ble and fair tax than it was at present. One they would never get rid of. He could not all concur with the noble Lord in making the income-tax a part of the permanent taxation of the country, nor could he give his support to the additional tax of 2 per cent. He had on a former occasion opposed the income-tax, without any reference to the financial proposal he had made, but as a tax which in itself was bad. There seemed to be a great war preparation. At a time when they talked of preparing their defences, he deeply regretted that they should be throwing away that which was the most powerful financial weapon in their whole armoury in the case of a war. If they now laid on a tax of 5 per cent, in case of a war to what source of taxation would they turn? Did they think they could raise the income tax above 5 per cent; or were they prepared, at a time when they should be in difficulty and distress, to have recourse to the taxes on customs and excise, which they had so lavishly thrown away. He had opposed the income-tax at its first introduction, because he thought it a dangerous course to accumulate on direct taxation any very large amount of taxation. He thought this course placed their financial system on an insecure basis. In the present moment this course might be popular in certain quarters, MR. DISRAELI: Although the right but the opinion of the public was beginning hon. Gentleman tells us he has proceeded to change. The time was not far distant rather further than he intended, I am sure when, after they had raised their 5 per I, for one, feel that he did not proceed cent a little higher here, and had sent it further than I wished. A wiser speechover to Ireland, they would find a consid- a more practical speech-one more justierable feeling against the tax; and he fying-coming, too, from a very high audoubted very much whether they would thority-the observations that have been not find their income-tax sink from under made by Gentlemen on this side of the their feet altogether. For his part, he House upon a question of great econowas quite prepared to abolish protection, mical interest-I have never listened to. but not to abandon the customs duties as a I ought perhaps to apologise to the House means of raising the revenue. There was for adding to what is only a desultory another ground, which had been touched discussion; but I could not deny myself the upon by one hon. Gentleman that night, gratification of congratulating my Friends which weighed upon his mind with respect around me, that the right hon. Gentleman, to the proposal of his noble Friend. It not only a great authority, but one who might be very well in times of great diffi- has had great practical experience in the culty, or in time of war, to do that under finances of the country, should have felt the pressing necessity of the circumstances it his duty to draw a moral from the preswhich they were prepared to justify solely ent state of our finances, and upon this on the grounds of such necessity. When, night-not a night of elaborate debatethen, they proposed for two or three years should have favoured, and, I think I may to lay on an income-tax, in time of war say instructed, the country upon that imthey might not be very nice in seeing that portant subject. Where are we now? In the tax pressed equally on all classes; but 1841 there was a deficit in round numbers when they came to raise an income-tax of of 3,000,000l.—a deficit which destroyed 5 per cent, and make it part of the per- the Government of noble Lords and right manent system of taxation, he thought hon. Gentleman opposite. I hope they do they were bound to make it a more equa- not suppose for a moment that I wish the present deficit should be ominous of the it was renewed that lease is to be refate of the present Ministry. Far from it. newed again, with what I may call an May they contend, and contend success- incumbrance of a great fine in addition, fully, with the almost insuperable difficul- A deficit exists, absolutely amplified in its ties they have to encounter! At least, they enormous and monstrous dimensions, and have not one great difficulty which they no portion of the golden shower-no part had on that occasion-an Opposition ready even of that miserable profit of 25,000,0001. to take the government of the country on a year has accrued, which was promised us one set of principles, and attempt to extri- by the hon. Member for Bolton-a Gentlecate it from its difficulties by another. man for whom I have all due respect, but That peculiar process succeeded then; and who, not having occupied the important the deficit disappeared; a tax was laid upon and responsible position of the hon. Memincome and property, which was estimated ber for Glasgow, I will not unnecessarily to produce rather more than 3,000,000l. refer to. Not 1s. in the pound has been sterling-a sum quite sufficient to make paid to us, although we are called upon that deficit disappear. It produced a to pay that amount out of our savings sum nearly double. The sum levied every one of us-in order to maintain by that tax has also disappeared; and not only the credit of the country, but after having made that great sacrifice, it comes to this-the independence of seven years have elapsed, 5,000,000l., the country, in consequence of your ecoand more than 5,000,000l. annually levied nomical freaks. This new principle of by direct taxation have been expended, and commercial legislation has not brought to you find yourselves in the same situation- our Treasury all those advantages which, about to encounter