Tax-an impost falling most unfairly, land being the only interest which paid on the gross income instead of upon the net. No doubt it would be impossible to repair that injustice without giving room for evasion and destroying the efficiency of the law, but practically the proprietor of land contributed more largely to the Income Tax than the owner of any other income of equal amount. Of all the indirect taxes there was probably none so unobjectionable as the Malt Tax, for though it was an Excise duty, it interfered with no manufacture capable of being carried on or susceptible of improvement upon a great scale. The production of malt was a very simple process-it was used only in connexion with beer, and if the duty were taken off to-morrow, he doubted whether any corresponding stimulus would be given to the trade. Then as to its effect upon the consumer. The duty fell upon an article of luxury; and, though, no doubt, it would be very desirable to make beer cheap for the working man, there were many other articles-such as tea and sugar-that it would be still more desirable to cheapen. And if, under the name of facilitating the feeding of cattle with malt, we were to sweep away the whole of this revenue of 6,000,0007., we should be driven irresistibly to make further reductions upon other articles, and a further increase of direct taxation. Our army and navy had to be maintained at great cost; any very large reductions of public income were, therefore, impossible. Consequently, those who were agitating against the Malt Duties were virtually contending for the increase of the Income Tax.

These views of Lord Grey were controverted by other Peers, especially by Lord Redesdale, who argued that the Malt Tax was one of the most unjust that could be levied. Though paid ultimately by the consumer, which indeed was the case with all indirect taxes, it materially affected the producer. It operated hardly upon the poorer classes, by restricting the use of the most wholesome beverage they could enjoy. It was not necessary that it should be repealed wholly and at once, but if gradually reduced, there was no reason to expect that the relief would be counterbalanced by an increased Income Tax, for we had of late years seen the reduction of other indirect duties equal in amount to the Malt Tax take place without being attended by that consequence. The Bill was ultimately passed.

To the re arrangement of the Sugar Duties, as proposed by Mr. Gladstone, an objection was raised, and a Resolution adverse to the ministerial plan proposed by Mr. Crawford. That gentleman supported his own proposition, which was to the effect that "the real subject for taxation should be the commodity as it was brought into the market for sale," by a speech in which he entered largely into technical details, and he cited some weighty authorities, among others Mr. J. S. Mill, in justification of his views. He contended that it was not possible for the officers of the Customs to ascertain by inspection the quantity of crystallizable saccharine matter contained in any sample of sugar, and that a law which seeks to effect such an object is unjust to the producer, while it

excludes large quantities of fine sugars from the market, and thereby injures both consumers and the revenue by limiting the supply. Observing that the subject was one of great moment, involving most important principles, he assumed that there were four parties interested in the question as to the mode of assessing the duties on sugar-namely, the consumer, the producer, the revenue, and the refiner; and he argued that the refiners, who had no locus standi, were the only party that could be prejudiced by a uniform duty. He then proceeded to establish the propositions upon which his Resolution was founded, remarking that the objection to a system of differential duties upon sugar was not new, and that it had been opposed as contrary to the principles of political economy.

Mr. Cardwell, who had been the Chairman of the Committee to which the subject had been referred, combated the arguments of Mr. Crawford. He undertook to show that not one of the three propositions on which that gentleman had relied, ought to be adopted by the House. The first was that it was impossible for the officers of the Customs to ascertain by inspection the quantity of saccharine matter contained in any sample of sugar. In answer to that he should appeal to the evidence before the Committee and to the practice of the trade throughout the world, in order to show that what his hon. friend believed to be impossible was actually done, and could therefore be accomplished. The next was that a law which sought to effect such an object was unjust to the producer, inasmuch as by striking with a superior duty one pound of sugar which by a better mode of manufacture contained more saccharine matter than another pound obtained from the same raw material, it inflicted direct discouragement on improvement. The third proposition was, that the process suggested by the Government excluded large quantities of fine sugar from the market, thereby injuring both the consumer and the revenue by limiting the supply. He could show that, since the graduated scale had been adopted, the consumption had gone on increasing until it was larger than ever, and the object of the scale had been attained, because quantities of a class of sugar most valuable to the consumer in this kingdom had been imported a class which, before the adoption of the scale, had been entirely excluded. If, then, those three propositions of the hon. member failed, the Resolution itself could not be worthy of the consideration of the House.

