The Sun. — London, England, 1860-09-07 00:00:00

THB INLAND REVENUE. FOURTH REPORT. The Commissioners of Inland Revenue have just pub lished their fourth annual Report for the year ended on the 31st March, 1860, and preface it with the following table of the amounts collected by their department : EXCISE DUTIES. GROSS RECEIPT IN THE YEAR ENDED MARCH 31, 1859 AND 1860 (DETAILING THE AMOUNT RECEIVED FOR EACH DUTY). Years ended 31st March. Duties. 1859. 9,188,842 .... 5,592,624 .... 416,478 .... 1,281,023 .... 1860. 10,000,191 6,852,458 462,881 1451,254 86,203 Spirits malt Hops paper Hac kney carriages stage carriages Railways Licenses Game certificates (Ireland) sugar 'Racehorses 82,129 .. • • 125,016 .. • • 339,569 ... • 1,436,892 ... • 12,228 .• • • 127,673 359,212 1,464,575 13,047 5,771 .. • • 6,233 Gross receipt £18,480,572 .... £20,823,727 The report then proceeds as follows : SPIRITS. The revenue derived from spirits has continued steadily to increase during the past year, as will be seen on compar ing the gross receipts for each quarter with those of the cor responding quarters of the previous year : Quarter. 1858-9. 1859-60. Increase £ £ £ 3oth June .. 2,115,156 .... 2,322,662 ..• • 20..,,1106 91 30th September.... 2,108,360 2,291,654 31st December.... 2,647,403 2,767,741 120, 31st March... 2,317,923 .... 2,618,134 • • 3°0 ' 211 Total 9,188,842 : 107i000,1 9 The large amount of duty received in the last quarter is not entirely to be ascribed to increased consumption. Great quantities were taken out of bond under the supposition that an addition to the duty would form one of the financial measures of the Government. The effect of this anticipa tion, probably to the e xtent of £150,000, has, consequently, been felt in the =coeeding quarter by a d ecrease o f d u ty as compared with the corresponding period o f l as t year . The regulations under which this b ranc h o f th e revenue is secured have for several years been undergoing various modifications, in order to adapt them to improvements in th e process of distillation, and to facilitate the commercial transactions of persons engaged in the spirit trade. During the past year, however, remarkably few changes were re quired, and the only one worth mentioning was the now scale of allowances which your Lordships sanctioned in August last for the waste of spirits in bonded warehouses, and which promised to afford a satisfactory solution to a confessedly difficult question. When it became known earlyin the present year, through the financial statement of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, that, according to the terms of the recent commercial treaty with France, foreign spirits would be admitted for consump tion into the United Kingdom at a rate of duty equal to that on British spirits, and a surtax equivalent to the loss and hindrance caused to the home distiller by the Excise restrictions, considerable alarm was felt by distillers, more especially as the treaty fixed the amount of the surtax at 2d. per gallon, whichthe distillers considered wholly inadequate as a compensation for the peculiar disabilities under which they carry on their manufacture. The surtax named in the treaty was the same in amount as that charged by the Act 11 and 12 Vict., cap. 60, on co lonial spirits. Originally, however, the differential duty on such spirits was ls. 6d. per gallon, ls. 4d. being on account of Excise restrictions on home-made spirits. This diffe rence was gradually reduced ; first by an increase of the duty on British spirits in 1841, and afterwards by reduc tions in the duty en colonial spirits. The last reduction was made in pursuance of a recom mendation by a committee of the House of Commons on sugar and coffee planting in 1848 ; but it is only fair to the distillers in this country to state that it was in opposition to their views, and to the estimates which they submitted to the committee. The encouragement thus given to colonial spirits was not, however, followed by any injury to the home distillers, whose acquiescence, indeed, in the measure is to be attri buted to their knowledge, that the consequences to them wore not to be apprehended. For it must be borne in mind, that over and above the differential duty of 2d. per gallon the importers of colonial spirits had to bear the expense of a very long voyage; and that rum, the only spirit imported from the colonies, is not of a kind suited to the general de mand, and does not, in fact, enter into competition with British corn spirit, the basis for the manufacture of gin. With regard to spirits made on the Continent, the case is very different. Besides the spirit distilled from wine, which, on account of its flavour, has a high value, large quantities of spirits are made in Germany, Holland, and Belgium, from materials similar to those used in this country. But the rates of duty chargeable abroad are very considerably lower than in the United Kingdom, and the fiscal restric tions under which the manufacture is conducted are conse quently of little moment. The cost, too, of transport from the neighbouring districts of the Continent is not greater than that between many places in the United Kingdom. Immediately, therefore, on the treaty becoming known, deputations of