§ MR. BOOKER moved for several returns of which he had given notice. He expressed his regret that the right hon. Gentleman the Chancellor of the Exchequer should not have granted these returns. He did not press for them from mere curiosity, nor even for any party purpose, but he considered they were absolutely necessary and essential for the satisfaction of the country and the future guidance of the Government, let it be composed of whomsoever it might. He 840 pressed for the returns, because he know and felt the circumstances in which his constituents were placed, and because they had a right to know in what proportion, fair or unfair, just or unjust, an impost which took 5,500,000l. out of the pockets of the people, bore upon the owners and occupiers of land and those engaged in the manufactures and commerce and trade of the country. He pressed for the returns because he knew the ability of his constituents to meet their burdens were not gradually and slowly, but rapidly and surely, becoming extinguished. He wanted to know whether those great sources of national prosperity, as they were called, the trade and manufactures of the country, did not shirk some degree of that which fell on the land. He did not wish for anything inquisitorial; he believed he was not asking for any returns which would give rise to any personal disclosures of any kind. When the owners and occupiers of land in 1845 were marked out for attack, he found a return moved for by the hon. Member for Wolverhampton (Mr. Villiers), the success of whose annual attacks read them an excellent lesson to make annual attacks also—a return of the most inquisitoral character, giving most minute parochial details and items, and filling 375 pages of a blue book, was granted by the House. He wanted to know how the assessment of prpoerty and income bore on this great metropolis, on Manchester, Leeds, and other seats of our manufactures, and how it bore on the real property of the country; but he sought this information respecting whole districts and whole trades in as general a form as possible. He had been told that to some extent the information he sought had been given under Schedule B, which bore exclusively on the agricultural classes; but that it could not be given to a later date than 1848, as it was made up triennially. He found that it was only carried up to 1848, but he wanted particularly to know, and the country wanted to know, what the depression had been in that description of property since that period. His belief was that it was enormous, and that the Government did not wish the country to know how their policy was affecting so large a proportion of the community. If they did, he could not, for the life of him, understand how it was that returns in reference to Schedules C, D, and E could be carried down to 1850, and the other refused. The 841 assessment in Schedule D, which related to trades and professions, had increased since 1815 from 34,300,000l.to 54,900,0002. in 1850, and of that 34,000,000l.assessed in 1815, 16,000,000l., or nearly one-half. was assessed in the city of London. He wished to ascertain with precision what was the actual amount of the decrease of property assessed in Schedule B during the years 1849 and 1850. he was inclined to believe that the result of an accurate investigation of the question would he to show that the real property of this country had paid, on account of this impost, upwards of half a million more than the rental. The returns for which he was moving could be comprised within the four corners of a sheet of paper; and as it was essential that they should be laid before the House in order to enable them to arrive at a sound conclusion on the subject of the income tax, he honed that the Government would not offer any objection to the Motion.
§
Motion made, and Question proposed—
That there be laid before this House, 1. Return, in tabular form, of the amount of Income assessed to the Property and Income Tax under Schedule D. for the years 1815, 1843, 1846, and 1849 or 1850, distinguishing each separately, for the districts comprising the whole of the Metropolis, namely, the City of London, the Inns of Court, the Liberty of the Rolls, the whole of Westminster, also the Tower Hamlets Divison, the Edmonton Division, the Finshury Division or District, the Ilolborn Division or District, Blooms-bury, the Kensington Division or District, the Gore Divison or District, the Brentford Division, and the Spelthornc Division, all in the county of Middlesex: also, the Blackheath Hundred, East Brixton and West Brixton, East Brixton the third Division, the Borough of Southward, Camberwell, Peckham, St. Paul, Deptford, Streatham, New-ington, and Kingston Hundred, situate in the county of Surrey; also, Blackheath and Little and Lessuess District, in the county of Kent.
Also, this Return in abstract, in tabular form, under one general head.
2. A like Return to No. 1, for the districts comprising the whole of the towns of Manchester and Salford, Liverpool, Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Dudley, Hull. Huddersfield, Bradford, Wakefield, Macclesfield, Halifax, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee, Aberdeen, Merthyr Tidfyl, and Swansea, separately, and for the like periods.
3. Return, in tabular form, of the net Revenue received from the Property and Income Tax under Schedule A. in the years 1849 and 1850, distinguishing each year, and separately, each head of property from which the Revenue is obtained, and also distinguishing England and Wales from Scotland.
4. A like Return of the net Revenue received under Schedule B. for the same period, and distinguishing England and Wales from Scotland.
5. Return, in tabular form, of the amount of Real Property assessed to the Income and Property Tax under Schedule A. in the years 1815,
842
1843, 1846, and 1848, distinguishing each year, in the districts comprising the whole of the Metropolis in districts or divisions as in No. 1; distinguishing the description of property under each head on which the assessment is made.
And, also this Return in abstract and tabular form under one general head.
§ COLONEL SIBTHORPseconded the Motion, and hoped that his hon. Friend would, under all circumstances, persevere in it.
§ The CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUERdid not mean to taunt the hon. Member with desiring to institute inquisitorial proceedings, but he very much feared that many of the returns for which he called would merely tend to gratify the idle curiosity of persons less inquisitorially inclined than the hon. Member. To some of the returns moved for, he would offer no opposition; but he must positively refuse to enter into minute explanations with respect to the returns under Schedule D. The gross accounts under that Schedule had already been presented, and were on the table, but he could not consent to the production of returns for districts and towns. Such a proceeding would be contrary to the uniform practice of that House, which, following the rule which it had always set down for itself, of discouraging disclosures respecting the incomes of individuals, had, in 1816, ordered the income tax papers to be burned. If these returns were granted, the disclosure of the incomes of private individuals would be the inevitable result, and against that the House had at all times set its face. With regard to Schedule B, it would be impossible to give the information which the hon. Gentleman required, because the returns were only made triennially; but if lie would kindly give his support to the renewal of the income tax, on precisely the same terms, he would be able to get the information from the new assessment which it would he necessary to make in the present year, lie would be compelled to resist the Motion of the hon. Gentleman, but he was quite willing to give him all the information he could, consistently with the principle upon which those returns were made.
§ MR. HENLEYhoped the hon. Gentleman, if he could not get all that he asked for, would forego having any at all, otherwise he would be placing before the country a state of facts leading to a false inference. The assessment under Schedule B continued the same for three years; and therefore any return for the last two years would 843 not show any depreciation whatever in the value of landed property, but would make it appear that it was realising a profit, when in fact it was making none. At the same time, he (Mr. Henley) was not anxious for any reassessment.
§ MR. SPOONERhoped the hon. Gentleman would not press for a return under Schedule B.
§ MR. BOOKERsaid, that Schedule B was what he particularly wanted in the returns. The income tax was so unjust an impost, and the assessment, it appeared, so little able to hear the light, that he must be excused from pledging himself to adopt the right hon. Gentleman's suggestion to support him in its renewal. He would not now, however, press his Motion to a division, having already drawn the attention of the House to the anomalies of the tax.
§ Motion, by leave, withdrawn.
§ The House adjourned at a quarter after One o'clock.