[S] In partial cultivation.
| Coffee Properties. | Assessor's Value, 1841 | Public and Parish Taxes, 1841 | Public and Parish Taxes, 1850 | ||||
| Wallenford,[S] | £2,500 | £23 | 16 | 0 | £55 | 77 | 11 |
| Ashcott,[R] | 300 | 6 | 15 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 8 |
| Glengyle,[S] | 1,500 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 3 |
| Cascade,[S] | 2,500 | 23 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 6 |
| Birnamwood,[R] | 5,000 | 51 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 17 | 9 |
| Spring Hill,[R] | 5,000 | 45 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 14 | 4 |
| Smithfield,[R] | 1,500 | 15 | 11 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 11 |
| Orange Vale,[R] | 2,500 | 39 | 15 | 0 | 11 | 18 | 5 |
| Wakefield,[S] | 1,500 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 4 |
| Ellerslie,[S] | 1,500 | 14 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| Middleton,[R] | 1,500 | 23 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 9 |
| Corsham,[R] | 1,000 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 3 |
| Green Hills,[R] | 800 | 8 | 19 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 11 |
| Galloway,[R] | 1,000 | 12 | 15 | 6 | 3 | 12 | 7 |
| Leighfield,[R] | 2,500 | 27 | 15 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 6 |
| Silver Hill,[R] | 3,000 | 37 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 1 | 4 |
| New Haven,[R] | 1,500 | 23 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 6 |
| Mount Pleasant,[R] | 3,500 | 25 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 11 | 6 |
| Cherry Hill,[R] | 360 | 5 | 3 | 11 | 2 | 3 | 6 |
| Pleasant Mount,[R] | 3,000 | 27 | 19 | 0 | 7 | 15 | 10 |
| Balcarres,[R] | 5,000 | 50 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 19 | 7 |
| Prior Park,[S] | 1,500 | 38 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 1 |
| Trafalgar,[S] | 2,000 | 41 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 10 | 4 |
| Dry River Retreat,[R] | 1,600 | 22 | 10 | 0 | 5 | 13 | 6 |
| Rectory,[R] | 500 | 7 | 4 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 11 |
| Mount St Bernard,[R] | 500 | 6 | 16 | 0 | 3 | 13 | 6 |
| £53,060 | £619 | 12 | 3 | £147 | 16 | 11 | |
[R] Abandoned.
[S] In partial cultivation.
—I feel, Sir, that I assert the truth when I add, that my predecessors in office collected these heavy sums within the walls of their office, and the proprietors were then in a position to pay sufficiently early, to avail themselves of the ten per cent discount allowed by law for prompt payment. How different is it with me, sir? I am necessitated not only to keep my hands constantly at the pump, but in too many cases I have been obliged to give the finishing stroke of destruction by levying upon the stock of these properties; and but for much forbearance on my part, heaven knows if others might not be hurried as quickly to ruin. These are truths patent to all; and I assert that this very fact of the taxes being so much reduced, so insignificant by comparison, and yet unable to be met, or met with the greatest difficulty, is an undeniable evidence of the total prostration of the island."
The third symptom to which we would refer is one of marked importance. We mean the enormous increase of emigrants from the British islands. The emigration from the United Kingdom, which, in 1843, amounted only to 57,212, rose in 1849 to the astounding number of 299,498, being 22,000 more than the entire combined population of the large counties of Perth and Fife, according to the census of 1841! How is that fact reconcilable with the professed prosperity of the country? Fourth, and last, because we need not here multiply examples, we have the returns of the Income-tax, which must be accepted, if anything is to be accepted, as a sure index of the state of the nation, and regarding which there can be no delusion, as in the case of export and import tables. Well, then, what do we find from these? Why, that in 1843 the amount of property assessed for trades and professions amounted to £63,021,904. That was under a protective policy. But in 1850, with Free Trade in full operation, that property, which, be it remarked, includes the entire profits arising from the commerce and manufactures of Great Britain, was estimated only at £54,977,566. Where, then, are the increased profits? Let the oracles of Free Trade explain.
Surely these are no wholesome symptoms of the state of the country. Taken singly, each of them implies an enormous amount of misery and decline; taken together, they furnish clear evidence of general national decay. They show us that trade, commerce, and manufactures are far less profitable than before. They show us that emigration from the mother country has multiplied five or six fold, and that the great stream of it is directed to America, a country which is flourishing under protective laws. They show us that agriculture, the only great staple of Irish industry, is largely on the decline. They show us that some of our once richest colonies—because the case of Jamaica is precisely that of several others—are prostrated, and the capital invested in them lost. And all this has taken place under the new commercial system!
Is this a policy to be pursued? Is it one which we are justified in pursuing? Is it one which can afford the slightest pretext for agitation? The answer to these questions must ere long be given by the country on the occasion of the general election. In the mean time, we would entreat the constituencies to consider what interests are at stake, and how much of the national welfare depends upon the nature of their decision. The symptoms of general decadence which we have just referred to cannot be gainsayed nor denied. They are clear ascertained facts, which we have, over and over again, defied the Free-Traders to account for or explain, consistently with their prosperity theories; but in no one instance yet has the challenge been accepted. We are not surprised at this backwardness. Reckless as are the champions of the League—unscrupulous as are their advocates—cunning and sophistical as are the compilers of returns—slippery as are the Whig officials—it would require more courage, craft, and ingenuity than belong to the whole body, to account satisfactorily for the one fact of the diminution of the value of the property assessed for trades and professions. While this fact remains unimpeached—and we have it on Parliamentary authority—it is absolute trash and childish babble to tell us about increased exports and imports. Here are the detailed returns. They comprise, as we have already said, the whole commercial profits of the kingdom; and if we should seem to insist, more strongly than is our wont, upon this point, our apology lies in its paramount importance.
| PROPERTY ASSESSED FOR TRADES AND PROFESSIONS. | |
|---|---|
| 1843, | £63,021,904 |
| 1848, | 60,068,090 |
| 1850, | 54,977,566 |
Can there be a more bitter commentary on the working of Free Trade—a more decisive summary of its effects—than is contained in the above three simple lines?