THE BILL-STAMP ACT.
G.N.n of the statutes passed t. la. has oneasioned-a larger aniOunt of perpleXity than any which we reiiiemberand. that is more than "sating is ,greet -deal," when tiverementher *htEng- lih acts of Parliament so often are. The object of the bill waste levirp,uniform Stampaifiesiepennyina.reeelpts.and aeertsin class of. bills, and a mtelerateqidivalokein.starrip.on.othereltiisea 'The general .purpoit cti-the statnte.dwas .qinte intelligible; rand -was' pT4.1:SEAWOrthy. It was a tax, upon wealth;. on' its transfer,"'very- moderate in ameuriti.,easy • to be borne; -easy to collect; 'rind profit-. able tbe-exeliequer.:c.For itaptirposecithareforwand ite general' scope, it wat justlyrstipportoci iiiiiPaelianientJ dm applying it to the inetrurneats:whiCh ard slibjeet to the.impost, the statute fails: to lit a large number.,of attarallcases. The ,Varisty !or conimeicial inedruments,,is great; ftheir.natitreis very mixed; and thereie some difficulty in .knowing- of ionedth any particular class how it can be made to cenkom tothe.enaatellaw. Oncof the earlieilV questions exeraplifieti.the -concentrated - and complicated confusion' throughout. The'wholei number' Ahet.bilis purporting to be drawn in a set were. required to he delivered. atrtheir sale tor trrinsfer;, and the first question was,.whelber this a drawn'. within the United: Kingdom:, ITbe,,113i) diiholidtReveniindecided.that it applied to ibilhe drawnralinciadi; ,hutsubse qUentise. the Board decided that it applied !only, billiedrawn within the tinited-Ringdoni. and payable abroaAgainiitisaleeided that all the bills drawn-in a seetlarit. drawn,. so. to speak, hills imduplitates of three;., to com- bine security. tranemission,--must stainped; and thelaoardi hew recently been asked whetheirpart (of the bill eim he negotiated partseathia(fretraentlY-theirase, reniain abroad,? ,,Tc; &hitt Itiestion ithe BoredizePlies,: that- each rt- of the • hill is liable to the duty: onantinland .exchingea which is no answer. Similar questions; with-similar-uncertainty of reply, or no reply at addrefiecl_to the Beardiniensiderable nnWher.6.;:ldre.greeiendon notary; hasi.addreased aaitring abanta,dagen gaestione,;elime of them,„really lintolviag inunk: bero.pr: .furtfller luestiene ; and the reply Whielik just' quoted is.addreeeed to,hini on one of -those poilitsei: aliortethe obseurities and.amhignities in the statute itself a-fie:amplified-inn mathaniatieel -ratio by the official:explanations ; i" Theanas.Reogh" beiagia penstant requisition, and the Evonemist weekly aiding in
the work of delucidation. . - -
It is true that some of theie. questions are instigated by.a cer- taimperversity -oui the part of :the caw:Inertial-public. There is an. ideanniongst commeneiclifliken-,that trade ought to be exempt from taxation, and particularly' when ih is active ; :they regard the claim of the Chencellw, ef ithseE,./kahenuer .as. an interferenee!with trade,. and they take regnkaaure,jn thwarting ;'the official, as:much- as ..a praptised dodg..m etfitheSheriff's officer takeri-a :pleasure in bean- boozleing a bailiff end his.follower. It ie only to such motives as these that we can eserihetioten of the ridieulons.questions which have been put4orlthe.officifilssuch, for example; asthe. whether in ackneveledgingitltecreceipt,el, money from a husband, the wife ought t6,istamp-bee.letrter:?e • •.' •1_ • - To this natural rebellio.uS.,instinct, ',Whose head-quarters is Cornbill, we add the diapecitionefit keen-minded men to find out any .channel which cantheirree from tax or duty 4 :and if the Chan- cellor of the Exchequer-14n: becorupelled adinit that the statute does not apply to sonieiparticulaributhof instrument, .then a form is discovered ;which enjays a. protective exemption -from impost, and the keeilnan is satisfied.. ..The-Board.of Inland has been driven to such AAdaiission in respect! tcl_promissory bills drawn abroad ; andfellows we prestitne; that whenever a. mer- chant,abroad can .ma,nrige t;anstnit money in the form of. saying "I promise to " instead of saying "Pay doi" he will prefer the promissory_foxtuf eliglitAileviation from usage will be introduced into the cominercial World, and the promising merchant will laugh at the Chancellor of the Excheqaer. We believe, those who framed the .statute had within, theirview a peculiar kind, of .frand that had about: that time attracted attention People in this country connected with the. Colonies were in the hObt.Pf.cloavipg bills upon London .purporting. to be drawn in the Colonies; .byWhich means, they evaded the stamp- tax npon bills,—which ;wee theImietor motive,—and at the same time, endowed the inst./4.133mA with Annappearance of consequence as represeatativeCti ho. nit fide transactions across. the.water, which it did not ;deserirew Peinew act compels such bills purporting to be drawn abreeaktbeetaniped; and while he was . about it, the Chancellor of thcXiehequer requirednll foreign iastruments to undergo the figiveheii they beeanic instruments for the ex- change of.weal., and the,procuring 0-profit in this ciountry. The mercantile man 'enjoys the protection Of our laws, and shbuld pay his quota "of the expenses. But the framers of the statnte did not seenkto have presented. to their iinegiaatiOnthe mode of making theirniachinerY fit' the actual movements of commerce. The
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reqnirement to, stamp each bill in a set When every bill of the set has not-reached this country, practically ihraws upon' merchants the risk of non-cOMpliance with an impracticable law, and thus may divert an important trade in the sale of bills from the London market. The main principles of the statute, we say, are commendable. To lay down a complete list of all commercial forms defying the evasive invention of commercial men, would probably have been impracticable. Lut certain fixed principles might easily have been laid down with sufficient openness to facilitate compliance. For instanee, all bills negotiated in this country might have been required to undergo a stamp equally with all bills drawn in this country, without attempting distinctions between drafts, orders, and promissory notes'. The very attempt to accommodate com- mercial men places them in a difficulty cif discrimination, and acts as a premium upon evasion. Again with regard to Mlle in sets, it would surely be, poSsible to construct a stamp for the whole amount, whatever that might be, divisible into a given number of , parts, like the two forms in the leaf of a check-book; and the .merchant would thus be able to stamp each part of the bill nego- tiated in this, country, and pay. for all parts, without being re- quired to stamp the part which never arrives. At all events, , the statute could have been rendered simple and workable without explanations that confuse, and that the authors themselves cannot settle; or the attempt to impose a tax in this form should have been abandoned., The real evil, .we suspect, lies in that obstinate eontemptlor lucidity in acts of Parliament which is noteonfined to fiscal and commercial subjects, although in them it creates the most obvious inconvenience.
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