the same difficulty. Is like the picture of some Arabian tale, we there no moral to be drawn from this re- were taught to believe was to be the happy sult? Just opinions upon public policy can appanage of the people of England; but is only be formed by large and comprehen- this 5 per cent tax upon our income which sive views. We no longer float in an at- comes to destroy the magnificent destiny mosphere of theory; but we have the test which we were told awaited us-all we of truth to guide us-we have a large term shall have to incur? On the contrary, a of years to throw light upon the subject great authority-a man of experience-a -we have the experience of seven years; friend of the Government-does not flatter and I say, the experience of that term of himself, to use his own words, that we can years is condemnatory of your new system. stop here. He says, we must look not Look at your position. You rid yourself only on the income-tax, but an increased of a deficiency of 3,000,000l. by recourse income-tax, as a permanent part of our to direct taxation; but when you first had system. Is it to be supposed for a morecourse to this extraordinary step it was ment that the House or the country can held out to you that there was to be a si- any longer be blind or deaf to such results multaneous relaxation of your then com- and such intelligence? They cannot forget mercial system, which would, before the that in 1842 they were called upon to make time elapsed for which you had agreed a temporary sacrifice, in order to vindicate to pay this income and property-tax, the credit, and, I suppose, maintain the produce a source of treasure which independence, of the country; whilst they should relieve you from all your diffi- were promised at the same time, as the reculty. Where is it? I want to know. ward of their patriotism, their prescience, I have asked before, where are the pro- their sacrifice, that they should reap a fits we were to receive upon the abro- speedy and immense harvest. What is gation of the single duty upon corn and the dismal and dreary consequence? provisions imported into this country? I That seven years having elapsed, you want to know where is the 100,000,000l. not only find yourselves after the sacriper annum which a late Secretary of the fice you have made in the same identiBoard of Trade informed this House before cal position of swimming against the tide the Committee on the Import Duties we with the same deficit about your neck; should receive by the abrogation of the but that you are assured by the highest duty on corn-that important evidence authority that it is only part of the system which was afterwards announced to us by of incumbrances which awaits you, and the then Chief Minister of the Crown to that you cannot stop there. Then I be the basis of his legislation. The ori- want to know, when the right hon. Genginal lease of the income-tax expired-tleman the Member for Portsmouth talks the Crown at the end of three years? I will not say it would have been more becoming in the noble Lord to be more definite and explicit as to the result which we must ultimately encounter; but it is our duty, in a discussion upon such a subject, to probe to the bottom the financial conscience of a Minister. Do not let us experience a second time the same mortifying disappointment. Do not let us listen again to the honeyed words that in 1842 told us that this was but a temporary tax, laid on to meet an exigency; and then, after the lapse of a few years, encounter the mortification of discovering that the Prime Minister has corresponded with foreigners, and revealed to them the secret which he would not condescend to communicate to the House of Commons. The noble Lord has told us that he only proposes to levy this additional impost for two years. What if we consent to his proposition, and then, during the Easter recess, we find a private letter of the noble Lord's-and the noble Lord read a private letter to-night of a Minister, a course I do not complain of, but, perhaps, not a very usual one of the principle of the income-tax, for | hon. Gentleman the late Chief Minister of the satisfaction of our constituents what is the principle of the income-tax? There is a remarkable circumstance connected with this tax, that there is one reason given for its infliction in this House, and another out of it. The Minister who introduced this tax, in a speech of accomplished plausibility, which, unfortunately for the country, induced the House to allow it to be carried, talked of great temporary sacrifices for great national purposes. Yet scarcely was his Administration terminated, than a letter from the same Minister appeared, containing reasons for that tax totally discordant, totally different, and to this moment unexplained, and, as I believe, inexplicable. Is it true, as we were then told, that it was a temporary remedy for a particular and fleeting grievance or was it to introduce, as announced to the foreign inhabitants of a distant northern town, a new principle in the taxation of this country, with the view to bring about a more just assessment of public burdens? After all that has passed —after the original proposition of this tax -after its renewal-after the extraordinary manœuvre of the Government to-night, suppose, I say, we find a private letter inflicting upon us nearly a double amount of taxation, while holding out a faint promise of its reduction by one-half in two years, I say we have a right-nay, it is not a question of right, for it is our duty-to ask from all the public men who were