After entering into various details for the purpose of proving the untenable nature of Mr. Crawford's assumptions, Mr. Cardwell proceeded to show that a uniform duty would operate unfairly upon sugars of different qualities, and the Government was of opinion that the principles of free trade would be best carried into effect by a system of classified duties on the article of sugar, which would be fair and just to high, medium, and low sugars. There were interests that might be benefited by a uniform duty; but the great interest of the consumers in this country as well as the doctrines of free trade were in favour of a graduated scale.

Upon a division Mr. Crawford's resolution was negatived by 133 to 17.

Another amendment moved adversely to the proposition of the Government was that of Mr. J. M. Smith, who proposed that the duties on sugar should remain in force for one year only. He contended that the classified duties had greatly disappointed the anticipations of those by whom they had been designed. There was considerable discussion upon this amendment. It was opposed by the Chancellor of the Exchequer who said the question at issue was not one between the refiner and the consumer of sugar. True, the refiner said he could not compete if there were a uniform rate of duty; but, so far from asking for protection, he complained bitterly of the ad valorem scale now proposed, and that the limit between refined and unrefined sugars was too small to enable him to compete with the foreigner; but he did not ask for protection. All he appeared to want was equality. As to the insinuation that he (Mr. Gladstone) had become an apostate to the principle of free trade, he entirely repudiated it; and contended that, if the House were to agree to the motion of Mr. Smith, its effect would, indeed, be to reverse that enlightened and progressive policy.

The motion was negatived by 97 votes against 14.

While the Chancellor of the Exchequer was thus successful in carrying his own propositions for the amendment of our financial system through Parliament, in another attempt which he made to improve the machinery of collecting taxes he was not equally fortunate. A Bill had been introduced by him to amend the laws relating to the collection of the Land Tax, Assessed Taxes, and Income Tax. It proposed to substitute the system which existed in Ireland and Scotland, putting the collection of taxes under the department of Inland Revenue, instead of employing the present collectors, who are local officers, though not appointed by the taxpayers. Various objections were made to the machinery proposed to be adopted under this Bill, which, however, proceeded, notwithstanding some opposition, until it reached the third reading, when the House, by a small majority, came to a decision which put a stop to its further progress.

A measure not directly connected with Public Finance, yet of very considerable importance in its bearing upon the habits and interests of the working classes, was introduced early in the Session by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and though on its first announcement it excited very little attention, it had to encounter at a later stage a good deal of opposition from the alarm and distrust of parties who supposed their interests to be affected by it, and it was only after a searching inquiry by a Select Committee that those fears were proved to be groundless, and the beneficial effects of the measure evinced. The Bill in question was one for amending the law relating to the purchase of Government Annuities through the medium of Savings Banks, and to enable the granting of Life In

surances by the Government. In introducing it Mr. Gladstone explained, that at present sums could be received for deferred annuities only in large amounts, and the objects of the Bill were to enable them to take smaller sums through the medium of the Post Office Savings Banks. At present Government could grant Life Insurances to the amount of 1007., but only to persons who purchased deferred annuities, and it was proposed to abolish that restriction.

