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Fejj, 18, I860.]. The Leader and Saturda...
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THE BUDGET ANALYSED. "VjETE were: not as...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Despatch Of Business At Washington. T He...
it , could scarcely have anticipated such a deadlock as now exists in Washington—one winch , if the Federal Government possessed larger functions , might he . productive of the most serious consequences ; but they eviclently saw some dangers ahead when they so carefully denned the Federal attributes , and then , to make security more secure , added the article which limits those aitz-ibutes to : such as have been expressly conferred . Thanks to this forethought ^ the inhabitants of each state go on as usual with their business , little troubled , except as keen partisans of the one or other side , by the stoppage of the great Government machine at " Washington , and sufficiently unhurt to find an amusement in the vulgar exhibitions which reflect so much discredit upon their country . Thanks also to this same ould the
sagacious care , the dissolution of the union-rrsh irrepressible conflict of which the contest which causes this deadlock is one of the phases lead tp such an events—will . disturb but little the ordinary arrangements and : existing institutions of the Tree States / It would be the same in the Slave states , but for that element of disturbance , the clanger of which the ; Slaveowners are madly augmenting . Tf on a rupture of the union the slaves keep quiet , well and good . All . will go on as before ; but if , as we may expect , they ; do not keep cmiet , and attempt to give its legitimate extension to the doctrine of the declaration of independence , the "bloodshed wliich may attend the attempt will not be chargeable upon any imperfection in the , devices by which the franicrs of the constitution balanced Federal and separate state powers , but upon the foul blot of slavery , which they allowed to disfigure a so-called charter of liberty . . .
Fejj, 18, I860.]. The Leader And Saturda...
Fejj , 18 , I 860 . ] . The Leader and Saturday Analyst . 155
The Budget Analysed. "Vjete Were: Not As...
THE BUDGET ANALYSED . "VjETE were : not assailed by the seductive pleasure of hearing VV Mr . Gladstone ' s -eloquent ;; ¦ oration , and know it only as it appears in uniinpassioned- ' . print . We can subject it accordingly to a more impartial criticism , than those who heard it , an . d judge of it by its bearings on the nation , not by the pleasure of hearing his lmisical voice . Looking rather at thefacts than at his explanation , we are less enraptured thaii his auditors . His speech is imvltifaribus and tortuous . The Budget embraces only two distinct and important topics : the national finances , and . the political or . police regulations of trade . Both are large , but by : being considered apart they are susceptible of
condensation , and of the clearness which usually results from limiting the -view . .. Fiscal regulations affect commerce , and commerce , as it prospers or decays , affects the reveinie ; but the two are ess e ntially different . Commerce is a part of industry , ancV of tho natural growth of society ; fiscal regulations are the offspring ¦ of Government . Though they af fect each other , each has a different origin , and is governed by very different laws . Mr . Gladstone ' s Budget embraces both in a very confused and complicated manner ; we shall endeavour to distinguish between them ; - ' . We shall first put prominently forward facts , and leave opinions and inferences to be deduced from them afterwards .
Beginning with the financial part of the Budget , we must remind the reader that from ' the falling-in of'terminable annuities to the amount of £ 2 , 146 , 000 , by wliich , as one quarters interest paid , last year properly belonged to the ensuing financial year , the charge on the National Debt is actually lessened in 1860-61 by £ 3 , 438 , 000 ; and . front the termination according to law iii tlie ensuing financial year of the war duties on tea and sugar , and on property and income , it was impossible to avoid dealing to a . great extent with our financial system . The Chancellor then is fully justified in at once calling the attention
of Parliament to the subject , and of proposing for the consideration of thp public large financial measures . The necessity of doing this now has long been known ; and his mind must have been for some time turned to- the subject . At a late period Mr . C . obden's chance visit to Paris opened a prospect of a commercial treaty with Franco . The completion of the treaty increased the urgency of a revision of oar fiscal system , and the extensive changes proposed by Mo :. Gladstone , probably prepared sonic time beforehand , are intended to meet inevitable circumstances . The mode of
dealing with the financial question is Mr . Gladstone s own ; to avoid denUng with it was beyond his power and tho power of tho ministry . Thp reveimo of the fiscal year 1850-00 , terminating oil March 81 st next , of which tho next six weeks are merely estimated , and tho previous forty-six weeks ore now accurately known , was circulated last session at £ 00 , 400 , 000 ; but overy branch of the revenue except Stumps has hitherto exceeded expectations , and it is now concluded that by the end of March , supposing no change to l ) e previously ximde , it will , amount to i 7 O , 578 ,, OO 0 , or £ 1 , 118 , 000 more than tho calculation , Such is now the increased , power of our industry in creating wealth , that it surpasses ovcry year the sanguine expectations of tho most sanguine finnnco ministers .
