The National Register. — London, England, 1816-04-01 00:00:00

APRIL 1. POLITICAL DISQUISITION. STATE OF THE COUNTRY AND THE POOR RATES WHILE there are certain topics of so conflicting and beating a nature, that they cannot be agitated without kindling the flame of discordant opinion, there are others, the broaching of which seems at once to operate like the spreading of oil upon the surface of the stormy sea. They possess this effect by chiefly addressing themselves to sen timents and feelings in which no one would be thought deficient; and about which there cannot be any disagree ment. We ere afraid that sufficient attention is not paid to the true and full meaning of the ri:aais of the times. The exhibition foot our country at this moment presents, is a most extraordinary one ; there never was an example under any fashion of political institution at any former period, of so much public opposition, cmharrasament, and distress, existing without hazard, either in reality or be lief to the Elam-work of the Government; without leading to an apprehension of a convulsion, without exciting any deadly symptoms of hatred, or distracting people from their regular duties, or dividing them from their natural and social connexions. Yet, there is no want of earnestness, and there is unfortunately a great deal of iniffering. There is much positive assertion and touch bitter debating; the measures of the Rulers of the Country are angrily criticised by its men of rank, property, and talent—great popular meetings are convok ed, and there it is told to the lower classes by their su periors, that the few who are in authority are squander ing tin national means and oppressing its ability; the whole land is in a ferment, and the power of Govern uunit is opposed to the distrest feelings and excited ofiniona of the people. Nevertheless, every man is con vinced that he is secure in the duration of public order, and every -num knows that a public danger would be instantly met by a promptunion of the public mind and strength. • The country is at present in a state of exultation at the abandonment of the Income Tax, but we fear thatsome evils may arise, which in the ardour of petitioning were not foreseen. The fall of the Property Tax may place the rich and the poor on the same level. The additional pressure which the failure of Lhe Tax may cause upon poor-rato, may be of no ordinary nature. If the pro fession of a man be such as to require a house for • the pursuits of his business, in extent equal to that occupied by a man worth 5,0001. a year, he will be necesauily compelled to pay a ratio of taxation, ad equate to that paid by the man of fortune, or de cline following his business. This will be a certain concomitant, and whether the tradesman's profits from his precarious nulling be sufficient to defray the amount dins assessments, or not, he will be forced to bear this unequal burthen: these operations may erowd our poor houses, increase our poor-rates, and perhaps infuse in digence throughout this kingdom. We may state that tlse annual amount of poor-rates is 6,000,0001.; the prin cipal part of this suns is paid by persons whose means of livelihood are very precarious, and who are in continual dread of becoming applicant's, sooner or later, fiir the charitable means to which they now contribute. We rhould be very erroneous in our calculations, if we were to say, that in the majority of counties, towns, vil lage., and hamlets in this kingdom, the inhabitants more, tirtually than nominally termed poor, pay a quantum of pant-rates, in the aggregate, equal to the whole amount paid by money-men, (many of 10,0001. a year forming • part) to the Property-tax, Land -tax, and Asssessed-taxes. The contradictory views which have been imbibed, with respect to the Property-tax, bow unfortunately, by some strange infatuation, passed current with the poor, though they aro the only individuals who are orpressed by burdens of near affinity to taxation.— The Property_tax at five per cent., which was intended by the Chancellor of the Exchequer; would have pro. amtea 7,000,0001. only 1,000,0001. more than the poor rates at present produce. The former would have been Mostly furnished by the rich—the latter (6,000,00('1. and probably more) must partly be furnished by the poor. These rates, great as they are, fall infinitely short of ef facting what they ought, the claimants to eluuty being Lath great and increasing. Cannot means then be devised for the abolition of the poor-rates, or for their modification, so -that they may be timportienably Lorne by almost every class of peopfe. The attention of Parliament should be directed to this, and to the means of ameliorating the depressed condition of the poor of the Land THE NATIONAL *MOVIE ABUSES IN THE LONDON FISII-211ARKET. TO TIM RIGHT HON. 