On this page
-
Text (3)
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
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.
-
-
Transcript
-
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.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Untitled Article
nroatabl y Under such a state of things ; and , if it were only for the sake of the morals of the country , this impost ought to be repealed . The meeting was afterwards addressed by Mr . Chambers , Mr . C . Knight , Mr . Baldwin , of Birmingham and Mr . Towle , of Oxford . Resolutions , condemning the paper duty as a grievous impediment to the progress of sound popular instruction , were unanimously adopted . . On Thursday at noon the deputation , consisting of Mr Charles Dickens , Mr . Charles Knight , Mr . Robert Chambers , and other literary gentlemen , ¦ waited by appointment , on the Chancellor of the Exchequer athis official residence . Mr . Crompton introduced the deputation , and stated the rounds of the * application . He contended that
file first use which the Chancellor of the Exchequer ought to make of the surplus revenue at his disposal was to abolish the duty on paper . Mr . Chambers detailed at some length the peculiar evils arising from the operation of the tax . He was followed by Mr Charles Knight , who shewed that , in consequence of the heavy duty imposed on paper , the employment of literary men of the first order is much restricted , and a class of literature introduced and circulated which has a most demoralizing effect . Mr . Charles Dickens was satisfied that if the duty were repealed a higher class of cheap publications would
find their way to the homes of the humble . Me was more in favour , however , of the repeal of the window tax than the paper duty , as he thought the window duty was more objectionable . The Chancellor of the Exchequer said the deputation would not of course expect him to give them any information as to what was to be done by the Government . He had before him the prospect of a deputation from every class of persons who paid taxes , all desiring to have the taxes removed .
Untitled Article
MEMORIAL To the Boabd op Inland Revenue from the Newspaper Stamp Abolition Committee . To the Honourable the Commissioners of Inland Revenue the Memorial of the Newspaper Stamp Abolition Committee , Showeth , —That the attention of your memorialists has been for some months directed to the proceedings of your honourable board in regard to the Stamp Duty on Newspapers . That on the 19 th of February last a return was made to the House of Commons of fifty-one registered newspapers which stamped only a portion of memorialists
their impression . That your , persuaded that the law regards all registered newspapers as equally liable to stamp duty , and fortified in this opinion by a letter from your honourable board to Mr . Scholefield , M . P ,, in which the " Freeholder" is said to be liable to the newspaper duty " both in respect of its registration and its contents , " prevailed on three newspaper proprietors to demand of your honourable board the privilege granted to the fifty-one favoured registered newspapers . That your honourable board , in reply , denied having the power to grant any such privilege , and declared that the fifty-one papers in question were " not newspapers , though registered as such . "
That your memorialists venture to remark , 1 st , that this last statement is a flat contradiction to the doctrine laid down by your honourable board in the case of the " Freeholder . " 2 nd . That it is erroneous , inasmuch as the following partially stamped publications are newspapers in virtue of their contents : — Protestant Magazine , published by J . F . Shaw , 27 , Southamptonrow . Herald of Peace , Ward and Co ., 27 , Paternoater-row . The Freeholder , John CaBsell , Strand . Evangelical Christendom , Partridge and Oakey ,
Paternosterrow . Colonial Church Chronicle , F . and J . Bivingtou , St . Paul ' s Churchyard . Punch , Bradbury and Evans , 85 , Fleet-street . Mechanics' Magazine . J . C . ltobertBon . 1 <> 6 , Fleet-street . Critic , Crockford , 103 , Stanhope-street , Mornington-crescent . Builder . Wyman , 2 , York-street , Covent-fjarden . Lancet . Churchill , 443 . Strand . Architect , Francis Newton , 11 , Wellington-street , North . Legal Observer , Maxwell and Son . , Hell-yard . Medical Times , John Churchill . Princes-street . Household Words , no publisher ' s name , 16 , Wellington-street . Literary Gazette , Jerdan , 300 , Strand . Atheniuum , Francia , 14 , Wellington-street , North .