concerned in these peculiar and mysterious transactions some definite explanation. I ask any Gentleman, is he sanguine enough at this moment to believe that this income-tax of 5 per cent will terminate at the end of the two years? I ask that. I can only say, if there be any Gentleman, or if there be a majority of this House, who believe in that probability, then this is an assembly composed of, I will not say more gullible materials, for that perhaps would not be a decorous expression, but an assembly to whose sympathies a Minister may appeal with more confidence than any that ever existed. Remembering the circumstances attending the introduction of this tax-remembering that it was proposed, not for five years, as mentioned by the right hon. Member for Portsmouth, but for three years-remembering the distinct representation upon which you consented to the imposition of this tax -I ask you is it more likely that the noble Lord will be more able to redeem his promise at the end of the two years, than, some time back, was the right of the noble Lord inserted in some foreign that he did not favour the House of Commons with the reflections which had inspired him in his own closet-and that his communication to the representatives of the people was not, in fact, the secret conviction and counsel of his Cabinet-if we remember these things, then I say the noble Lord has no right to complain of us state of preparation in this country for if we receive his proposition to-night with such an event. One remark, however, I some degree of suspicion. Nothing per- must make. It appears from the statement sonal, of course, is intended to the right of the Government to-night—and that hon. Gentleman the Chancellor of the Ex-statement oppears to have excited a great chequer, or to any of his Colleagues, if the deal of feeling, and to have created a great proposition made to-night by the Govern- deal of surprise among the more distant ment is not received with the feeling with benches of the supporters of Her Majesty's which, under other circumstances, it might Ministers-that the armaments of England have been received. It is sometimes un- are by no means in a very sorry plight— pleasant to recall the past; and what I am that without notice, without criticism, bafalluding to is somewhat humiliating to the fling even the vigilance of the hon. MemHouse of Commons; but it ought to be, ber for Montrose, these armaments have and it must be remembered, when a Min- been greatly increased, and, perhaps, even ister makes a representation, upon the sufficiently increased for every purpose of faith of which this House is to consent to national defence. An hon. Gentleman near a great national sacrifice, that a similar re- me called out almost in the midst of the presentation has been recently made which peroration of the noble Lord-"What is the event has not justified, and those who the date of the increase?" The date of were not subjects of his Sovereign, who that increase is the year 1835. Why, now were not to pay the impost or to endure look at the egregious delusion of the rethe sacrifices, were selected to be the re- formed Parliament and all its consecipients of his real motives and intentions. quences! What were you to have immeThere is one point upon which in a desul-diately following upon reform? What was tory debate like this one can hardly ven- to be its great boon and its great achieveture to touch, and yet, after all that has ment? Cheap government. The estaboccurred, it appears to be one which ought lishments of the country were to be renot to be avoided; and that is the part duced, and those great economical objects of the statement of the noble Lord which for which the hon. Member for Montrose refers not only to financial considerations, had been unceasingly labouring during a but considerations connected with the fo- quarter of a century were to be achieved reign policy of this country, and the posi- in a moment. Well, you reduced your tion in which this country is placed with establishments; your Army was cut down, relation to foreign States. I cannot ven--your Navy was cut down-you had your ture to express an opinion; I can only express a hope, although in me that amounts to an opinion, that notwithstanding all that has passed, the peace of Europe is not likely to be disturbed. But the noble Lord has come forward on the present occasion to propose a war vote. The noble Lord having made his proposition, has mentioned four circumstances which, as he thinks, justifies this course. I should be satisfied to support a Minister, under such circumstances, who pledges himself that such a vote is necessary to maintain the independence of the country. But the noble Lord has entered more into detail; he has glanced at four cases which justify the proposition he has made. The first is, that there is that danger of war which always exists, and which, therefore, he did not dwell upon; the next was the case of invasion, of the likelihood of which we have heard a great deal lately, especially from France. I think it is hardly necessary, on the present occasion-for, no doubt, legitimate occasions will arise to trespass upon the House with any observations upon the election-you got your majority-you enthroned Liberalism in power. But the moment the hubbub was over and the dust had subsided, your tone was changed, and the establishments of the country were instantly increased. And here we are in 1848 contemplating a great reaction in favour of increased defensive means. You have all the armaments of the country in the highest