties on stamps were unproductive to the revenue, and extremely vexatious on the poorer classes. He considered them more vexatious in their operation than the Salt-tax. One of the hardships was, that the Stamp-office hired informers, to discover those who infringed the Statute.
§ Mr. Sykessaid, that the law upon this subject was extremely oppressive to the population of the town which he represented. He thought it a severe hardship that the Stamp-office should advertize for informers in the manner which they notoriously did. He hoped the legislature would direct its attention to the subject, in reference to which he had some petitions to present.
Mr. Baringsaid, that informers were 573 the only means which the legislature had of enforcing the observance of the laws which it enacted. But for these informers the law would be evaded, and their services were required in order to prevent the more harsh and oppressive course of intruding on private families. However severely the penalties might sometimes be felt, those penalties protected the honest trader from the one who violated the law.
§ Ordered to lie on the table.