distillers from the several parts of the United Kingdom waited upon the Chancellor of the Exche quer, and upon this Board, in order to explain their case, and to obtain a proper adjustment of the duties. We must do these gentlemen the justice to say that no thing could be more fair and reasonable than the mode in which they conducted the discussions which ensued. We were obliged to admit that the regulations of this department alone increased the cost of manufacture of spirits by a sum of not less than 51d. per gallon. There was also a claim on the part of the distillers to be compen sated for certain advantages given to foreign spirits by the mode in which the duty is calculated by the officers of Customs, which was reckoned at 4d. per gallon in favour of the importer. The full claim of the distillers, therefore, would not have been met by a smaller differential duty than 91d. In obedience to the directions which we received, we im mediately addressed ourselves to the revision of our regu lations, in order so to modify them as to reduce their re strictive operation upon the manufacturer to the lowest point, and we finally agreed to make the following changes in the law--viz.:— To abolish the prohibitions— Against grinding malt with stones : Against the use and sale by the distiller of yeast pro duced at his distillery : Against the continnoM running of common stills. To give up the annual balance account. To make a larger allowance for waste in warehouse, and to give greater facilities for obtaining remission of duty on spirits lost by accident. To remove pertain restrictions which increased the ex pense of making malt for distillery purposes. By making these concessions, we considered the Excise restrictions on the manufacture of spirits reducible to an amount represented in money by 2d. per gallon in the case of p l a in spirits, and 3d. in that of rectified or compounded spirits. The distillers and-rectifiers having established these facts, naturally considered that they had a claim to some allow ance on exporting their spirits, in order that they might compete with foreign distillers in colonial and other mar kets. Allowances to the extent of 2 d. p er g allo n on plain Spirits, and 3d. on compounded spirits, when =Ported, were con seVentlY granted, by a resolution of the House of Commons on the sth of March ; and in order to protect the revenue from any diminution by this concession, an additional duty of ld. per gallon was imposed on all spirits distilled in the United Kingdom. In this report there can be no doubt that the Chancellor of the Exchequer made a bargain highly favourable to the revenue, while the exporters of spirits were placed upon a very satisfactory footing. The alterations in the existing laws which we agreed to recommend, together with others w hi ch have subsequently been considered admissible, have been embodied in a solidated Distillery Bill, which prepara tion, and to which reference was made in a former report. The increased consumption during the past year has been nearly uniform throughout the United Kingdom, although, as might be expected, it has been more marked in England. In Scotland and Ireland the rapid Aso in the rate of duty chargeable had at first the effect of diminishing the con eamption very considerably. In Scotland, in 1852, when the duty was 38. Bd. per gallon, the consumption was 7,172,987 gallons ; in 1858, when the duty was Bs., it had fallen to 5,301,056. In Ireland, in 1852, with a duty of 2s. Bd., the consumption was 8,208,256; in 1858 it had fallen under the Bs. duty to 5 ,636,912. These are the lowest points reached, and as an improvement has now commenced there is every reason to expect that it will be maintained in future years. The mode of ascertaining the quantities of spirits actually consumed in the several ports of the United Kingdom, as described in the report for last year, although not required for the purposes of the revenue, has appeared to afford in formatiori of a valuable kind, and means have, therefore, been tam to extend it backwards to 1854, and to continue it in future years. The accounts up to the present time will be found in th e app en di x . The experiments upon a patent mode of distilling from rice, adyerted to in a former report, are still continued. The alterations about to be made in the distillery laws will remove any legal obstacles to the general adoption of this process, should it be found to answer. In connexion with spirits it is important to notice the state of the country as regards illicit distillation. The re ports of the local officers during the past year have been generally of a highly favourable character ; and it is evident that in those districts in which the illegal practice is not wholly extinct it is so efficiently repressed that it has no appreciable influence injurious to the revenue or to the morals of the community. The following le an abstract of the detections made in Great Britain last year, compared with those made in the previous year : Enzland. Scotland. --- —— - --------- -. ;-, ,i g 7.., . E 3 ..,*, 'E -.5 a = MO t) g .2 - .9 , 4 ' m 4 MCC '2 o o - r, ...o ,T., :::.,. ..- -t; .0 o 0 1o Po `cl 7: E 8 fii - 1 1 4 r..) P .O ..---.- -----i.----- ---__ ....