Lords Sitting of 23 March 1835

MINUTES
Petitions presented. By Lord WHARNCLIFFE, for the Repeal of the Factories' Regulation Act.—By the Duke of RICHMOND, the Earls of SHAFTESBURY and ROSEBERY, and Lord WHARNCLIFFE, from several Places,—for Protection to the Church of Scotland.

NEWSPAPER STAMP—CHEAP LITERATURE.
Lord Broughamwas, he said, going to present a Petition; and from the manner in which a former petition he had presented was commented upon, he wished to state that he considered that petitions containing statements against individuals should be opened by the Clerk of the House, and not by a Member of it. The petition to which he now referred, and which he was about to present, undoubtedly contained no charges against any individual; it did not refer to any individual whatever—it stated no charges, it only contained facts, it maintained opinions in which he entirely concurred—opinions of which he took the responsibility; and therefore he had no objection to return to the former practice, and open the matter contained in that petition. The petition was signed by a great number of gentlemen of the first intelligence, wealth, and respectability in London—it was signed, amongst others, by Mr. Smith, Dr. Bowring, his hon. Friend, Mr. Grote, the banker, and one of the Representatives for London, and by many other eminent and distinguished men in the City. The petition called the attention of their Lordships to the Stamp Duty at present imposed upon newspapers of all descriptions. All papers were not equally stamped. It was a great mistake to complain that a Stamp-duty was equally imposed upon all papers. The law was bad enough, as it was, but it was not liable to that imputation; for a plain distinction was made between papers periodically published, such as came out at unequal periods of time, or which even assumed the form and shape of newspapers, and yet gave no news of passing occurrences, and their matter was made up for the entertainment of youth, a great distinction he said, was made between those and what was called a "Newspaper," periodically published daily, or with a certain interval of days; that was subject to stamp duty; upon the others no duty was enforced, and they were subject to no stamp. The stamp operated upon the paper published daily, weekly, or two or three times in the same
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week. The duty was very large in amount; next to salt, he considered it the largest, in proportion to the value of the matter upon which it was imposed. The newspapers were sold nominally for 3d; that is, they were so sold to the consumer, to the person who bought by retail; but they were sold by "the grower" by the maker of the newspaper, by the writer or printer of the newspaper, for not more than 2d. The consequence was that 2d. was the prime cost of the article. On that 2d. there was not a less tax than 4d. from which there was a little drawback, and against which drawback there was a set-off. The inconvenience consequent upon the stamp was this, that after the person holding the commodity upon which the stamp is imposed has paid the duty, the only chance he has of being repaid what he has advanced, is the disposal of the commodity; and if that does not occur, he is entirely the loser. This was a great set off against the drawback allowed, and he was, he thought, quite justified in saying that 200 per cent were imposed upon the article, 4d. being the price of that article. The consequence was that a very great tax was imposed upon an article which was of the greatest utility to the public—that heavy tax was imposed though there was a great and a natural desire—a desire which no person had a right to disrespect, for it was no idle love of gossip which actuated men to know what their Representatives in Parliament were doing, what occurred in that branch of the Legislature, and the Courts of Law, and also to be acquainted with all public events. The question was one of such weight that he found that eminent man and great philosopher Paley lay this down, that "the most agreeable, and one of the most useful ways in which a man could spend his money was in purchasing articles of that description;" that it was his opinion "that no man's time or money could be laid out to more advantage or interest;" that he "did not know any enjoyment which he would not sooner give up," and that "it was harmless and innocent in its nature." Nevertheless, a great impediment had been thrown in the way of the consumption of such an article, and to prevent the enjoyment and gratification it afforded, because 7d. a-day was such a sum that a poor man, and even one in easy circumstances, could not undergo the expense of it; both were unjustly

