INCONSISTENCIES OF THE BUDGET.
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loss of £300,000; but as he proposed, at the same time, to increase the auctioneer's license, uniformly from £5 to £15 (making one license answer for all purposes, whereas, at that time, several licenses were often necessary to the same party), he expected from four thousand auctioneers an increased income, to reduce this loss to £250,000.
On the important article of glass he gave up £612,000. These constituted the whole of his proposals; and the surplus of £2,409,000 was thus proposed to be disposed of;
| £ | |
| Estimated loss on sugar | 1,300,000 |
| Duty on cotton repealed | 680,000 |
| Ditto on 430 Articles in tariff | 320,000 |
| Export duty on coal. | 118,000 |
| Auction duty | 250,000 |
| Glass | 642,000 |
| ——————— | |
| £3,910,000 |
The inconsistencies of the budget were thus described by the Leeds Mercury:—
| "Sir Robert Peel has combined in his measures some of the most glaring inconsistencies that ever disfigured the policy of any minister. The following specimens, arranged in parallel columns, ilustrate the assertion:— | |
| A Tariff, whose express object is declared to be to cheapen the necessaries of life. | Corn and Provision Laws, whose sole object is to make the chief necessaries of life dear. |
| Great concern professed to relievetrade and commerce, for the sake of which a Property Tax is imposed. | A still greater concern to uphold the Rent of land, for the sake of which trade and commerce are loaded with a Bread Tax. |
| The repeal of duties on raw materials. | The taxation of the greatest of all raw materials, namely, that of labour. |
| Total and Immediate Repeal of small taxes. | A Sliding Scale for the heaviest tax of all. |
| Taxes for the mere purpose of Revenue. | Taxes for the mere purpose of Protection. |
| Repeal of the Duty on Slave grown Cotton. | Prohibitory Duties on Slave-grown Sugar. |
