LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.
THE EFFECT OF REDUCED TAXATION.
iTo THE EDITOR OP THZ EMICT1T01."1
Sin,—In your criticism of Mr. Goschen's Budget, in the Spectator of April 23rd, there is a sentence in relation to the consumption of tea which I think is a little misleading. Will you allow me to point out in what way P You say :—" The consumption of tea, on the other hand, is nearly double in the thirty years since 1857; but though the consumption has doubled, the tea revenue has not doubled. Indian tea is so much stronger, and so much larger a proportion of the tea now imported is Indian than it was formerly, that, reckoned in relation to the increase of the popula- tion, the tea revenue shows signs of falling off."
Now, what are the facts ? In the year 1852, the total con- sumption was 55,092,000 lb. The duty then stood at 2s. 20. a pound, and the total product to the revenue was 26,025,687. In the early part of 1853, the then Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr. Gladstone, in his ever-memorable Budget, began his great onslaught on the tariffs. He reduced the duty on tea at once to is. 101, and provided for its further gradual reduction to Is. a pound. This reduction was interrupted in 1856 by Sir George Cornewall Lewis in consequence of the Russian war. The reduction to Is. was not reached till 1864 but in 1865 it was further reduced to 68., where it now stands. I will not trouble you with all the figures, but in 1864, the gradual increase in the consumption of tea had reached a total of 91,296,000 lb., and in 1886 it had reached the enormous total of 221,488,122 lb , producing a revenue of 25,537,203, a sum very nearly equal to that produced when the duty stood at 2s. 20. Think of what that means to the pro- ducer, to the distributor, and chiefly to the consumer ! Think what it means in the homes of the poor, where the great con- sumption of tea takes place! It can now be bought at a fourth of its former cost, and all this with very little lose to the revenue.
It may be interesting to note that the distribution of this great total among the different growths of tea is as follows China tea, 146,823,504 lb. ; Indian, 68,419,878 lb. ; Ceylon, 6,244,740 lb. It was not until the year 1860 that Indian tea was known in this country, and the total product for that year was only 1,200,000 lb.
In regard to Mr. Gladstone's beneficent legislation in the reduction of duties on other articles, it would take pages of your space even to mention them. Sugar, for instance, now costs the consumer only the amount per pound paid as duty in 1864. The duty on soap, which at one time contributed over a million to the revenue, and the newspaper stamp-duties, also producing a million, have been swept away.
Now, one short sentence as to the effect of all this on the national prosperity, which can easily be tested. In 1853, an Income-tax of 7d. produced a total of £5,845,000, a penny in the pound producing less than a million. The Income-tax last year of 8d. produced a total of just 216,000,000, or 22,000,000 for every penny.
We are now celebrating the Jubilee year of her Majesty's prosperous reign ; and as there can be no doubt that the legis- lation daring that period has been beneficial, so there certainly can be no manner of doubt that there is one man above all others who, with clear vision and unerring instinct, has left his mark most deeply on that legislation. It is as well to recall this fact in these days, when we are constantly told by croakers that he
has ruined the COMMTy.-4 am, Sir, &C., HENRY BARTEL 16 Airlie Gardens, dampden Hill, W., April 2615.
[We never heard any sensible man express anything but pro- found gratitude for Mr. Gladstone's economical and financial reforms. It is not in that direction that Mr. Gladstone has been underrated. As regards the Sugar-duty, however, the last great reduction of it should be ascribed to Sir Stafford Northcote.— ED. Spectator.]
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