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deprived of the benefit of it; and the consequence was, such indulgence, such enjoyment, and such instruction, were confined to a very narrow class of the community. That was the first consequence of the heavy tax imposed upon newspapers, and the best proofs he could give of that was to state that the whole number of newspapers including all descriptions, published in one year, was only 30,000,000. Those published in the counties and the towns, and in short newspapers of all kinds were included in that amount. Little more than 30,000,000 which was the number of newspapers, was not the one-twenty-fifth part in proportion of the number of newspapers sold in America, where the people were similar in habits—where there was a free people, and consequently a people fond of seeing what their Representatives were doing, and what the Government was doing, and who had in these respects the same habits as the people here. That comparison illustrated the fact, that the proportion of newspapers published here was 1–25th or 1–30th of the newspapers published in America in proportion to the population, and the newspapers in America were subject to no stamp duty. Taking a view nearer home—looking to the Channel islands, such as Guernsey and Jersey, the papers sold there were between sixteen and twenty per cent more in proportion to the population than in this country. This was a satisfactory proof of the heavy burthen of the tax, and how much it impeded the consumption of the article. The only other proof he would give was by referring to France. The papers there paid a stamp duty, but it was a very small a very light stamp duty. In France, between the years 1815 and 1830—between the Restoration and the Revolution of July, 1830—the increase was in proportion from 27,000 or 28,000 to 57,000 or 58,000; consequently the number of newspapers proportionally sold in France was more than doubled. That was the proportion of France for fifteen years, where the habits of the people were not like those of this country, and where under the empire of the old Government they were averse from that species of reading. Not only was there a very great loss of enjoyment by the tax thus imposed, but those who viewed the matter rightly would find that there would be, by opening the trade—by freeing it from restrictions—not only
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an enjoyment and indulgence, but also a great advantage conferred upon the people of this country. It would be for the advantage of the Government and of the country, and for the securing a peaceable, a good, and an intelligent constituency. That was his deliberate opinion. He would say, that nothing could be more beneficial to the Government of the country,—nothing could be better for those who entertained peaceable, good, lawful, and constitutional views of public proceedings, than to have them constantly placed before the great body of the people. Nothing could be better for the country, Nothing could be better for the Government,—nothing could be of a more conservative nature (he used the word in its good, not in its offensive sense),—nothing he would say, could be more effectually conservative, than the circulating through all classes of the people a perfect knowledge of what was doing, as well as of what was done, by the Government and the Legislature. They ought to see, from day to day, what was done in both Houses of Parliament; they ought to be acquainted with whatever was said by their Representatives, or whatever was uttered in their Lordships' House. All this they ought to see constantly, and cheaply, and easily. This would be found to be one of the best means that could be devised for carrying the people along with the Government. That was the proper mode of carrying the intelligence and knowledge of the people along with the Government of the country. It was, besides, he would contend, the duty, and one of the highest and most imperative duties of the Government, to acquaint the people with the nature of the laws that were made for their government. He must say, and in doing so he meant not to make any invidious observation, that when the Legislature passed 280 Acts of Parliament in a year,—when they proceeded, not by score, but by wholesale,—when they altered laws of some hundred years standing—when they applied themselves to the criminal code of the country, making that punishable which was before not punishable, making that no longer a capital offence which was before capital,—when they descended from those high and important subjects down to the most minute details of trifling dealing,—when they legislated on the shape of a pan—when they almost enacted that the two sides of a parallelogram should be equal,

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—when they denounced 5l. penalties on points such as these, he had a right to say when the Government authorized and the Legislature passed such Acts as these, that some little pains should be taken to make the public acquainted with these penal measures. With respect to proceedings in Courts of Law, the people were anxious for a knowledge of them. A man should have the power of knowing what was lawful; that what was yesterday illegal might this day be permitted. All he asked was, that they might know the law for their guidance and conduct. Now, what means were so effectual, so easy, so little burdensome, for the purpose of teaching the law, as to see the working of the Legislature upon each law from its state of embryo to that of perfection; and this in the full proceedings which were given from day to day in the public prints? The proceedings of these Courts of Justice were, next to these Chambers of Legislature, in his opinion, of importance. It was a subject of utility to the people to contemplate; and, happily, it was a subject that the people, so far from having an aversion to, were most deeply, and, he would say, most warmly attached. There was no one subject in which the people were more interested than in the proceedings of the Courts of Justice, and they were only inferior in importance to the Houses of Parliament. Next to making known the laws which were passed, the next duty was to let the people know that they were effectually administered, and what were the punishments inflicted upon those who broke the laws. What was the use of hanging a man in the corner of a court-yard at Lancaster, with about eighty towns-people and fifty Westmoreland peasants to gaze upon him, which was the way the law was executed in the County Palatine of Lancaster. The guilty were to be found in Manchester, Liverpool, and the manufacturing towns, and to make the punishment deter those disposed to be criminal, the man was executed in Lancaster, in the presence of the Westmoreland peasantry, who did not require the benefit of any such awful warning. What an absurdity was this? It was equally absurd to allow the person who was guilty to be thus executed privately; and it went to prevent the public seeing the whole details of what was the course of justice. The execution did not take place in the presence of those who knew him; but the
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instant the details of it were published in a hundred newspapers an effective example was given—it was conveyed over the whole country—all read it, as if they had all seen it. He did not look upon the punishment of the guilty as the only good which the execution of the law tended to produce. They should have the example of the law being well administered as well as executed. The public ought to be invited to attend Courts of Justice. Every possible kind of accommodation should be given to them. But it was evident that, even if such a course were pursued, many must still be excluded. But then the newspapers afforded ample means of acquainting the public with all that occurred in criminal as well as civil cases. Through that channel all the King's subjects might be put in possession of every thing of importance that might happen to take place in the Courts of Justice, though they were not able to be personally present. If this were allowed—if newspapers were suffered to pass freely and at a cheap rate throughout the country—it would have the effect of civilizing some parts of the population, and, if he might use the expression, of humanizing other parts of it. The people would soon learn on what principles the law was administered, and that knowledge would soon reconcile them to some proceedings which at present they considered to be harsh and severe. By an acquaintance with the debates of the Courts of Justice, and how wise and humane men expounded the principles of the law, the people possessed an advantage which, he believed, no man of reflection, who had given to the subject the slightest consideration, could, for a moment, have the least doubt of. The last argument he should mention, and it was a very important argument in support of making publicity cheap, was this—many were most zealous (and he was not the least zealous, though very inefficient) in exerting themselves in various parts of the country, but mostly in the capital, to improve the education of the people of England. They wished to provide for them cheap, innocent, and useful publications—cheap publications, which would be instructive and amusing; and they found that to a certain point they could go; but beyond that it was impossible for them to move. Where men were gregarious, if he might say so, where they were engaged in manufactures, or