'lllr, LORD MAYOR. .MY Lone, PERMIT me, through the medium of this Paper, to call your attention to the present state of the Billin gs _ gate Market. lam well aware, that an abuse existi ng within tho limits of your juris.iiezion, rcquia.s only to he known, to be suppressed; but, notwithstanding the supe rior aethitv and vigilance which have been tlisplayed dur ing your Mayoralty, in dis , ,ovcring and eradicating many of the glaring abuses which have long di.tigured 'the Metropolis, yct the au g ean stable is not yet fully cleansed, its completion may in deed bo called an herculean task, but Lndor vineji otnnia. Whatever tends to encourage a monopoly of the ne cessaries of iife, becomes dangerous to the general Into of society; it is in vain that en enlightened Legisla ture or our patriotic Institut-icing otter their premiums for the greater quantity of uny article of general eonsusnp tion which may be brought to market, if those laudable designs be defeated, by a graspng spirit of monopoly, which deprives Cle community of tlictio advantages which would be the concomitant result of the providential care of the Government. Your Lordship, I am convinced, is not ignorant of the existence of a character in the Billingsgate Market, which in the talinical phraseology of the place, is called a BomanEn. It is against the existence of this charac ter that I now presume to address your Lordship. Of what avail is a regular and ample supply of fish for the London market, and which, were competition equal, would be dealt out to the public at a comparatively cheap rate, if the monopolizing Bomaree steps in, purchases the whole stock which may be brought to market, and deals it out to the retailers according to the particular quantity of fish which he determines shall on that day appear at market, and which is in close unison with the rapacity of his own avaricious disposidon.—The supply of the market is nut in proportion to the quantity which is brought by the fishermen, fir hence u cheapness would arise, inimical to the interests of the Ihimaree; on the contrary he purchases the whole cargoes : if a glut pre sents itself; thereby presenting a cheap and nutritious food to the poorer classes, this great advantage is imme diately lost to the community by the Bomarees, who hoard the fish in their warehouses, and rather than an article shall be sold at a cheap rate, will throw the sur plus stock• into the river. This is the cause of the quan tity of had fish, fir which Billingsgate is now prover bial ; the fish which appears on the stalls, is not the fish of to-day nor of yesterday, as landed from the boats, but it is brought from the stinking hoards of the Boma rees, who having glutted themselves with the profits aris ing from the first day's sale, empty their almost putrid stock into the baskets of the hawkers. At the instiga tion of these %manes, the fishing-boats are often kept at anchor in Long-reach, until their stock on hand is dis posed of, and they will bring up these boats singly to market, rather then the public shall profit by a full and abundant supply. The limits to which I must prescribe myself, deter me at present from entering more fully into this important quesiion, but I trust the few hints which I have ad vanced will excite the attention of your Lordship, and that some steps will, I hope, be in consequence taken to wards abolishing the practices of the Bomarees, whose very existence is an anomaly in political economy, and which calls for the immediate interference of that Power, by which only its suppression can be effected. I sl:bscribe myself, Your Lordship's must obedient Servant, March iB, 1816. R. H. By Havannah Diaries (St the beginning of February, we find that the horrible system of thu Slave Trade, continu ed lobe curried on between the Island of Cuba and thecoast of Africa. Two vessels bad arrived, one laden with 390 slaves, and the other wish 1 14. It appears that this in human tratie was about to Le vigor msly pursued, as all fast sailing vessels had been taken up fur that purpose. Rear-Adpiiral Sir Pulti:ey Mulcelm is appointed to sneceld Sir George Cockburn in the command at St. Helena, the Cape of G.sil Hope, and the Mauritius.— Sir Pultney arrived at Portsmouth on Thursday morning, and hoisted his flag in the Newcastle, 50, Captain Mey nclL Ile will sail far the command in about ten days. ft is said that the inquiries into the late smu ling transactions will show that many thousand pounds ofregu hr duties have been ended, and that, they will involve persons of no connuou stamp, sonic curi. us circumstances may be dime:used. iio %au or Actuert,Trar.—The F.Nowing annual '1 11' nlr r 4. M p . DRAMATIC REGISTER. DRUB Y- LA NE. MASSINGEWS Drama of the Dike of Milan was an nounced tin. representation as this theatre on Tuesday night ; but the company, whom the desire of witues‘in4 Mr. KEAN'S performance of the else racter of Sfor.za had attracted to the House, were fated to encounter a severe disappointment. The audience having waited for some time beyond the period when the curtain is usualiy drawn up, began to exhibit symptoms of impatience, which neon assumed a very formidable appearance. At length, Mr. Has, the stage manager, stood forward to appease the uproar. He stated, that the delay was oc casioned by the non-appearance of Mr. KEA:;, who bad neither been seen nor heard of by any of kis brother per ' fnmers since the morninit. In this situation of affairs, he proposed that the tragedy of Doug!as should be sub atituted fur the piece annou iced in the bills. This pro. position was received with the most violent expression of dissatisfaction, and, when silence was obtained, it was intimated to Mr. by nrmy of the audience, that they would wait for some time longer in the hope of Mr. Kelaa's arrival, They remained, not in patient ex pectation of his comity:, for the house rang with a variety dais:and% until l&a-past seven o'clock, when Mr. RAN: swain came forward, and proposed, as the expe.tation of Mr. KEAN'S arrival was hopeless, that two fa eta, For tune's Frolic, and MIAs and Means, should