3 rd . That in giving to mere publications an illegal certificate to the Post-office of their being newspapers , and *• such entitled to require the benefit of free postage , jour honourable board has rendered itself liable to the charge of defrauding the Post-office revenue . That , in > ddition to the above cases , a glaring infraction of the law has been sanctioned by ycur honourable board , oalled " The Household Narrative of Current Events " edited by Charles Dickens , and published monthly at 1 (> , W > H'Hgton-Btreet , Strand , every page of which teems with matter requiring a stamp , but which is permitted to stamp only its country edition , thus unfairly competing with other regular newspapers which are obliged to stamp their whole impression .
That among the publications registered as newspapers , &nd admitted to an illegal privilege , tho following seven have omitted to comply with the regulations which require a full description of tho printer and publisher to be given at the end thereof , namely , Charles Dickens ' s " Household Narrutive , "Charles Dickens ' s " Household Words , " " Tho Herald of Peace , " " The Legal Observer , " " The Mechanics'Magazine , " ' Notes and Queries , " and " The Sailor * ' Magazine . " That the 2 lst clause of the Newspaper Act , (> and 7 , William IV ., cap . 70 , enforces the registration of all periodicals not being newspapers , and containing
advertisements , and that the 25 th clause of the same act exempts all such registered periodicals from any penalty for appearing on unstamped paper till notice shall have been given to them of the illegality of their conduct by an officer of your honourable board . That your memorialists submit that these clauses imply that it is the duty of your honourable board to scrutinize all such periodicals , and in case of their printing matter requiring a stamp , to give them immediate notice thereof , and to compel them to cease from further infraction of the law . That the following correspondence shows that your honourable board take a very different view of their duties , and deem it not incumbent on them to proceed in any matter of this kind till impelled by some informer : — Inland Revenue , Somerset-house , March 7 , 1850 .
Gentlemen , —The attention of this board having been directed to some articles of public news contained in Nos . I . and II . of your publication , the " Reformer , " under the head of " The Record of Progress , " of a character that cannot lawfully be published in any but a stamped newspaper , I have been desired to acquaint you with the circumstance , and to caution you against s \ ny future insertion of like matter . I am , Gentlemen , your obedient servant , J . Timm , solicitor of Inland Revenue . Norwich , March 12 , 1850 . Sir , —I have received your intimation that the intelligence given in the " Reformer , ' / under the heading- " Record of Progress , " cannot be lawfully inserted in any but a stamped newspaper . I should feel greatly obliged if you would inform me on what ground the " Gentleman ' s Magazine , " " United Service Magazine , " " Tait ' s Edinburgh Magazine , " " Christian Observer , " " People ' s Journal , " with others that might be mentioned ( including unstamped copies of the " Freeholder , " " Athenaeum , " Sec . ) are permitted to furnish similar information .
, Also , why the organs of societies of a literary , philanthropic , and scientific character are allowed to contain details of their respective operations , whilst that privilege is denied to the journal of a political association . Thanking you for your caution , and soliciting information upon these points , I remain , Sir , your obedient servant , The Editor of the " Reformer . " Inland Revenue , Somerset-house , March 13 , 1850 . Gentlemen , —I am this morning in , receipt of a letter without signature , but purporting to come from the editor of the " Reformer "; and as it is written in reference to mine of the 7 th instant addressed to you , I reply to it as proceeding from you . The publications to which allusion is made are not before me ,
either officially or otherwise ; 1 know , therefore , nothing of their contents ; but assuming them to be unstamped papers and to contain matter which they ought not to publish , it is not for me to offer any explanation upon the subject , nor can the circumstance justify irregularities in others . I may , however , remark , as I am aware that the subject has been under notice , in reference more particularly to learned societies , that articles , although relating to the transactions of such societies , and , therefore , savouring of public news and intelligence , jet as partaking of the character of a review , are not looked upon as matters to be objected to in unstamped publications . So , also , with regard to dramatic performances and such like . I am , Gentlemen , your obedient servant , J . Timm . solicitor of Inland Revenue .