______ 1850 195 i 189 171 128 37 26 26 17 IARA 19R 112 103 ! 78 .). „ „ 1850 1869 195 I 189 126 112 25 l7 17 5 In Ireland the duty of repressing illicit trading continues to be satisfactorily performed by the constabulary. Year ended Year ended Xarch 31, 1859. March 31, 1860. Number of proof g9.llons of spirits mixed with naphtha 336,410 4,0 X2O Number of licensed makers of methylated spirits , 34 34 Number of persons authorised; to use methylated spirits 1 710 735 We are informed that methylated spirit has lately been 1 much used by dyers, to produce some of the bright colours I which have been in fashion for ladies' dress. It seems that the French have long been in the habit of using alcohol in dyeing, but in this country the high duty on spirits acted as a complete prohibition against the application of them to such a purpose, and enable the French to maintain an un doubted superiority. Of the 12 experimental distilleries originally allowed to be erected to distil from roots under " Leplay's patent," four only have worked during the season just ended, and the proprietors of one of these have since become bankrupt. The distillery under " Champonois's patent" has not worked this season. The quantity of roots distilled is 3,008 tons, which have produced 33,135 gallons of spirits at proof, giving an ave rage of n early 11 gallons per ton. Three of these distilleries were intended to distil 20 tons of roots per day, but they have averaged only 45, 39, and 34 per week. The other distillery erected to distil 10 tons per day has averaged 36 tons per week only. Duty has been paid on 4,076 gallons of spirits this season ; 12,427 gallons have been methylated, and 19,059 gallons remain in the distillers' own duty-free warehouses. The quality of the spirits produced is much improved, as compared with the first spiritS obtained by this process. Two of the gentlemen working these distilleries have jointly taken a rectifier's licence, to enable them to convert the spirits into British brandy and compounds, and are en deavouriug to establish a trade in London. BRITISH SPIRITS EXPORTED IN THE YEARS ENDED THE 31ST OF MARCH, 1859 AND 1860. 1858-59. 1859-60. Gallons. Gallons. 11,032 622,800 .. 499,235 429,702 .. 800,739 1,001,732 To France.. • • To Australia .. To other countries Total 1,311,006 2,054,234 MALT. NUMBER. OF BUSHELS OF MALT CHARGED WITH DUTY IN THE YEARS ENDING THE 31ST OF MARCH, 1859 AND 1860:- Year ending the 31st March, 1859 Ditto ditto 1860 Number of bushels, 42,794,044 44,565,038 During the last year a larger quantity has been brought to charge than in any year since the duty was imposed, now 163 years ago. The increase in the quantity of malt made has been progressive since 1855, and it is the more remarkable, as since that year the account has been dimi nished by about 3,000,000 bushels used by distillers, and which is now made duty-free under special regulations for the purpose of distillation. This satisfactory growth of the revenue derived from malt is, no doubt, chiefly due to the uniformly prosperous con dition of the country for several years past, but there are other causes which have greatly assisted in this develop ment of the malt trade. The increase in the spirit duties in Scotland and Ireland is well known to have caused a con siderable augmentation in the consumption of beer in those countries, while the free importation of foreign barley and the improved quality of that article have enabled maltsters to meet the demands of the brewers. The importation of wines at the reduced rates of duty, which will come into operation early in the following year, may possibly affect the consumption of malt liquors ; but considering the perfection to which the manufacture of ale has been carried in this country, and the moderate charge at which it is generally sold, there is more reason to appre hend that the wine will be substituted for spirits than for beer. For many years maltsters have had the privilege of ob taining credit for the payment of their duties for a period of 18 weeks beyond the ordinary time of payment, on giving bond with sufficient sureties. By reducing the period of credit last year to 12 weeks a sum of nearly £857,000 was added to the receipts of the year, and an advance was made towards the abolition of a mode of collection which had long been considered objectionable both in theory and practice. To prevent as much as possible this alteration proving em barrassing to maltsters, discount at the rate of 4 per cent. per annum was allowed on the anticipated payments. A still further reduction in the period of credit forms part of the financial scheme of the present year; but as maltsters have had ample warning of the proposed change discount will not be allowed. _ _ The importation of malt from foreign countries has hitherto been prohibited ; but as grain of all sorts is now admitted at a nominal duty, it has been suggested that malt should also be admitted on payment of the malt and grain duty, together with a proper equivalent for the Excise re strictions under which the home manufacturer carries on his operations. The matter is now before Parliament. We have also had under consideration the important question of allowing the exportation of malt on drawback. As the law stands, a maltster must