In a very few days we shall learn how Ministers are to meet the opposition which the absurd and incoherent financial statement of Sir Charles Wood has provoked. We have seen bad budgets before, but this is incomparably the worst that was ever devised. The obnoxious and unjust Income Tax is to be renewed, solely for the purpose of bolstering up Free Trade, and the removal of the Window Duties is to be nearly neutralised by the imposition of a house tax! The "happy family," it must be owned, have an especial talent for making themselves universally unpopular.
The result of the division on Mr Disraeli's motion cannot fail to be very cheering to those who look for the advent of better times, and more enlightened legislation. It marks the progress which has been made, even in the present Parliament, from which we had so little to expect; and it will be our own fault if the advantage is not pursued. We would earnestly recommend to the serious perusal and consideration of all, but more especially the landlords of Great Britain, the emphatic peroration of Mr Disraeli in his admirable reply:—"I hope honourable gentlemen will not be frightened by threats, from whatever quarter they may come. I hope there is still so much spirit in gentlemen of the United Kingdom, that they will not be daunted even by the mystical reference of the First Minister, or the more authoritative, more decided threats that may reach them from any other quarter. I hope honourable gentlemen, if they believe they are doing their duty by supporting this motion—and let no man support it who does not believe that he is doing his duty—will feel in future that their part is one of more activity in defending the interests of the tenantry of this country. This is mainly a farmers' question. No one has met my argument about rent, which showed the fallacy of that barbarous slang that has been too long prevalent. It is a farmers' question. Upon the farmers the pressure for years has been too severe; it is now increasing. From motives I call appreciate, and feelings of delicacy I can comprehend, the owners of the soil have not stood forward to vindicate, as they ought to have done, the interests of the tenantry. I hope that this is the commencement of a new era in that respect; and that no man, whether owner or occupier, will hereafter be ashamed or afraid of asking from an English Parliament that justice to which every English subject is entitled."
Printed by William Blackwood & Sons, Edinburgh.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Edinburgh Review, January 1851, p. 23.
| Years. | Exports. Official Value. | Imports. Official Value. | Shipping. Tons inwards. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1822 | 42,236,533 | 29,432,376 | 2,519,044 |
| 1823 | 43,803,472 | 34,591,260 | 2,506,760 |
| 1824 | 48,785,551 | 36,056,551 | 2,559,587 |
| 1836 | 65,926,702 | 44,586,741 | 3,002,875 |
| 1837 | 69,939,389 | 45,952,551 | 3,149,152 |
| 1838 | 73,831,550 | 49,362,811 | 3,149,168 |
| 1846 | 132,286,345 | 75,953,875 | 6,091,052 |
| 1847 | 126,157,919 | 90,921,866 | 7,196,033 |
| 1848 | 132,904,407 | 93,547,134 | 5,579,461 |
| 1849 | 164,539,504 | 105,874,607 | 6,071,269 |
[3] Times, Jan. 21, 1851.