That your memorialists are of opinion that the " Freeholder " and the " Athenseum " were before your board officially , inasmuch as they were registered newspapers , and that the same remark would hold good of all publications registered for advertisements . That your memorialists take this opportunity of calling the attention of your honourable board to the following—Monthly Publications containing- public news , liable to stamp duty , but altogether unstamped . Tait ' s Magazine , Sutherland and Knox , Edinburgh . East India Keview , Mortimer , 09 , Fleet-street . Art Journal , Virtue , Paternoster-row . Dublin University Magazine , M' Glashan , Dublin . Gentleman ' s Magazine , Nicliolls , 25 , Parliament-street . Journal of Design . Chapman and Hall , 18 ( 5 , Strand . United Service Magazine , Hurat , King William-street .
That the practice of publishing slips from newspapers has been tacitly permitted for many years , and that your memorialists were therefore amazed to find that the proprietors of the " Wakefield Examiner" had been threatened by your honourable board with a fine of £ 40 , 000 , and actually fined £ 10 for what is frequently done by many London newspapers . That your memorialists recommend to the notice of your honourable board the following unstamped publications which , as they contain " public news , intelligence , and occurrences printed in the United Kingdom to be made public , " are in direct contravention of the Newspaper Act . A . —A Plain mid Friendly Warning to tho People of Englund . Reprinted from tho " Knglitih Churdiinim " newspaper . Uy
Joseph Hatty , printer , l !> i » , Fleet-street . U . Letter from Lord John Uuvtiell to the llishop of Durham . From the "Times of November 7 , 1850 . George Merger , Holywell-Btrect , Strand . C . — The DitifenterB arid tho Papacy . Hy Thomas Binney . From the " Morning Herald , " November <> , 1850 . Wurd and Co ., and Partridgn and Oakey , l ' uti'rnoster-row ; Jacktton and Wnlford , 8 t . I ' aul ' d Churchyard . I ) , Proteutant DisHOiiBion and 1 ' opitdi Domination . The Bishop of London ' s Charge , and Lord Jolin UiiHHeU ' R Letter to tiio IiiBhop of Durham . George VickerH , Htnuid . K . Loyalty mid Liberty of (' oiiHcieiitio ; containing- the Creed and Government of tliit Church of ltonin . The Church of England coiniidered with the Htalc . The Popo'H audacioiix Letter to liiH IMtiliopH . Lord John RuhhhII ' h Letter to tho
Hialu >(> of Durham . Tln » liiuhop of Loiidoii ' u Charge . K . Apnlcyard , 81 $ . Farriiitf < loii- » Ux < t . F . A Morion of I ' uinphlutH on tho Roman Catholic . Question ; ono of wliicli coiitaiuu tti « ApoHtollc Letter of 1 ' ope l'iun ; Cardinal Wiseman ' s 1 ' uutoral ; ' 1 ' wo l . etteiH to thu " Times , " by ISiuhop Ullnthornu ; Lord John Russell ' s Letter ; Tim Now Hatch of llltthopH , from Urn " Weekly Dispatch "; Two Lottors , by tho Jtovercud G . A . D « nim » n ; A Letter from llenjiimiii l ) i * raeli , I ! h <| ., M , l \; KoviuWH and Kx tracts , from AinbroHo I'hillips ' s Letter to the Karl «> f . Shrewsbury , concluded by a Hiogruphy of Cardinal Wiai-inun . Jauius Gilbert , ' 19 . l ' att : niouter-rotv . O . —I ' roRoiMliiiK-H at tho Farewell Hoirfin given to ( leorgnThomp-Bon , Esq .. M . l \ , at tho London Tavern , Oct . 10 , 18 f > 0 , including tho HpcxiclioH of ( ieorgo Thompson , M . I ' ., Hir Joshua WulniHliiy . M . r ., John Williams , I'Wq ., M . l \ , F . J . HUok , ICh (| ., T . J . Horlc , Ks « i .. John Thwaiteu , Keq ., und Mr . W . W .