make his election to make malt for exportation only, or for home use only ; but the exigencies of trade and the fluctuations of markets seem to render it desirable that the maltster should be at liberty to send his article, at any time, to the best market. There are points of minor importance in the regulations affecting masters, such as the time which the grain is required to remain in couch-frame for the purpose of being ganged, and the time at which it may be watered upon the floor, respecting which it is proposed to make some con cessions in the act for shortening the malt credit which will probably be passed during the present session. BEER EkPORTED. Number of barrels of bear exported, and amount of draw back paid thereon, in the years ending 31st March, 1859 and 1860. Number of Amount of Barrels of Beer Drawback on Exported. Beer Paid. Year ending March 31, 1859.. 562,793 .. £176,183 1 2 Ditto ditto 1860.. 631,363 .. 202,358 10 5 Hors. Number of Number of Amount Acres under lbs. charged with of Duty. Cultivation. Duty. In the year 1858.... 47,601 .. 53,125,101 .. £464,842 „ 1859.... 45,665 .. 68,496,958 .. 599,346 This is the fifth year in succession remarkable for the large produce of hops. The yearly average quality grown in 10 years ending 1854 was not quite 36,000,0001 b., while for the last five years the average annual produce amounts to 61,000,0001 b., although upwards of 12,000 acres of ground have been taken out of cultivation for hops since the year 1855. The consequence of this large produce has been a depression in price, and a considerable agitation for repeal of the duty. With the sanction of the Treasury the payments due in May and November, 1859, were allowed to be deferied, and to be made, as in the preceding year, by four quarterly in stalments, or, if preferred, by two equal instalments, the first payment being postponed till November, and the re mainder till February, on security being given by a joint promissory note of the planter and one surety, such note bearing interest at 4 per cent. Oat of 6,300 hop planters 773 only availed themselves of the privilege of postponing the payment of the first moiety of the duty, their ptomissory notes amounting to the sum of £42,691. Of these 479 entered into further security, and postponed the payment of the last moiety of their duty un til February. The quantity of British grown hops exported last year was only 545,3831 b., whereas the quantity exported in the previods year was 4,177,2511 b. In the present year some relaxation, also, has been granted in the payment of the hop duty. The growers were allowed to pay one -h a lf o f the moiety of the duty due on the 16th May last, on their giving security for payment of the other half on the 16th August, with interest at 5 per cont. Few, however, of the growers have availed themselves of this privilege, as out of the sum of £299,673 (the amount of the moiety due in May) £275,232 has been paid, leaving only £24,44 1 outstanding, and for which security has been given. STAMPS, GROSS RECEIPT IN THE YEARS EN DED M ARCH 31 , 1859 AND 1860. instruments 4 1 ' 1 '4, ............ 81:234627:384725 1,397,966 Years ended. Deeds and otherr s Mar. 31, 1859. Mar. 31, 1860. Z X 8,n2,749 Bills of exchange notes . 475,185 521,330 ... —.... ....... ... 6 .... and promissory Bankers" uot' es 6,669 5,360 Composition for bankers' bills and notes ..... . ........ 61,104 67,459 Receipts and dri e i;i s ......... . 443,574 411,435 an te d at l am ette en rs ta o r f y Probates of wills ad ministration and in ventories Legacy and succest ion tax 2,211,8 22 2, 130 , 0 2 0 Fire insurances ........ . Marine insurances Patent me dicines Cards and dice Probate Court stamps Licences and certificates.........,, 218,500 220,458 Gold and silver plate duty 67,721 74,153 Newspapers 151,190 147,24 9 cery Fund (Ireland) Law, Equity, Exchequer, and Clian -36,236 34,657 Admiralty stamps ............. Divorce and: matrimonial causes stamps 2,221 2,557 The recent Stamp Act, besides alierations and extensions of existing duties, contains several duties which a re en tirely new. The alterations in existing duties are as fol low : Personal property passing by will under a general power of appointment is made liable to duty. Money secured on heritable property in Scotland, or by Scotch bonds, in favour of heirs and assignees, excluding executers, is also made subject to the above-named duties. We explained fully, in our last annual report, the pro priety of making Scotch mortgages liable to duty on the death of the mortgagee, in the same way that English mortgages are. The stamp duty of 2s. 6d. upon agreements did not here tofore extend to matters below the value of £2O ; but the duty has now been reduced to 6d., and agreements are made liable to it if the value be £5 or upwards ; but where the value is under £2O the penalty for stamping an agreement of this kind, after 14 days from its date, is 205., instead of £lO. The amount of duty heretofore payable for an agyeement for a lease for any term not exceeding seven years and that payable for the lease itself bave been transposed. Instru• THE SUN,-- LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 7, 1860. ments chargeable only with 2s. 6d. as agreements were used