Page images
PDF
EPUB

PEEL'S FINANCIAL SCHEME.

453

upon to bear. You will not permit this evil to gain such gigantic growth as ultimately to place it far beyond your power to check or control. If you do permit this evil to continue, you must expect the severe but just judgment of a reflecting and retrospective posterity. Your conduct will be contrasted with the conduct of your fathers, under difficulties infinitely less pressing than theirs. Your conduct will be contrasted with that of your fathers, who, with a mutiny at the Nore, a rebellion in Ireland, and disaster abroad, yet submitted with buoyant vigour and universal applause (with the funds as low as 52) to a property tax of 10 per cent. I believe that you will not subject yourselves to an injurious or unworthy contrast. It is my firm belief that you will feel the necessity of preserving inviolate the public credit-that you will not throw away the means of maintaining the public credit by reducing in the most legitimate manner the burden of the public debt. My confident hope and belief is that now, when I devolve the responsibility upon you, you will prove yourselves worthy of your mission-of your mission as the representatives of a mighty people; and that you will not tarnish the fame which it is your duty to cherish as the most glorious inheritance-that you will not impair the character for fortitude, for good faith, which, in proportion as the empire of opinion supersedes and predominates over the empire of physical force, constitutes for every people, but above all for the people of England,-I speak of reputation and character, the main instrument by which a powerful people can repel hostile aggressions, and maintain extended empire."

454

THE NEW TARIFF.

The propositions submitted by the Minister were: an Income Tax, not to exceed sevenpence in the pound, or nearly three per cent, for a limited period. Second, from this tax all incomes below £160 were to be exempted. Third, Ireland was also to be exempted, as it had no machinery for the collection of the duty, but an equivalent tax was to be found in an increased charge on spirits. And, fourth, the 4s. duty on the export of coal, hitherto partial, was to be applied to all exportation of that article.

The Minister calculated that the revenue from these new sources would amount to £4,380,000. After the deficit had been supplied, what was to be done with the surplus? Sir Robert's conception of its application was that of a statesman. Out of 1200 articles then subject to Customs duties, 750 were to be reduced. The first principle was, he said, to remove prohibition; and the next, to reduce duties on the raw material of manufactures to 5 per cent, or less. On articles partially manufactured the duty henceforth would never exceed 12 per cent; nor, on articles wholly manufactured, 20 per cent. The new Tariff exhibited the Minister's wellknown mastery of details, and proved to have been drawn up in a spirit of great liberality towards the consumer. The duties levied on a great number of minor articles, coming principally under the head of drugs and dye-wools, were abandoned; on many others, they were greatly reduced. The ultra-Tory saw with alarm that the prohibitory duties were no longer to be maintained upon live cattle, sheep, and swine, on salted and

dried meats, on butter, eggs, cheese, and lard. But,

T

DISMAY OF THE OLD TORIES.

455

A

perhaps, his alarm was greater at the sentiments which the Minister enunciated in supporting his proposed reductions. "I believe," he said, and the ghost of Eldon might almost have been heard to heave a sigh at the avowal, “that, on the general principle of free trade, there is now no great difference of opinion; and that all agree in the general rule that "we should purchase in the cheapest market, and sell in the dearest." It is true he excepted from the application of this principle the sugar duties and the corn-laws; but a little reflection suggested to the old Tories that these exceptions must inevitably give way under any sudden pressure. system of Protection could be maintained, or a system of Free Trade could be maintained; but a system of Protection, into which Free Trade doctrines had been introduced, was obviously incapable of protracted defence. Yet what could the malcontents do? The Conservative Party owed its existence to Sir Robert Peel; had been led to victory by Sir Robert Peel; and without Sir Robert Peel could not hold its ground for a single session. They might secretly murmur; they might tremble at the thought of coming disasters; but they were forced to submit. As for the country at large, it may have accepted the income tax with some reluctance, but it did not fail to see that it was the pivot on which the Minister's scheme revolved; and that the reduction of prices which would follow the reduction of duties would more than compensate the consumer for the slight additional burden of taxation.

The third reading of the Income Tax Bill in the Commons was carried, on the 30th of May, by a majority

456

LEGISLATIVE SUCCESSES.

of 130; in the Lords, by a majority of 71. This triumph brought with it, of course, the triumph of the new Tariff, which passed the House of Commons on the 28th of June. In the Upper House, Lord Stanhope predicted that it would be fatal to the fame and power of the Minister who brought it forward; but could summon to his side only eight peers. The first division, on the 8th of July, showed a majority of 52 to 9. It is needless to say that Lord Stanhope's prophecy has not been fulfilled. The policy which Sir Robert Peel so boldly initiated has never been repudiated. On the contrary, it has been carried to its farthest possible goal by Sir Robert Peel's able and skilful lieutenant, Mr. Gladstone; and no considerable party, either in the House or the country, shows any disposition to reverse it. The session of 1842 would have been sufficiently distinguished had it borne no other legislative fruit than these great measures. But it also produced a Poor Law Renewal Act and a Copyright Act. A still more beneficial effort of legislation was Lord Ashley's (now the Earl of Shaftesbury) Act for regulating the employment of women and children in mines and collieries. It deserves special notice as the first attempt made by the legislature at the improvement of the social condition of the labouring classes.

In 1843 the work of Parliament began with a discussion on Lord Howick's motion for the appointment of a committee to inquire into the causes of the distress still existing in the country. The motion was rejected by 301 to 191; but the debate elicited some remarkable acknowledgments from Sir Robert Peel, Mr. Gladstone,

PEEL AND COBDEN.

457

and Sir James Graham. They admitted without reservation the general principles of Free-trade, while arguing for a continuance of protection to agriculture, on the ground of the many important interests which were connected with it. It was abundantly clear that they sympathised with the advocates of Free-trade, to the full extent even of the opinions of Messrs. Cobden and Bright, and differed from them only, or chiefly, on the question when and how it should be developed. Sir Robert Peel was determined to move cautiously; to make sure of his ground as he advanced; and to accustom all classes to the changes that were impending. A personal episode in the debate on Lord Horwick's motion must not be omitted. On the 21st of January, Mr. Drummond, Sir Robert Peel's confidential secretary and friend, was fired at and mortally wounded on his way from Charing Cross to Whitehall, by a man named McNaughten, whose insanity was afterwards fully ascertained. It was known that the assassin had mistaken his victim for the Premier, on whose mind, therefore, the incident naturally made a deep impression. In the course of debate, the great Free-trade Apostle, Mr. Cobden, repeating an expression he had already used out-of-doors, asserted that he held the Prime Minister "individually responsible" for what might happen. Sir Robert, profoundly hurt, and much excited, sprang to his feet, and amid vehement Ministerial cheers, seized upon the phrase, which he denounced as holding him up as a mark for the pistol of the assassin. Mr. Cobden vainly endeavoured to disavow the interpretation, and to reject an imputation which was insulting to his character.

« PreviousContinue »