To the measure as thus described no opposition was offered at the outset, but when the nature of the proposition came to be considered, the Directors and officers of some of the Insurance Companies began to regard it as fraught with possible injury to their institutions. It was represented by some persons as embodying the very questionable principle of Government interfering with private enterprise and bidding for insurance business against the associations specially constituted for that purpose. The Actuaries of some of the leading Companies met and discussed the measure, and signs of an organized opposition to the further progress of the Bill were becoming apparent. The alarms of the objectors, however, were not long in making themselves heard in the House of Commons, and Mr. Gladstone, on moving the committal of the Bill, addressed himself with much earnestness to the task of disabusing the public mind of erroneous impressions respecting its nature and operation. He observed that no one considered Savings Banks, Annuities, or Insurances to be abstractedly matters desirable for the Government to deal with. But the Post Office Savings Banks had produced great benefits, and so likewise had the Factory Acts, although they greatly interfered with the liberty of private action. But the Bill now proposed prohibited nothing. It simply offered to such members of the community as chose to avail themselves thereof certain facilities for self-help. This Bill had not grown out of any consideration of the case of Assurance Societies, but from the consideration of Friendly Societies, and of the wholesale deception, fraud, and swindling perpetrated upon a helpless and defenceless portion of the community. It had been said by deputations which waited upon him (Mr. Gladstone) that Friendly Societies were the creation of private trade and private enterprise. But that was not so. All such societies instituted before 1828 were actually subsidized by the Government, as they received from Government 47. 11s. per annum for every 1007.; and all such societies subsequently established-up to 1844-received from Government 37. 168. per annum for every 1007., whilst Government could obtain only 37. 58. per annum on an average for every 1007. Moreover, Friendly Societies had exemptions in regard to Income Tax, Stamps, &c., and all such exemptions must be considered as actual subsidies. Therefore Parliament was justified in looking into the circumstances of those societies. The country was overrun with societies offering most attractive terms, and promising to pay amounts of interest which could not be paid under any sound and honest management.

The

Government did not set about the fools' work of prescribing laws under which alone people should lend their money, but it was in the highest sense the duty of the Legislature to give to the owners of small savings the advantage of a scheme which held forth no meritricious attractions, but merely offered a low rate of interest, with absolute and certain security. There were societies which had agents all over the country, and in order to induce those agents to draw lives into their nets they were allowed 25 per cent., exclusive of fees, upon all the premiums obtained. Agents receiving so large a commission could not be expected to be very scrupulous about the selection of good lives. In considering this proposal there were three classes of societies which it was necessary to view -first, the principal Assurance Societies; second, the minor Assurance Societies; third, the Friendly Societies. The leading Insurance Societies did not desire small business, and they know that the Government business must be small. Therefore the present proposal would not interfere with those societies. distinction between general insurance business and industrial assurances was that the premiums for the former were paid halfyearly or quarterly, whilst the premiums for the latter were paid monthly or weekly. There were many excellent industrial assurance societies, but they did not provide for the wants of the population at large. There were all over the country societies inviting persons by means of agents-who might be called preachersto whom 25 per cent. commission was given; and whose praises of the societies to which they belong were most eloquent. He (Mr. Gladstone) had asked a deputation from such societies what had they to fear from the present proposal? The reply was, "When our agents persuade men that it is a good thing to insure, they will turn round and insure with the Government.' That was paying the Government a high compliment. After some further observations, the right hon. gentleman referred to the condition of many societies whose assets did not exceed the amount of a few years' income, whilst their liabilities were heavy. He said the Government had been prompted to introduce the Bill by representations made from all parts of the country, complaining of the irregularities, frauds, and swindling of what were termed Friendly Societies. The two questions for the consideration of the House were-first, was the plan safe; and next, was it just. With regard to its safety, it would be put in all respects upon the same footing as the Post Office Savings Banks; and as to its justice, if it were desirable that such a business should be undertaken by private bodies, there could be no injustice in the Government acting in the matter. The three things to be ascertained were age, employment, and habits of life as regarded temperance; and on all these points the Government could get information by means of existing local machinery. The advantages which were offered by the measure were perfect security, more favourable terms on the dropping in of policies, and facilities for the migratory portion of the population;