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very opposite principle-to wit, that a Chancellor of the Exchequer has nothing whatever to do with the morals or wellbeing of the people. His dogma for the hour is, that his only duty is to make the taxes as profitable as possible. We have shown that it is very doubtful if his present proposal will have that effect; but, in any case, how would his new dogma accord with his policy in the last two years in wholly abolishing the duties on paper and other commodities? He is the most dangerous Minister that has ever been intrusted with the management of the British finances. He has not only involved the country in an accumulation of deficits, but he has had the art to persuade Parliament to do this with its eyes open; while at the same time he leads it onward, with its eyes carefully bandaged, towards the goal of democratic finance-which of late years has become the cynosure of his policy, and which he knows would at once become unattainable if his real purpose were avowed.

Now that we are to have a surplus -in consequence of the Ministry at length adopting the views of the Opposition-the first duty which devolves upon the House of Commons is to retrieve the financial mistakes of the past, and to rid us of its burens. What the Conservative leads advocated last session was not eduction of taxation, but retrenchnent of expenditure. The Governinent had incurred a deficit of £7,500,000 in two years, and the first thing to be thought of was, to reduce the expenditure, in order that the deficit might be cleared off. Let Mr Gladstone do this-let him clear off the rious deficits in his previous office; and then -but n-ought he to luctions of the n a businesslike ot make a sensaould not surround a that bright gleam which is to retrieve n, and carry them other session of barren

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ness and humiliation. In all probability Mr Gladstone's proposal is to ignore the past deficits, and devote the whole of his prospective surplus to the reduction of taxation. By a reduction of taxes the country is to be bribed into forgetfulness of the past, and rendered placable to the appeal for respite on the part of a falling Ministry. It is not to be expected that Mr Gladstone will confine his favours to tobacco: he must support his great remission of duty on this luxury by minor reductions on articles of more usefulness. While striking four shillings a-pound off tobacco, he will strike a few pence or farthings off the price of tea and sugar. In fact, he will probably, in his usual way, give a trifling sop all round, in order that he may be allowed to carry his great point in the reduction of the duties on tobacco. The House will do much better to abolish, or greatly reduce, the duties on hops and beer. Surely it is intolerable that foreign luxuries, like tobacco and French wines, should receive the favours of the Legislature, while the produce of our own soil and industry, constituting a healthy element of the national food, should be subjected to heavy taxation. This is a matter which affects urban constituencies as well as the agricultural interest. Put it to the vote in any town or county in the land, whether they will have five shillings a-pound struck off the duty on tobacco, or get the fiscal burdens removed from beer, and there cannot be a doubt that the whole suffrages would be given in favour of beer, and against tobacco. Therefore if Mr Gladstone -as is most likely be resolved once more to play an ad captandum game, we trust the House of Commons will be on the alert to see that any possible reductions of taxation are effected on articles which enter largely into the food of the people, and not wasted-with what ulterior object, we need not repeat-upon an enormous remission on the duties on tobacco and cigars. But still more behoves the House to that Mr Gladstone's previous

ficits are cleared off. Mr Gladstone must put the finances in the condition in which they were when he took office. We do not presume he will venture to continue his practice of forestalling the revenue payments; but he has to refund the two millions which he abstracted from the balances in the Exchequer in the two years subsequent to March 1860, and he has also to pay off about half a million sterling which has been added to the National Debt during his present term of office. Let him do these things first; and then we will see how much he has to spare for promoting the introduction of cigars for the million! Let us clear off our past deficits, before, under the leadership of this financial sophist, we plunge into others that we know not of.

The past month has furnished a most singular proof of the want of sagacity which has characterised the commercial policy of the Whigs since 1847. On coming into office at that time, their only thought was, how to rival Sir R. Peel in his highly popular reforms of the tariff. Unable to equal him in administrative sagacity, they simply travestied his policy by carrying it to excess. They abolished or reduced customs-duties, and totally relinquished the Navigation Laws, without a thought of how the country would fare in its future commercial relations with other countries. Again and again they were warned that they were rashly and foolishly relinquishing a valuable vantage-ground without even attempting to obtain those advantages for our commerce which other countries would be willing to cede in return. What has been the consequence? The 'Magazine' has so often in former years predicted what would be the result, that we need not now go over the old ground. Fortunately the UnderSecretary for Foreign Affairs has told the tale of Ministerial failure no well, that his speech on Feb. 17,

answer to Mr Fitzgerald, cometely substantiates the correctness

of our old predictions. We print it here as furnishing ample matter for reflection to politicians on both sides of the House :

"When the hon. member for Rochdale went to Paris to negotiate the French treaty, the first thing he was asked was, What had he to offer! If he hai gone to Paris with his hands empty, it was not probable that he would have succeeded in obtaining the concessions which the French Government made to him. Fortunately, however, the hon. gentleman had much to offer. There were

heavy duties on wine and other articles of French produce and manufactures, and in consideration of a reduction in those duties the French Government consented to various changes in their tariff which had proved very beneficial not only to this country but to France. It was necessary to bear in mind that in our domestic legislation we differed from France. We at once gave the whole world the benefit of the concessions which had been made to Our 2.T. France, on the other hand, withhel from others the privileges she had octceeded to us, and thus retained in Ler hands the means of bargaining with other sions. When one nation sought any Powers for mutual commercial cocDESfavour from another nation, there were various grounds on which the request might be based. An appeal might be made to the generosity of the other Power, but it was doubtful whether that would have much effect; or an appeal the applicant the privileges of the most might be made to a treaty which gave favoured nation, and a daim advance! for certain privileges which had been granted to another State. Therefore it was, above all things, desirable that when one had no concessions to offer in other Power, which possessed the meata return for the advantages sought, winde of bargaining, should commence the negotiations. That was the reason why France had been allowed to precede us in the present instance, and every conces sion which was made to her gave us a right to claim the same. If we had taken the initiative, the Italian Government would very naturally have said,

You have nothing to give us in exchange for what we give you, and if we freely concede your demands we shall be placed in a bad position in So far making terms with France.' having endeavoured to make treaties of from Her Majesty's Government not

commerce with other nations, the fact was that there was scarcely a Power in Europe with whom negotiations had not

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