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commerce, where they lived in communities, there access was easy to them, and they received readily moral or religious instruction through cheap publications. But there was one part of the community, and a very large part, whom he had nearly given over in despair, amongst whom all attempts to introduce education had been unsuccessful, and yet they needed education more than all the rest of the community put together—he meant the peasantry of this country. They lived apart from the world, isolated, if he might use the expression, dwelling in solitary cottages. They did not rub, to use an ordinary phrase, against persons of a better kind, of more cultivated minds, of more general information. They only met individuals who partook of their own ignorance; the consequence was, that those who were occupied in extending education found that, let them make the publications to which he had referred as cheap as they could, they were not purchased by those persons. They were received in the manufacturing districts, they found their way into the town labourer's cottage, but across the farmer's or the peasant's door they did not go. This applied chiefly to the rural population, but it also applied to individuals in the smaller towns, who were not strictly peasants. Now, with respect to newspapers, all those individuals would read them. The newspaper, particularly the local newspaper, would certainly get into the farm-house, but it was prevented, in many instances, from entering, because the Chancellor of the Exchequer kept his hand on the latch, a fourpenny stamp duty effectually kept it out, and the peasant remained pent up in ignorance. The consequence was, that the only sort of paper read was the yearly almanack; and even upon that there had been a tax of 2s. 3d., which was recently removed. The peasant then had his paper once a-year only; it told him little of what was going on in Courts of Justice; no domestic news, nothing of what was now passing; and he now gets once a-year a small magazine, of which he does not think much. Once in three months the farmer, perhaps, gets a larger magazine, of which he does not think much, and that is his entire supply. He knew that if newspapers were circulated amongst them (that is, the prejudices against the removal of the taxes were got over) the peasantry would get a taste for sound reading. He was sure that if after
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two years it was even requisite to restore the tax, which he hoped would not be necessary, they would obtain a taste for reading which once fixed, would never abandon them, no more than any other individuals of the community he had ever known.—These were, generally speaking, the very short and distinct grounds, yet less illustrated, which the petition set forth. Before he concluded by presenting the petition he wished to be allowed to add one more argument. The newspaper editors were generally against the abolition of the duty; those interested in the great papers he very well remembered, he had every reason to know, were opposed to the removal of the stamp duty. Those persons he hoped, had not much to apprehend from the removal of the tax; but they were like other monopolists, who had large capitals, and who enjoyed a monopoly in consequence of a tax being upon the article. He wished to be understood as not using the word in an offensive sense. The same objection was urged, he remembered, when his noble Friend brought forward the repeal of the leather tax. All the great tanners and curriers were against the repeal, as it enabled others to enter into a competition with them. Whatever was for the interests of the people must be for the good of the Government. He now came to the objection against the removal of the tax, which was of a twofold nature the one the diminution of revenue—the other the probability that the removal of the duty would be the means of encouraging the influx of a vast number of seditious and immoral publications. Now, he was perfectly persuaded, looking to the probable receipts of the Post-office, to the excise-tax upon paper, and to the immense number of advertisements which might be expected under the altered system, that the revenue of the country would be no loser at all by the removal of this obnoxious tax. The calculations laid before the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the course of the last summer showed that the great increase of receipt which would take place under the three heads that he had mentioned would, if the whole stamp duty were removed, greatly improve, instead of at all diminishing, the revenue of the country. The other objection (and certainly, if well founded, a most forcible one) was, that if the duty were removed, it would encourage the growth of immoral, seditious, and in other respects, obnoxious

