1842.
Ap. 8%,

218

LIFE OF OOBDEN. fome?

increased trade and consumption made up for the loss th"
incurred, the Government proposed to put on the income t4*
ab the rate of sevenpence in the pound. They expected ght
the duration of the imposi would probably be about five
years, At the end of that time the logs-caused by remission
would, they hoped, have been recovered.
The new tariff was not laid before Parliament for som?
weeks.* The labour of preparation was enormouns. MI"
Gladstone, who was then at the Board of Trade, and 0%
whom much of the labour fell, said many years afterwards
that he had been concerned in four revisions of the Tarif
namely in 1842, in 1845, in 1854, and in 1860; and he old
Cobden that the first cost six times as much trouble as 80
the others put together. There was an abatement of duty
on seven hundred and fifty articles. The object, as sot
forth by the Minister himself, speaking generally, was
reduce the duties on raw materials, which constituted the
elements of manufactures, to an almost nominal amount; 5°
reduce the duties om half-manufactured . articles,’ which
entered almost as much as raw material into domestic
manufactures, to a nominal amount. In articles completely
manufactured, their object had heen to remove prohibition?
and reduce prohibitory duties, so as to enable the foreig?
producer to compete fairly with the domestic manufacturer
The general principle Sir Robert Peel went upon, was to mak?
a considerable reduction in the cost of living. It is true
that the duty on the importation of fresh and salted meat
was lowered. It is true, too, that he could point to the new
Corn Bill as having reduced the duty on wheat by mor
than a half. While he spoke, it was nine shillings under
the new law, and twenty-three under the old one. But the
sugar duties were untouched. Tt seemed a fatal abeurts

+ The speech proposing the Income Tox was Mavch 11. It wae Ma? 5
when Bir Robert Poel moved to xo into Cormmittes on the Tar