to supply the place of leases, which if made would be liable to higher duties. To protect the revenue from the loss the above alteration was effected, an agreement for a lease being now required to be stamped with ad valorem duty as a lease, the lease itself, if it should at any time be made, being chargeable only with the duty of 2s. 6d. If, how ever, a lease so stamped be required for the sake of evidence, a denoting stamp, testifying the payment of the full and proper duty on the agreement, will be impressed thereon. The duty of £2 ss. upon a bill of exchange for any sum of money exceeding £4,000 has been repealed, and in lieu thereof an ad valorem duty of 10s. for every £l,OOO or frac tional part of £l,OOO, has been imposed upon bills exceeding £4,000. A similar relative alteration has been made in the duty upon a foreign bill drawn in a set of three or more, each bill of a set being now liable to the duty of 3s. 4d. We have not thought it necessary to provide a separate and distanct stamp for every possible amount for which a bill may be drawn above £4,000, it being immaterial who ther the requisite amount be designated by one stamp only or any number of stamps. A foreign bill of exchange, draught, or order, payable on demand, drawn out of the United Kingdom, has been made liable to the same rate of duty as a bill of exchange payable otherwise than on demand. _ _ ; Draughts on bankers, payable on demand to self, and pre rented by the drawer or his servants, were considered ex empt from stamp duty. No good reason could be assigned for such an exemption, and it gave rise to difficulties in practice. It has now been repealed, and with it the exemp tion of letters sent to bankers by post, ordering the remit tance or appropriation of money, has been swept away. It is not material what shape the order assumes, or in what words it is framed. A letter to a banker requesting him to send money to the writer, whether in cash or by a bank post bill, or in any other way, or directing him to pro vide for payments at any place, in discharge of acceptances or otherwise, must, as well as instructions in any other form to make or advise payments, be stamped ; in short, any writing by which a banker is authorised to debit the custo mer's account is within the scope of the act. But a letter from abroad, sent to a banker here, directing him to remit or appropriate money, is not chargeable, inasmuch as a bill, draught, or order drawn abroad is only liable to a stamp when it is negotiated or presented for payment, and an order sent to a banker without the intervention of a third person is neither negotiated nor presented for payment. Whereon adhesive stamp is used for a draught or order it. must be cancelled or obliterated by the drawer, as required by the 16th and 17th Vic., cap .59, by writing upon it his name or initials, under a penalty of £lO ; and by the recent act the banker is enjoined, under a penalty of £2O, further to obli terate the stamp by writing or impressing upon it the word 6, paid." The stamp duty upon a letter or power of attorney for the sale, transfer, or acceptance of any of the Government or Parliamentary stocks not exceeding in value £2O, or for the receipt of any sum of money or check for any sum not exceeding £2O, or for the dividends or interests for any such stocks or funds, or any other periodical payments not ex ceeding the annual sum of £lO, is reduced from £1 or £1 10s. to ss. The following are the new duties : A duty of Id. is imposed upon every certified copy or ex tract from any register of births, baptisms, marriages, deaths, or burials. This duty is to be paid by the person re quiring the document. The duty attaches only to a certified copy or extract from the registries, and not to the marriage certificate itself, to which a duty of ss. attaches under pre vious Stamp Acts. Any document authorising the purser or other officer of a mining company conducted on the cost-book system to re gister any transfer of any share or shares, or any note of such transfer, is liable to a duty of 6d. Declaration, the same duty as would be chargeable on an affidavit of the same nature. The duty of ld. is imposed on every document authorising the delivery upon a sale or transfer of goods of the value of 4s. or upwards, provided such goods bo in a dock or port, or in a warehouse in which goods are stored for rent or hire. Two things are to be particularly noticed, viz., the order must be made on sale or transfer of the goods, and the goods must be lying in a dock, or port, or warehouse in which goods are stored or deposited on rent or hire, or upon a wharf— that is, the order must be given by the owner of the goods, or his broker or agent, to deliver them to a purchaser, the goods being in the custody of a dock company, or a ware house-keeper or wharfinger, or on board ship in port. Where, therefore, the owner of the goods desires to take them out for his own use, not having sold or transferred the property in them, or contracted to do so, the order to deliver them is not within the act; but if there be a sale or transfer the stamp duty attaches, notwithstanding any attempt to disguise the transaction by directing the delivery to be made to the seller himself or his servant. A recourse