The expenditure of the year , nevertheless , will exceed the actual revenue , great as it is . The expenditure was expected to amount only to £ 69 , ^ 70 , 000 , and' actiially promised at the time Parliament closed , to be only £ 6 8 , 95 : 3 , 0 ; 0 ' 0 , ; which would have given at the end of the year the handsome surplus of £ 1 / 625 , 000 . Then came further . expenditure for the Ghiiiege -war and naval preparations , £ 1 , 170 , 000 ; and now has interposed the treaty with France , involving oxi-immediate reduction of our customs *
duties , estimated to amount , by the end of March , to the sum of £ 640 , 000— -together £ 1 , 810 , 000 ; thus , by redneing the revenue £ 640 , 000 , and increasing the expenditure £ 1 , 170 , 000 , instead of a surplus there is a small deficiency . Spain , however , ' has paid an old debt , and £ 250 , 000 of this will come into the exchequer before the end of March . Thus welearn from these facts that the resources of the exchequer for the year to end next March 31 st , will amount to £ 70 , 188 , 000 , and the demands on it to £ 70 , 123 , 000 , leaving nsui-plus of £ 65 , 000 . . ;
The expenditure iiithe year 1860-61 , ending March 31 st , 1861 , which it is the especial business of the Budget to provide for , is estimated at £ 70 , 100 , 000 ; notwithstanding the charge for the National Debt is ££ , 400 , Q 00 less than in the year 1859-60 . The chief increase of expense for the year is caused by the military and naval services , £ 3 , 61 S , 000 more than for the same services last year . A great increase of expenditure is the remarkable feature ' of our finances in-the year T 86 O- < U . Mr . Gladstoke rather acquiesces in it than , proposes it ; He declares
that he does not like it ; he hopes that the nation or the Govei'nment means to retrace its steps , and he merely accepts the burden , undertaking to bear it . He does not sny-it cannot be lessened , but he Snakes no attempt to lessen it . The other items of expenditure—the civil list , the miscellaneous services , the charge for collecting the revenue— -present no corresponding increase , and we , therefore , content ourselves by sayings on this branch of the subject , that the expenditure for the year 1860-61 is calculated at £ 70 , 100 , 000 , or £ 540 , 000 more than the expenxliture last year , thoiigli . the charge for the National Debt is
reduced £ 2 , 43 S 3 000 . To meet this vast expenditure Mr . Gladstoxf . calcinates that the . customs , as the laws at present stand , will yield £ 22 , 700 , 600 , excise £ 19 * 170 , 000 , stamps £ & , 0 O 0 , 000 , taxes £ 3 , 250 , 000 , income tax at 5 tf . £ 2 , 400 , 000 , post office £ 3 , 400 , 000 , crown lands £ 280 , 000 , raiscellnneotis stturees >&! , 500 , 000 :, together £ 60 , 700 , 000 , leaving a deficiency of £ 9 , 400 , 000 . This is independent of the loss to the revenue which will accrue in the year by the reduction of duties on wine' and spirits required by the commercial treaty with France ¦; . and by the abolition of duties on sundry manufactures stipulated for toy the same treaty . The Chancellor estimates' the loss by these causes at £ 1 , 190 , 000 , which makes the deficiency no less than
£ 10 , 590 , 000 ; Being in all things a law to himself , Mr . Gladstone , with astonishing financial audacity , contrary to all expectations ¦ , proposes still further to increase the deficiency by abolishing the customs duties on butter , cheese , eggs , nuts , nutmegs , paper , tallow , & c \ , & c ., and by reducing- the customs duties '' timber , currants , rtrisinsi figs , dates , liquorice , & c , & c , which he estimates— -allowing , an all cases where duties are retained , for a probable increase of consumption- ^ -will cnuse a loss to the revenue of £ 9 | 0 , 000 , . Moreover , lie proposes , to abolish the excise duties on paper , to reduce the < luties on hops , and make an alteration in game certificates , which will cost the revenue a further sum , ho estimates , of £ »{) 0 , 000 . Thus , according to his statements and our computation , if he were to impose no other taxes , the revenue would be deficient in the year
£ 12 , 490 , 000 . To fill up this " chasm" he ' proposes to take from the maltsters and tho hop-growers the duties on these two articles , which they have hitherto been allowed to retain for six weeks after levying them from the consumer , which will give him in the present year £ 1 , 400 , 000 . ; to retain the Avar tea and sugar duties , which ought now to expire , at a gain of £ 2 , 100 , 000 ; to ., renew the income and properly tax nt tenpence in tho poinul on incomes of upwards of £ 1 . 50 , and scvcnpcnce on incomes below tins sum , the produce of which will ¦ bo £ 8 , 473 , 000 . Ho propose alsq , to levy several now taxes : in tho customs a duty on the landing ami shipping of all goods for importation or exportation off a penny on every package or ' parcel , and of a , penny on cnory ton weight , quarter , load , or thousand in number , as the goods are required to bo returned to tho custom-house » and a penny on ovary
ammal " , ulao a duty , varying- in amount , on moving all goods to or from warehouses under bond , nn < l for operating on thorn in these warehouses . From theso sources he expects to obtam £ 510 , 000 . Then ho proposes to compel' all csonf ' ocUonors ^ and eating-house keepers to take out licenses , and he eifobJoa thorn to become licensed viotimUers nfc a low iidclitionail U » gm « 'iarge ; to impose stamp duties of ono penny caeli on all contract
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 18, 1860, page 7, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_18021860/page/7/
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