THE NEWSPAPER STAMP—QUESTION.

HC Deb 07 July 1854 vol 134 cc1377-84

On the Motion for going into Committee of Supply,

SIR JOHN SHELLEY

said, he rose to call the attention of the House to the threatened prosecution of Mr. Novello, the publisher of the Musical Times, for an alleged violation of the Newspaper Stamp Act; and at the same time to ask the hon. and learned Attorney General, whether proceedings were to be instituted against him. After the Resolution to which the House had come on the 16th of May— That it is the opinion of this House that the Laws in reference to the Periodical Press and Newspaper Stamp are ill-defined and unequally enforced, and it appears to this House that the subject demands the early consideration of Parliament,"— he thought it right to call attention to a case which would show that the law was ill-defined and unequally enforced. The gentleman whose case he was about to advocate was the publisher of a very harmless periodical, called the Musical Times, which contained some articles of news. On the 8th of May Mr. Novello received a letter from the Board of Inland Revenue, stating that he had broken the law, and threatening him with a prosecution. He accordingly wrote to Mr. Timm as follows— London, 69, Dean Street, Soho, "May 11, 1854. I have to acknowledge your letter of May 8. I have delivered to the Stamp Office stamped and unstamped copies of every number of the Musical Times for the last ten years (as compelled by law to do), and each of these copies has been thoroughly examined by your officers to ascertain how much of it was liable to duty for advertisements, so long as that impost was chargeable; and I suppose that, both before and since, it has been examined to see that it contained no blasphemous and seditious libel, as I am compelled still to deliver a copy for the latter purpose. During these ten years the news contained in the paper has always been of precisely the same kind, and your Office (as I have shown) was thoroughly acquainted with its nature; and, as no objection has been made, I must suppose that the Musical Times has, during ten years, been published with the sanction of your Office. I should be glad, therefore, to be favoured by your pointing out what particular passage of news you now consider as making the paper liable to be all printed upon stamps. The Musical Times has always consisted 'principally' of a piece of music, for which the same price is paid, whether printed alone, or whether accompanied by the matter of temporary interest, which is given away with it only when first published. The music being that for which the money is paid in all instances, you will perceive that, supposing sixteen or more pages of advertisements to be given with the music, the Musical Times would still consist 'principally' of the music, which is what people pay for. In answer to that he received a letter from Mr. Timm, offering to submit his letter to the Board, to which he replied— I am obliged by your offer to submit my representations to the Board, and I feel all the inconvenience of their position, in having to administer a law which the Judges are unable to define, and which no Government has yet had either the grace to repeal, or the courage equally to enforce. I am not without hope that the present Government will adopt the graceful course and repeal these bad laws; but if in the meantime they are determined to make the existing laws respected, they would be more likely to succeed by prosecuting any of the other fifty or sixty papers placed in precisely the same position as the Musical Times, because ill-natured people will be apt to think the selection more due to its being the property of the treasurer of the active Association for the Repeal of all the Taxes on Knowledge, rather than to any peculiarity in the contents of the Musical Times requiring the enforcement of the law to begin with that paper. No answer was returned to that, and on the 20th of May Mr. Novello addressed the following letter to the Chairman of the Board of Inland Revenue— On the 8th May, I had a letter from Mr. Timm, solicitor to the Inland Revenue, threatening me, for penalties he says I have incurred by something I have published in the Musical Times. I answered it immediately, requesting to have pointed out what particular passage has subjected me to these threats, after ten years of impunity; but although more than a week is past, I have had no answer, and am left in all the uncertainty of not knowing what I may do in my next number. I have addressed myself to you, as the Chairman of the Board, to point out how much anxiety is caused by these constant threats from a department armed with an Act by which penalties can be inflicted, which would quite ruin a man. Many of my friends are in consternation at the danger they think I run. The Board have probably hardly considered the effect of these proceedings on those threatened, but it would be less cruel were they to make up their minds and only threaten those whom they had determined to prosecute, rather than thus to threaten when in many instances no further steps are intended to be taken. The timid are frightened from their property, and it leaves me not the less anxious and uncertain, that I have made up my mind to defend my paper. I trust I may be favoured as early as possible with the decision of the Board, in order to be relieved from an anxiety I have not deserved, if no prosecution is intended; or, in the other alternative, that I may be prepared for my defence. In answer to this he received a letter dated May 24, and signed Thomas Keogh, as follows— The Board have had before them your letter of the 11th instant, addressed to their solicitor, as also a letter of the 20th, to the Chairman. I am directed to inform you that the Board will act in the matter to which these letters refer according to the advice of the law officers of the Crown. Upon this Mr. Novello wrote to the Attorney General in the following terms— I inclose copies of correspondence which has passed between the Inland Revenue and myself, by which you will see that I ant threatened with prosecution for publishing news in the Musical Times, after having done so with impunity for ten years; and that Mr. Keogh finally refers me to the law officers of the Crown, to know whether the prosecution is to be proceeded with. I write (after waiting with much patience) to ask if the Musical Times is to be prosecuted or not, and I hope to be favoured with a direct answer, as it is most painful to conduct business under such uncertainty. There is no doubt that if the Statute be strictly enforced against the numerous papers containing similar matter to the Musical Times, every publisher must be ruined by the penalties; but even such severity would be less unjust than the present fast and loose method of threatening a prosecution (involving such heavy pecuniary loss, whether successful or the contrary), but which in many instances has no other meaning than to frighten the timid out of their property; while this uncertain conduct has the bad moral effect of showing the impunity with which reckless persons may set a Statute at defiance, if the law be so unfair and ill-defined as is the Newspaper Stamp Act. I trust you will see the justice of informing me if the prosecution is to be stayed, and whether the Musical Times is to continue its former useful course undisturbed by these threats. It will still have to struggle with the heavy obstruction which the paper duty imposes upon all printed efforts to diffuse information. To this he received no answer, and on the 26th June he wrote another letter to the Attorney General to this effect— I should feel very grateful for a reply to my letter of 9th June, inquiring if the prosecution is to take place against the Musical Times, and whether anything were intended by the threats of the 8th May. I have been trying to relieve my anxiety since your silence by reference to the course pursued towards former alleged offenders. I find the case of the Racing Times, which was said to admit of no delay, and 'which no person could doubt was a newspaper liable to stamp duty' in September, 1851, but since which no prosecution has ensued. I find, on the other hand, the more doubtful case of the Commercial Journal, in Dublin, so late as this year, prosecuted, the proprietor brought to the brink of the Insolvent Court, his paper nearly ruined, and, although the verdict decided he had not violated the law, he had 100l, to pay for the expense of defending his property from an unjust attack. I find numbers of papers crushed out of existence by the threats of the Inland Revenue, and, on the other hand, the discreditable exhibition of that Office set at defiance by persons whom they have accused of breaking the law. I find the Police Gazette suppressed, and Holt's Army and Navy Despatch selling by thousands, 'stamped and unstamped'—that is with the direct sanction of the Stamp Office, and this last paper has not even been threatened. You perceive that no safe opinion can be gathered from observing this unequal enforcement of the law, and I am, therefore, compelled once more to ask a reply from you by which I may guide my proceedings. To this he had received no reply. He (Sir J. Shelley) really thought that, after the Resolution to which that House had come, and the proof which had been given that this publication was not one which had broken the law, that it was a matter worthy of the consideration of his hon. and learned Friend the Attorney General; and he wished to know whether it was the intention of his hon. and learned Friend to institute any prosecution against Mr. Novello; or whether he proposed to bring in any Bill to set at rest this disputed question with regard to publishers and periodicals?