Brown , of Massachusetts , United Statea . B . D . . Helmet-court , 337 $ . Strand . H . —No . 37 , of the Lamp ; a weekly Catholic Journal . Richardson and Son , 172 , Fleet-street . That in favouring a number of registered newspapers at the expense of the rest , in permitting illegal matter to be inserted wholesale in the publications of London capitalists , as in the cases of the " Freeholder' and the " Household Narrative , " in harassing papers in the country like the " Norwich Reformer " and the " Wakebreaches of the law
field Examiner , " in ignoring at will till notified by informers , and above all in sanctioning the unstamped edition of that celebrated and popular weekly newspaper , entitled " Punch ; or , the London Charivari , every number of which is a violation of the law which forbids comments or news except at intervals of twentysix days , your honourable board is erecting itself into a legislative tribunal , superseding the authority of Parliament , and is become a board of censorship equally foreign to the laws of the land and the feelings of the people of this country .
Your memorialists , therefore , urge upon your honourable board that it should apply itself to the performance of its duty as an executive department only , and put the existing law rigorously in force against all parties breaking it , whether such parties have been formally presented to your honourable board or not , and whether or not such parties have received the previous sanction of your honourable board to their conduct . Signed by order of the Newspaper Stamp Abolition Committee and on their behalf , Francis Place , Brompton-square , Treasurer . James Watson , 3 , Queen ' s Head-passage , Paternoster-row , Sub-Treasurer . Richard Moore , 25 , Hart-street , Bloomsburysquare , Chairman . J . C . Dobson Collet , 15 , Essex-street , Strand , Secretary . December 18 , 1850 .
Untitled Article
Fbb . I . 1851 . J «»« ILetMev . ^
Untitled Article
MR . COBDEN AT BRADFORD . The second annual meeting of the Bradford Freehold Land Society was held in the Temperance Hall on Monday evening , Titus Salt , Esq ., the president , in the chair . The hall , which will accommodate upwards of 1500 persons , was not only denselycrowded in every part- —it was literally packed , the people being , as Mr . Cobden said , actually potted together . Mr . Cobden addressed the meeting at great length in favour of the freehold land societies . He then
adverted to the question of taxation . A great struggle was going on for the abolition of the windowduty , which was certainly a very hateful tax , but not one which pressed very heavily on the working class . They were more anxious to obtain the repeal of the taxes on knowledge , and he was of the same opinion . He would rather let light into the mind than into the body . But they were both odious taxes , and ought to be abolished at once . As for the stamp-duty on newspapers , it was a mere bagatelle .
" If it was abolished , and you were to allow the proprietors of newspapers to have the option of having a stamped edition to send through the post , and an unstamped edition for sale , it would not make a difference to the revenue of £ 150 , 000 , and when we have the millions of surplus that is really not worth thinking about . { Hear , hear . ) And if this stamp is kept on—I will not say for this year only , because the question hast not been agitated—but if it is kept on for some two or throe years longer it will not be on the ground of its being a fiscal tax merely , but because the Government do not want , to let in litfht and political knowledge amongst the people . { Hear , hear . ) But I must tell the working classes themselves that they have been particularly silent on thin question ( Hear , hear ) , and they will never have their penny newspapers to read during dinner hour unless they get the stamp duty repealed . "
Let them join tho freehold land societies and they would soon be able to obtain the repeal of uny obnoxious tax . It was useless to try the old-fashioned way of attending public meetings , and shouting , and clamouring for reform from the House of Commons . That plan had boon tried long enough . They must now adopt another course . It wan tho counties that stopped the progress of reform at present . Well , they must infuse new blood into the rural constituencies . That must bo the work of tho freehold land societies . Ho did not menu to
say that he would be content at a 40 a . freehold representation as a substitute for those measures of parliamentary reform which were wanted . All ho meant was that it wim only through the counties thivt they could hope to obtain a proper extension of tho suffrage , the . ballot , and short I ' urlianumtM . Mr . W . TO . Forster , of Rawdon , without a speech , moved the following resolution : — " That this meeting , whilst it recognizes the utility of freehold land societies an a direct and constitutional meanti of extending the political franchise , trustH that the example of those members who thus qunlify themselves , and the influence of these udrikioiiH thereby made to tho number of county voters , will tend to promote tho cause of good government , and hasten tho period of an extension of tho parliamentary suffrage . " Colonel Thompson , M . I' ., spoko in favour of tho resolution , and in the courso of his speech inadu some humorous remarks on tho threatened movement of tho county members in favour of protection .
-
-
Citation
-
Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 1, 1851, page 99, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1868/page/3/
-