"
Mr. Gladstone said that the total reduction of duties would be over
L1,000,000, requiring a slight extension of taxation; that by this means
nearly L1,000,000 would be returned to the general revenue; that the
loss to the revenue by the French Treaty, which was based upon free
trade principles, and the reduction of duties, would be half made up by
the imposts specified; that the abolition of the paper duty would
produce the happiest results from the spread of cheap literature. The
reductions proposed would give a total relief to the consumer of nearly
L4,000,000, and cause a net loss of the revenue of over L2,000,000, a
sum about equivalent to the amount coming in from the cessation of
government annuities that year. The total revenue was L70,564,000, and
as the total expenses of government was L70,000,000, there remained an
estimated surplus of L464,000.
Mr. Gladstone concluded; "There were times, now long by, when sovereigns
made progress through the land, and when at the proclamation of their
heralds, they caused to be scattered whole showers of coin among the
people who thronged upon their steps.... Our Sovereign is enabled,
through the wisdom of her great council, assembled in Parliament around
her, again to scatter blessings among her subjects by means of wise and
prudent laws; of laws which do not sap in any respect the foundations of
duty or of manhood, but which strike away the shackles from the arm of
industry.
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