to any such mode of evading the duty would be, of course, fraudulent, and would subject the person adopting it to a severe penalty. Railway traffic involves the issue of numerous orders for the delivery of goods conveyed, to which the Act has no re ference. But railway companies do not trade as carriers alone ; they are also warehousekeepers ; they have, at the various stations, warehouses in which goods are deposited uu rout; and goods that may be lying in any of such ware houses are within the description of these for the delivery of which, to purchasers, stamped orders are necessary, not withstanding warehouserent may not be specifically charged by the company for the particular goods. But where the goods conveyed are not warehoused, the order for their de - livery, although upon a sale or transfer, does not require to be stamped. The foregoing remarks will apply also to canal companies. An order to the owner's servant to deliver goods out of his own warehouse is not within the contemplation of the Act. In some places a praetice prevails for the purchaser of the goods himself to sign what is, in form, an order for their delivery, but which is of no effect until it is countersigned or endorsed by the seller, or his broker or agent. This mode requires the use of one stamp, as for one order only. If an order direct the delivery of separate quantities of goods to different purchasers, it is to be treated as several orders, and stamped accordingly. The liability to the duty is not affected by any peculiarity of terms used in the order. A direction to transfer the goods, or to weigh them over, where the purchaser intends to continue them in the same custody, must be stamped as an order to deliver. A delivery order may be transferred from one to another, whether by endorsement or otherwise, without a fresh stamp, so long as the goods continue in the name of the person giving the order. In the absence of any express agreement between the psrties upon the subject, it is to be understood that the duty is to be borne by the person requiring the order ; but when an adhesive stamp is used it must be affixed by the person giving the order, who is to cancel and obliterate it by writ ing upon it the name or initials of himself, or of his firm or principal, and the date of so doing. By giving an unstamped order, or, if an adhesive stamp be used, by omitting effectually to cancel it, a penalty of £2O is incurred. And the same penalty is imposed for de livering out goods under the authority of an order not stamped. If, by reason of the goods not being of the value of 405., no stamp is used, it must be stated in the order that the value is under that sum ; and where this is in any case done the person having the custody of the goods is relieved from the liability of giving effect to an unstamped order, not withstanding the value may exceed the amount. But by untruly stating the value to be under 40s. a penalty of £2O is incurred. Any warrant or document commonly called a dock war rant, or any other writing or document which shall evi dence the title of any person therein named, or his assigns, or the holder thereof, to the property in any goods, &c., lying in any dock or warehouse, or upon any wharf, signed or certified by or on behalf of the company or person in whose custody such goods may be, is liable ta the duty of 3d. This duty is not limited to any particular form of docu ment used by dock companies, warehouse-keepers, or whatfingers, to the exclusion of others. Any documents issued by them, signifying, no matter in what terms, that the goods they have are held for such owners, are liable to the duty. It is the custom in the case of certain goods im ported (chiefly tea) to give out for the convenience of sell ing, besides the ordinary warrant, a document called a " weight note," containing all the particulars in the war rant, and adapted for the insertion of others by the broker. These cannot in reference to the contracts be distinguished from ordinary warrants ; it is therefore considered that they are strictly chargeable with the same duty. Again, where the owner of goods sells any portion, and authorises a transfer in the books of the holders into the name of the purchaser, a certificate of the transfer given to the new owner is in effect a dock warrant; for, although by a printed note it negatives the conferring of any property in the goods, it would certainly seem to evidence the title of the purchaser to them, as between himself and the com pany, which is all that the original Ntrarrant does. A transfer of a warrant, by endorsement or otherwise, is not liable to the duty. Nor are warrants dated prior to the act. The stamp, if adhesive, - must be cancelled in the same manner as that on a delivery order. No provision is 'made as to the party by whom the duty is to be paid, but this charge seems necessarily to lie on the person requiring the warrant. PROBATE, LEGACY, AND SUCCESSION DUTY. An account of the amount of Probate Duty and Legacy and Successi - n Duty received in the years ended the 31st o March, 1859 and 1860. Yea; 2,211,8191, 1859. March 31, 1860, ended 1 1 - e 6o a_r l e : ti n d s ed M Probates of wills and letters of arch 3 administration 1,338,088 1,333,206 Legacy dutyl, 5 0 8 