The ATTORNEY GENERAL

begged to say, that the only reason why Mr. Novell had not received an answer to his communications to him was, because a reply to that gentleman involved this consideration—that the same measure dealt out to Mr. Novello must be dealt out to everybody else. The whole matter connected with this stamp duty had been under his anxious consideration since the Resolution of the House upon the subject. With reference to the particular instance brought under the notice of the House by his hon. Friend, the facts were these:—in April last, or early in May, the case of Nr. Novello was submitted to the law officers of the Crown. It appeared that the Musical Times not only contained items of intelligence connected with music, but that Mr. Novello published advertisements very largely. so that very frequently one-half of his paper appeared in the shape of advertisements, which, whatever might be the opinion of the publisher, brought his paper directly within the stamp duty. The fact that Mr. Novello was evading the law in this particular was brought under his attention, and the view he had taken was, that, so long as the Government allowed certain privileges to class publications, Mr. Novello was entitled to indulgence; but that, if he sought to evade the law by publishing advertisements, then he ought not to be treated with the same leniency as others, and it was right that the law should be enforced against him. The law officers of the Crown recommended that, as this evasion of the law might have been an act of oversight, a letter should be written to Mr. Novello on the subject, pointing out that, instead of keeping within the limits of a class publication in the Musical Times, he was publishing advertisements, and so evading the law. Such a letter was written, and there the matter ended. His right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer had referred it to him to take into consideration what course the Government should pursue upon the subject generally. The question was one of some difficulty. He had, however, quite made up his mind as to the course which ought to be pursued by the Government, and, but for the unfortunate illness of the right hon. Gentleman, who had been prevented from attending the House during the week, he should have put him in possession of his views. As he had already stated, he had a very clear view indeed of what ought to be done, but, until he had communicated on the subject with the Minister at the head of the financial department, he thought he should not be justified in stating to the House at the present moment what he should be quite prepared to state on another occasion. For the same reason, he had not communicated to Mr. Novello what was to be done in his particular case. At the same time, he might say that be felt quite sure there was no disposition whatever to visit that gentleman with respect to the past. As to what would be done for the future, that, of course, must depend upon the decision come to upon the general question.

