f mental
stature and power such as far surpassed anything that colonial life is
now commonly considered to be capable of producing.--_Speech on second
reading of the New Zealand Constitution bill, May_ 21, 1852.

FINANCIAL ARRANGEMENTS OF 1853 AS AFFECTING IRELAND

_Page 465_

_When the report of the Irish Financial Relations Commission of 1894 was
named to him, Mr. Gladstone made the following observations:--_

The changes adopted in that year were explained in my budget speech, and
will be found in my volume of _Financial Statements_, pp. 53, 60, and
69. They affected the Spirit Duties and the Income-Tax.

1. _The Spirit Duties._--We laid 8d. per gallon upon Irish spirits,
imposed at the same time 1s. per gallon in Scotland, and laid it down
that the equalisation of the duty in the three countries would require a
reduction of the duty of 8s. chargeable in England. Sir Robert Peel had
imposed 1s. per gallon on Irish spirits in 1842, but was defeated by the
smuggler, and repealed the duty in consequence of the failure. In 1842
the duty was levied by a separate revenue police. I abolished this
separate police, and handed the duty to the constabulary force, which
raised it, and without difficulty.

2. _The Income-Tax_ was also in that year extended to Ireland. I pointed
out that Sir Robert Peel, in imposing the burden on Great Britain,
proposed to give a compensation for it by progressive reductions of duty
on consumable commodities, and that Ireland had for twelve years enjoyed
her full share of the compensation without undergoing any part of the
burden; but I also laid it down as a fundamental principle that the
peace income-tax was to be temporary, and I computed that it might cease
in 1860. This computation was defeated, first by the Crimean war, second
by a change of ideas as to expenditure and establishments which I did
everything in my power to check, but which began to creep in with, and
after, that war. We were enabled to hold it in check during the
government of 1859-66. It has since that time, and especially in these
last years, broken all bounds. But although the computation of 1853 was
defeated, the principle that the income-tax should be temporary was
never forgotten, at least by me, and in the year 1874 I redeemed my
pledge by proposing, as mentioned, to repeal it--a course which would
have saved the country a sum which it is difficult to reckon, but very
la