245 Succession duty 3,519,907 3,463,226 We have succeeded in obtaining separate accounts of the produoe of legacy duty and succession duty for the last year. For all practical purposes we believe that the figures are sufficiently accurate, though no doubt there are instances in which one or other of the duties has been carried to the w rcng account. This occurs chiefly in the case of leasehold property, which, for the purposes of the Succession Duty Act, is to be deemed real estate. As it still remains per sonalty for orher purposes, and is distributable as such, it is not surprising that it should be more generally included in the account of personal property, and brought under the operation of the legacy duty, than under that of succession duty. The whole amount of error in the classification pro bably does not exceed £lO,OOO. There is a class of cases whieh tend to augment legacy duty and to diminish succession duty, in a different way. There are cases in which bonds and other engagements have been entered into for payment of money at death. Before such engagements were liable to duty, that is, before the passing of the Succession Duty Act, they were treated as debts due from the estate of the deceased, and the amount was deducted from the residue on which duty was payable. But as a claim to make such a deduction would now have the effect of raising a charge for succession duty, it is be lieved that the transaction is frequently kept out of the ac counts altogether, and unless it be alluded to in the will we have no means of knowing its existence. There is of course no impropriety in this, nor does it affect the revenue. A question on the Succession Duty Act of some interest in reference to the peculiar law of Scotland on the subject of entails has recently been determined by the House of Lords on appeal from the Court of Session, establishing the uniformity of the application of the Act in the same re lative circumstances, throughout the kingdom, whatever variance there might happen to be in the general law relat ing to the succession of property in the different parts of it, and however inappropriate the free and popular style of the act might appear to be to the legal technicalities of any par ticular division of tho kingdom. The case alluded to is that of Lord Saltoun and the Lord ' Advocate-General. The majority of the judges in Scotland, on an appeal from the judgment of the Lord Ordinary, determined that the substitute nomination in a deed of entail, who acquired the settled property on the death without issue of the institute to whom, and to the heirs of whose body, it was given, de rived the property as a succession from the institute as the predecessor, and not from the entailer, and was therefore liable to duty according to the degree of relationship to him. Lady Saltoun, in 184 i, settled real estate in Scotland on her eldest son, the late Lord Saltoun, and the heirs of his body, who failing, on aer grandson, the present Lord Sal toun, and the heirs oflis body. The late Lord Sanwa, the institute, dying without issue in 1854,the present Lord Saltoun, the substitute nomination, acquired the property in possession, and though thus named inthe deed as a new stirps, he was, according to the law of Scotland, obliged to make up title as heir of tailzie and pro vision to his uncle, and, having regard to the peculiarities of the Scotch law of entails, the majority of the judges be low were of opinion that his uncle was the predecessor. On appeal to the House of Lords their lordships reversed this judgment, holding that the maker of the settlement was the person from whom the interest of the successor was de rived within the meaning of the statute, and not the uncle, to whom, in the language of Scotch feudal law, he was served heir. The Act 22d and 23d Viet., cap. 36, sec. 1, has intro duced a graduated scale of probate duty when the value of personal estate exceeds £1,000,000. The number of in stances in which probates have been granted for property upwards of £1,000,000 in value since the year 1815, when the scale of duties now in force was introduced, is not con siderable, and though the amount of duty lost by reason of the scale not ranging higher than a million has not been large enough to have materially affected the revenue, yet, apart from the reasonableness and justice of making these large estates, though few in number, pay the proportionate ad valorem duty, the rapid increase of the value of personal estate acquired by the expansion of trade and enterprise in modern times rendered it very proper that this extension of the scale of charges should be made. The number of pro bate stamps of the " upper value" which have been issued since 1815 is twelve. From 1815 to 1825 none were re • quired. From 1825 to 1855 there were issued eight ; and since 1855—that is, in four years and a half—four have been issued, the last of them being in June, 1859, just be fore the passing of the Act which extended the scale. The case of " The Attorney-General v. Brenning" has established as law a point upon which our legal advisers had always insisted, but as to which no opportunity of ob taining a judicial decision had previously arisen. The ques tion was, whether the purchase money of lands