d a large number of persons in various
parts of the country were imprisoned; but the circulation of the papers
could not be checked. Popular sentiment was largely on the side of the
publishers and sellers of unstamped papers, sympathy being so strong
that frequently subscriptions for their benefit were raised.[282]

It became apparent very soon after the passing of the Reform Act that
the heavy duty could not be maintained. It was indeed so high, and the
sale of the unstamped publications was so great, that in the years after
1831 there was an actual diminution in the yield of the stamp duty. In
1836 the Government were constrained to deal with the question. They
introduced a Bill providing for the reduction of the duty from 4d. a
sheet to 1d. a sheet. The Chancellor of the Exchequer said that the
reduction was simply a concession to public necessity and expediency. If
the duty were maintained at its then existing level, public feeling
against it would increase, and might lead to a general disposition to
encourage illegal publications. The reduction would, moreover, assist
the moral improvement of the people.

The reduction of the duty was not carried without opposition. _The
Times_, which had attained its position under the old duties, and the
other great newspapers then successfully conducted, were opposed to the
reduction, foreseeing the possibility of the rivalry of new and cheap
competitors.[283] An attempt was made to argue that the benefit would
not accrue to the public, since the public did not in general buy
newspapers but went to the public-house to hear them read. Such persons
would still go to the public-house, and would therefore derive no
benefit from the reduced price: the advantage would be with the
publican. On the other hand, it was anticipated that the reduction of
the duty would so cheapen the newspapers that they would be brought
within reach of all. Mr. Spring Rice said he knew that "the newspaper
was one of the great attractions to take the poor man from home to visit
the public-house; if, therefore, the adoption of this proposition tended
to keep the poor man at home, it would afford a great moral aid to the
improvement of the people."[284] The moral uplifting of the poor man was
a mighty shibboleth in those days, and one which gave a power to these
arguments.

The rates fixed by the Act of 1836 were 1d. for the first sheet, not
exceeding 2,295 superficial square inches, and a halfpenny for a s