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publications. Now, there never was a greater mistake in argument than this—one which was natural, but which was not in agreement with the fact. Those publications which at the present moment were irreligious and seditious, those which were noxious, as well as contemptible, were now published without any tax at all. The late Attorney-General showed him a list of newspapers; the present Chief Justice of the King's Bench showed it to him; and it was a horrible fact to state, that this was a list of newspapers, every one of which was published without a stamp, and 99 out of 100 of them were of the worst possible description. When a man had determined to break the law—when he had resolved upon publishing blasphemy or obscenity, or incentives to such a crime as assassination, or, as an editor of one of those papers did, lecture the people upon the mode of setting fire to haystacks, and upon the means by which a man can run away with safety before the fire is discovered—when a man has resolved to preach arson, or encourage murder—when he has determined upon this; he cares very little for the stamp law. He has an advantage in evading it, he can sell what he wishes to distribute for a penny; whereas, if he paid the stamp duty, he could not sell it for less than sixpence.—He sells a great many more because he sells it for a penny, instead of confining it to a few if the article were dear. The consequence to be observed was this, that blasphemy and sedition were untaxed and wider circulated. The tax, instead of putting them down, actually set them up; the tax did not give a monopoly to the grower of the good article but to the contraband trader. Blasphemous, seditious, and obscene publications, did not pay a farthing duty. The honest, the respectable trader, paid 4d., he paid 200 per cent, on what was calculated to do good; while he who vended what was noxious and deleterious, was not charged one halfpenny. Was he, therefore, wrong in saying, that the monopoly created by the law worked favourably for the obscene and seditious publications? Suppose smugglers brought from Holland a deleterious, he would not say a poisonous spirit, would any one say that the excise upon the home-brewed and good beverage would not tend to encourage the importation from Holland? Take away the tax, and bring into competition the wholesome and the deleterious
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spirit, and the latter would cease to be consumed. His advice was, to take away the tax—take away the advantages which the contraband trader had now, and give them to the honest dealer in the good article. It was perfectly clear that the latter would be preferred. Under the influence of the stamp duty, he was shown a list of 163 publications, which with the exception of one or two, were of the description he had already stated. It was during the incendiary fires that the incitement he had referred to was held out to them. Since then great exertions had been made to bring into competition with such publications, papers as cheap, and which were much more valuable. The latter description of papers had displaced, to a considerable extent, the others. About a year and a half after the first establishment of the papers, he found this to be the case. He took the sale at a newsman's, he was almost sorry to say it was that of a Sunday, but he examined the sale of a person who disposed of between 2,000 and 3,000 copies of those different publications. The proportion of A. B. and C, that is, of the bad description, was, of one, 16, the second, 18, and 32 for the third—that is, 56 were sold by the newsman, who was on a great scale, and therefore might be regarded as a test of the public demand. The sale of a magazine of the same class, an admirable publication, and full of excellent morality, which was under the administration, and brought out by the exertions of the Society for the diffusion of Christian Knowledge, and which had only then appeared for eight months, was, instead of 56, the amount of the whole of the bad publications, 750 odd, that is, 15 times more than the greatest number of the bad publications altogether; while the sale of the Penny Magazine, established by the Society for the diffusion of Useful Knowledge was 1830; one was about a year established, while the other was not more than eight months before the public. Now the tendency of all the good publications was, to drive the bad out of the field. Thus far, then, he showed how successful they had been. The stamp duty, however, allowed them to go no farther, and, by it such publications were followed and limited. Upon those grounds he recommended his views to the consideration of the House. Those who had not considered the advantages were opposed to his pro-

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position; but, for himself, he could say that he had very deliberately formed his opinion upon the subject. He had known those who had overrated the advantages of retaining the tax, who had been alarmed at the prospect of abandoning it, who had after considerable discussion with him, seen the advantages increase, and the disadvantages not merely lessen, but diminish wholly; and where they thought there was a financial difficulty find, in fact, a facility, and what they thought would be an objection as tending to serve bad publications, would ultimately be made to act the other way, by suppressing them—and the further they had considered this subject the more heartily were they inclined to support him. He should now present the petition—if its prayer were adopted he did not know a more safe, more legitimate, and more constitutional means of strengthening, supporting, and preserving beneficial institutions in the affections of the people.
Petition laid on the Table.