be 'lei-financed instead of the Duke of Milan. This was acceded to, after seine trifling clamour, and the pieces were perthrmed without opposition. Nothing further was heard of Mr. KEAN during the night. It has since been learnt, that about half-past twelve on Tuesday, he left his own chaise in East Smithfield, and took a boat to go to Greenwich by water, but finding the waterman slow, and fettling he Amid(' not be in time, he was landed on the Kent side, and hired a one-horse chaise, with which he proceeded sto Greenwich,, and dined with a few friends. He was re turning between four and five o'clock, to be at the thea tre by six, and had reached Deptford, when his strange horse took fright at some geese on the road, and lie was overturned, by which he dislocated his shoulder, and was carried, totally insensible, into the Oxford-. Arms, whera he was unknown, and it was not till late in the even ieg that lie was sufficiently relieved to be able to inform the people who he was. Wednesday morning Mrs. KEAN, Mr. Rae, Mr. I'ENLEV, and several others went down to him ; they found that his shoulder had been re-set, and, in the eilernoon he was brought to town, to his house in Clarges-Street. In the Farce of The ttro Misers about to be revived at this Theatre, Mrs. DtexoNs, who is quite recovered from her late severe illness, will perform a character. The public will be glad to hear that Mr. Kean was so fir recovered from the painful etll•cts of his late accident, as to induce a hope that he will be able to resume his pro fessional duties to-marrow, as expressed by himself in the tidlowing letter to the Managers of Drary-Lane Theatre : " Clarges Street, 12, Friday. " OFNTt MEN,—I beg you to accept, and Cifirl\t'y to the Sob Committee, my sincere thanks for the interest so kindly expressed for my recovery, and for the liberality with which I ant desired not to bastes the resumption of my duties before toy health is perfectly re estaldisheil. I ant authorized by my Surgerm to 0114'04in hopes llf being able to appear before the public on Monday, if it be not in a character teipotitie too great bodily exertion. 'tt ith that view I take tlw liberty of suggest ing that ..f Shit° k. " I be; to amtre yon, that I feel ronrineed that anxiety and impatience of confinement will tend more to delay my pertiet reco% cry from my accident than any 111 that may reNtilt from too early exertiom.- • I ant, Gentlemen, your obedient Servant, " r. KEAN." MADEMOISELLE CAIINERIN.—The ascension in a bal loon, and the descent in a parachute, of Mademoiselle Gamerin so often announced, and often deferred, took place on Sunday, 14th inst. in the Camp de Mars. The air was cold and the atmostpherc cloudy, and this circum stance induced a belief that the experiment would be pet A At half past three, however, Mademoiselle Gamerin entered a very magnificent car, atlirasl by a ropr trtenty feet long to a parachute, above which was tht balloon. The whole then rose majestically in a Western di; ection. When about the height of Lew fist, the la:ly cut the rope, the parachute unfolded its.lf, and the descent tolk place slowly, and without the least concussion. Made moißelle Garnerin alighted near ti c Barrier of Gross Cabal, and quite close to the River. The young l a lv went through the businessW . , ith g reat con Poq, and ra r, tl wisf the numerm• Tut: Comm', —On Saturday the Elections have tuLen place :—The Earl of Ma'celesficla, ceivtxl the testimonies of satistactit•is of the numerous Prince Regent held a Privy Colima which was numerous l y President, vice the Earl of Flardwiele, resigned; the spectators assembled. A weld number of gentlemen on • attended. At the close of this Council the Recorder was Duke of Bedford, the Earl of Brattford, Sir Robert horseback preceded the young aeronaut on her return to admit.el, and made his Report of the Convicts capitally Vaughan, Burt. Sir Humphrey Davy, anti J. Atkyns Paris, and among theta the Duke of Wellington. convicted at the last December and January Sessions. Wright, Esq. Ordinary Me:ober:4. Arthur Young, Esq. Thisi.tle of licenses taken out by persons occupyin g s t u d s His Royal highness was graciously rte e , el to reprove all and C:eori.T Smith, Esq. have bean re-elected Secretary In the dAfertut Ilazsars in town, has already prodticcd to the revenue upward., of •;t:oot. the unthrtimate rer: ms during rl:asure. and Tveasurer.—A vote of ThatiLs was unanimouslyrent L i h i . e tt t t i b lu e e so w n a n s f o tii v i e r r C t , 4 h is t e it n es at tne.y<, who The Quell will hold a Drawini;-Room Thurstlzry passed to the Earl of Hardwicke, expressive of the high nem sense which tile Beard entertained of the essential services had tl'e are happy to fo s r ay .4 . bb way to n misuri • "" 1, ott Carlton-house was vis4el on Saturday and yesterday derived from the aide mid zellats discharge of its duties A rvvvarri 10111. I , oilers'(' 'll saturdav's Gazette for the hr numerous inquirers atter the Ite.Tent's health ; and the through the course of his Lordship's Presidency, and tlatt revery of the p.rtits Auppomsil to have set fire, to Mr. 6 Pain t er, fire. in the nicht of • gene. al answer was, that his Royal Highticss is much .the Secretary do transmit a craw of this Resolution to the the taut olt, to twit stacks of wheat bulotig of St. Lcooatil's Kent; wlli .) promise of live patdtu to a.l ) • beLLer. Noble Earl, now resident in Puri& complice matiug such discovery.