Mr. Goschen's reply was very powerfuL Sir Stafford North. cola,
he said, in proposing to keep 228,000,000 for the purposes of paying the interest and repaying the capital of the Debt, expressly founded his case on the elasticity of the revenue. He did not assume that it would be wise to stick to that figure, if from any causes the revenue ceased to grow as it was then expected to grow. That contingency Bad actually occurred, The only part of the revenue which is increasing steadily is that derived from Income-tax ; and, in point of fact, it is the Income-tax payers, with the Income-tax at 85., who are now virtually finding the means for Sir Stafford Northeote'a Sinking Fund. That is not in any sense fair. If the fund is to be kept up at the level fixed in 1874 when almost all branches of the revenue were rising rapidly, it should only be after a full revision of our revenue, so as to throw the burden equally on to all classes in proportion to their means. That is not at all the case at present And Mr. Goschen gave evidence for believing that the present high Income-tax presses specially on the class of moderately well-to-do but by no means wealthy persons who are paying a larger and larger proportion of that tax, while the wealthy are paying a smaller and smaller proportion of it. With a lighter pressure, the security of the Sinking Fund will be greater. The reduction of the amount would be a security for the remainder.
The Lords have caught the Irish disease, though in a mild form. They had an immense debate on Friday week, nominally on the Irish Land Bill, which it is hopeless for us to do. more than mention. The Duke of Argyll began it with an elaborate argument against the measure of 1::1, which he pro- nounced a failure. Lord Kimberley replied, showing that the- Act was an excellent one, while Lord Selborne spoke at great length and very ably in favour of the Crimes Bill, and against the alliance between Liberals and Mr. ParnelL Lord Cowper argued that the fall in prices justified a demand for lower rents, and Lord Salisbury discussed the causes of Irish distress, some of which he believed to be temporary. The Peers, in fact, relieved their minds of accumulated thoughts about Ireland, political, social, and agricultural, their general opinion being that Ireland wanted more order, higher prices, and no Parnellites. Incidentally, some of them—Lord Granville in particular— occasionally mentioned the Bill before them, the general opinion being that it would do some good, but that the bankruptcy clauses must be licked into a very different shape.
Previous page