possible state of efficiency; and fifteen years after the reform era, you, the apostles of economy-you, who preached reform-you, who got returned for metropolitan districts by vaunting that you had cut down the estimates-you have the satisfaction of finding, not only that there are more soldiers, more sailors, more artillerymen than when you began your economical labours, but that the country is actually in a state of alarm lest it be not sufficiently protected and defended. So much for your economy; so much for the attempt to produce that which you must have known to be impossible. And when we come to the details, I wish to know what the purely Liberal Members mean to original as he was in the conception of the idea that the true principle of commerce consisted in purchasing in the cheapest market, and selling in the dearest. Sir, this idea of perpetual peace is one that at various intervals has agitated the spirit of do-whether they mean to confess that the state of affairs in Europe in 1847 was more difficult and dangerous than it was in 1830? I want to know how they will justify their defence of a Government which has given the lie to their whole career. I don't mean the career of the Go-man-it has been one not confined to mere vernment, but the whole career of rampant enthusiasts to preachers on their tubs-to liberalism, which has been all this time lonely eremites in their cells-or dreaming playing the critic on the military insti- monks in solitary deserts. Before this time tutions of this country. Will the answer it has influenced the minds of men of acbe, that the time of such criticism is past- tion, as it has stirred the mind of the hon. that it is no longer to be tolerated that a Member for the West Riding of YorkshireGentleman should get up with that per- it has been considered in Cabinets—it has severance which I, for one, have always influenced public councils-and I need not admired in the hon. Member for Montrose, remind the House what has been the barmodified and mitigated as it ever is with a ren result of these beautiful aspirations, naïveté that is charming-that that time because more than a century and a half is past, and that it is no longer necessary has elapsed since these opinions first into criticise the muster-roll of a regiment, fluenced the councils to which I refer; and the manning of a ship, or the expen- during that period the world has witditure of a station? All that is passed. nessed the longest and bloodiest wars in New ideas are afloat, and we are told that its history. A man who had the eloquence no defences are at all necessary--that a of the hon. Member for the West Riding, new principle is in action-a new era has and who flourished more than a century arrived that armaments are no longer re- ago, the Abbé St. Pierre, was the author quired, ships no longer necessary-and that of a plan for a perpetual peace, and offiEnglish regiments have become as obsolete cially attended the Congress at Utrecht. as Roman legions. And why? Because His have been subsequently the views of a new spirit is introduced into the govern- remarkable men. They, in fact, formed ment of the world, and that the millen- the mind of Rousseau, who rendered them, nium, so often anticipated in so many dif- much later, popular throughout Europe; ferent shapes, has at length arrived. It they were the views which formed the mind appears that the great principle of free and influenced the convictions of Robesimports that inflicts 5 per cent income- pierre, who became the president of the tax upon us, is also, by way of compen- French republic. Robespierre was the sation, to secure to us the blessings of apostle of perpetual peace; and he was peace. Sir, of the Apostle of this new determined, when he obtained power, to system, I trust, I am not one to speak put into practice the principles developed with disrespect. I ventured to admire his in the Congress of Utrecht by the Abbé genius when he was not supported by St. Pierre. It will be observed that there Prime Ministers. I admired also his cour- was this remarkable fallacy running through age, but never so much as when he enun- the plan of St. Pierre. St. Pierre looked ciated his new system to those who are his upon the whole of Europe as a confederaconstituents. When he spoke of the idea tion. He said, "It is not for the interest of a perpetual peace, of his belief of that of any Power or human being to go to war. era having arrived in the history of the Let every Power therefore disband its army. world and the annals of human nature The reign of Peace will ensue. "But,' which would render all means of national said St. Pierre, "if any of the Powers defence unnecessary-when he assumed does not consent to this system, then it that, from some extraordinary cause, the must be incumbent upon the others to enpower of national passions, like the power force these desirable principles, of which I of human passion in some person schooled am the great promulgater." Thus the by a course of rigid moral discipline, had system of St. Pierre assumed war as a suddenly ceased to agitate the heart of necessary element of itself; and the same man-this idea, astounding, beautiful, per- fallacy, differently modified, is that of the plexing as it was, especially on the occa- hon. Gentleman. No doubt it is easy to sion of budgets, had not the charm of no- entertain the dogma, looking only to the velty. In this respect the hon. Gentleman material interests of nations-of America, the Member for the West Riding is not so France, or England, for example--that |