MR. GLADSTONE AND THE INCOME-TAX.
DOES Mr. Gladstone with to kill the Income-tax? We were inclined to believe last spring that he had become a promising recruit in the ranks of those who advocate direct taxation for two reasons, first, because it is the most equitable form of raising a revenue; and next, that it is of all forms that most likely to disgust the taxpayer, and thus induce him to bring such a pressure on the Government as to compel them, come what may, to make wholesale reductions of expenditure, especially expendi- ture for purposes of national defence. And it would really seem that Mr. Gladstone is the hopeful recruit we have described. Here is an onerous tax, levied alike from the well-to-do and those who do at all with difficulty. Hitherto the Government has eased the burden by giving long ezedit. Now the Chancellor of the Exchequer comes down upon us with a stand and deliver, and demands our quarterly payments the moment they are due. This is not only a process calculated to dia. gust the taxpayer, but it is a breach of faith. Mr. Gladstone oannot persevere in it without seriously damaging the Government, and insuring, at the first opportunity, a full retribution on himself.
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