MR. MILNER GIBSON

said, he would take the liberty of submitting to the Government whether, in the uncertain state of the law, it would not be wise to suspend all pending actions on this question, and that no new ones should be instituted until the Government had decided on the course they intended to take. That would be reasonable course, and one for which there was precedent. He would press on the noble Lord (Lord J. Russell) to use his influence with his Colleagues to agree that no actions under the Stamp Laws should be instituted till the measure of the Government was decided on. He did not see why the Government should delay to settle this question. It was a simple, and by no means a complicated question, and he believed that the hon. and learned Attorney General and himself, or any other Member of the House, would in three days settle the whole question, so that it should never be heard of again. He knew what the views of the Attorney General were from the votes he had given when he was not connected with any Government; and his private views were always in their favour when he was an independent Member of the House, and on conviction he was with them. The Board of Inland Revenue was now placed in a very awkward position before the public; threatening prosecutions which they did not proceed with, and he thought for the sake of that House, if not for the public, the Government were bound to take an early opportunity of settling. this question. He should like to know where the obstruction was, and why the matter should be kept in hot water when it could be settled by ceasing to tax news and substituting a postal charge for the transmission of papers—a plan which was pursued in all countries except this. The Post Office could very easily settle the matter, and he could confidently intrust it to Mr. Rowland Hill. He would therefore appeal to the Government to do something in the matter this Session, and if not, in the very beginning of the next.

LORD JOHN RUSSELL

said, that in the absence of his right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer, he could only say that his right hon. Friend had paid most anxious attention to this subject, and was very desirous the question should be settled in a manner which should be for the benefit of the community at large. His right hon. Friend, however, was, he believed, very far from thinking, with the right hon. Gentleman the Member for Manchester (Mr. M. Gibson), that the subject was one of extreme simplicity, and one which might be settled in a few hours. On the contrary, he saw many difficulties in the way which ought to be provided against in any plan proposed. This House had resolved that the law was at present ill-defined and unequally enforced, and what his right hon. Friend (Mr. M. Gibson) proposed—that everybody who chose to evade the law should be left without prosecution, while those who complied with it should suffer the penalties attending obedience to the law—would certainly not be the best means of equally enforcing the law. If they adopted this course, the Government might well be accused of favouring those who sought to evade the law, and of inflicting hardship and injustice on those who complied with it.

MR. COBDEN

said, that the Government might think that this question was often introduced unnecessarily; and he protested against its continuing as it was, on account of the trouble it gave to the Government. The question was constantly raised with reference to persons who were obstructed in the dissemination of news; but there was another side of the question, and the hon. and learned Attorney General would find difficulties raised by papers which were already established, which were stamped, and which complained against the toleration of unstamped publications. He had received a letter from the editor of the Warrington Guardian, which stated, "That he wished he would read to the House the inclosed advertisement, and ask why he should be made to pay a penny on all his papers, while Holt paid only when he liked." The advertisement inclosed was of a journal called Holt's Army and Navy Despatch, which professed to give all the events of the war. [The hon. Gentleman read the contents of the paper, which consisted of some most stirring incidents, real and supposed, connected with the war. The table of contents concluded with the words, "and all the news of the war, price 1½d."] His correspondent complained that when people would read about nothing but the war, an unstamped paper should be allowed to give all the news of the war. If the Attorney General carried out his intention with regard to indulgence to unstamped papers he would find difficulties in the way from established papers. If he meant that papers which confined themselves to a particular subject should be exempt from that stamp, numbers of publications would spring up, professing to give only class news, while by means of leaders, and in other ways, would slip in general news, and it would be difficult to define what was class news. He would, therefore, put it to the Government, as every one professed a desire to encourage the instruction and information of the people, whether they should any longer hesitate as to the course they would take on the question. There was no doubt as to what ought to be done. Let all newspapers be unstamped, and when they were sent through the Post Office, let a penny stamp be put upon them. It was no new principle or plan, for it was done already in the case of the Athenœum, Punch, &c., which had stamped and unstamped editions. It was a very simple plan, for you had only to put the whole of the newspapers on the same footing, and let Mr. Rowland Hill and the Chancellor of the Exchequer arrange the rest of the matter, which could be done in less than three days. He hoped that the Government would come to a decision on the subject in a short time.