contracted to be sold, but not conveyed in the lifetime of the vender, was to be deemed part of his personal estate at his death for which probate duty was payable. Mr. Hope contracted with a trustee for a lady whe was a ward in Chancery to sell to her certain real property for £115,000. The contract was approved by the Court, but Mr. Hope died before it was carried out, and while he was in possession of the land, and while the purchase money (except a deposit) remained unpaid. The Court of Exchequer held, upon somewhat technical grounds, that the purchase money, or the right to acquire it, was not part of the estate and effects of the deceased for which probate was granted; but on appeal to the House of Lords the judgment was reversed, their lordships being of opinion that the right to enforce the contract being in the executor, virtute ()flea, the purchase money was legal assets of the deceased, but that, whether it was legal or equitable assets, it should have been included in the estimate made of the value of his estate and effects on applying for probate. LAND AND ASSESSED TAXES. Giwss RECEIPT, 1858-9 AND 1859-60. Year ended Year ended 31st March, 1859. 31st March, 1860. Land-tax £1,135,677 £1,141,486 Inhabited houses 761 941 796,910 Servants Carriages 306,761 Horses 348,436 398,297 319,334 358,686 Dogs Horse dealers Hair powder Armorial bearings Game duty Additional 10 per cent. per Act 3d Viet., cap. 17 191,769 13,757 1,193 53,583 139,242 193,671 14,139 1,191 55,411 145,971 Gross receipts £3,163,051 £3,241,107 We have no observation to make with regard to the pro duce of those duties in the last financial year, as compared with the preceding; there is a trifling increase under each head, but it is not sufficiently large to call for any special observation. Some remarks, however, upon the present system of assessment and collection will be found in a later part of our report. PROPERTY AND INCOME-TAX. GROSS RECEIPT. . Year ended Year ended 31st March, 1859. 31st March, 1860. Schedule A „ B 91 C • • • 741,087 1,040,775 „ D If B Gross receipts £13,812,232 £9,789,483 The income tax for the year 1859-60 was 9d. in the pound. The original rate,—that is, the rate fixed by law,,previous to the financial measures of last year, was 5d., but an addi tion of 4d. was made by an Act passed in August, with a proviso that the whole of that addition should be collected on the payment of the first moiety of the tax. The assessments for the past year have not yet been re ceived by us. Your lordships are aware that they remain in the hands of the local commissioners. In the year ended sth April, 1859, the annual value of pro • perty assessed ender Schedule A amounts to £137,667,000, and exhibits, in comparison with the assessment under that schedule for the year ended 6th April, 1858, an increase of £1,053,000. This increase arises from an additional number of houses having been brought into assessment, and from improved returns under the heads of railways and mines. In England the improvement amounts to £945,000, and appears principally to have arisen in, the following coun ties : SCHEDULE A. Assessment in Assessment In 1857-58. 1858-59. Increase. £ £ 2,612,000 .. 2,632,000 .. 20,000 1,408,000 .. 1,421,000 .. 13,000 1,197,000 .. 1,214,C00 .. 17,000 2,396,000 .. 2,467,000 .. 71,000 2,252,000 .. 2,313,000 .. 61,000 1,991,000 .. 2,016,000 .. 22,000 835,000 .. 871,000 .. 36,000 3,439,000 '.. 3,459,000 .. 20,000 11,104,000 .. 11,365,000 .. 261,000 3,171,000 .. 3,189,000 .. 18,000 17,223,000 .. 17,466,000 .. 213,000 2,619,000 .. 2,630,000 11,000 3,129,900 .. 3,149,000 .. 20,000 3,532,000 .. 3,556,000 .. 24,000 2,011,000 .. 2,029,000 .. 18,060 1,611,000 1,637,000 . 26,000 9,386,000 .. 9,464,000 78,000 Counties. Chester Cornwall Cumberland Derby Durham Hants Hereford Kent Lancaster Lincoln Middlesex Norfolk Somerset Stafford Sussex Worcester York The improvement in the assessment under Schedule A in Scotland for 1858-9, over that for the year 1857-8, amounts to £76,000, and in Ireland the increase under the same schedule is £32,000. The assessments for the year 1858-9 under Schedule D exhibit a very slight increase over those for the year 1857-8. The profits on trade on which income tax was charged in each year was a follows :- 1857-8. 1858-9. Increase. ' Decrease. England. £73,107,000 .. £73,444,000 „ £337,000 Scotland 7,107,000 6,738,000 £327,000 Ireland.. 4,510,000 .. 4,587,000 .. 77,000 .. Total.. 84,721,000 .. 84,811,000 .. 87,000 The increase in England arises principally in the assess. ments at the undermentioned places : SCHEDULE D. Assessment Assessment Increase. in 1857-8. in 1858-9. City of London £13,688,000 .. £14,376,000 .. £688,000 31anchester Salford Leeds 1 014 000 .. 1,162,000 .. 148,000 . _ - - On the other hand considerable decreases are to be no iced in the returns from the following places, having ex ;ensive commercial operations : Assessment Assessment in 1857-8. in 1858-9. Decrease. Liverpool £5,310,000 .. £4,976,000 .. £3:14,000 llull - - - Newcastle 924,000 .. 847,000 .. 97,000 898'060 79, 000 Wakefield 718:000 .. 66:66 2'2:40 If we are to judge from the eases which occasionally come under our notice, the amount of evasion of the duty undcr Schedule D must be very considerable. We may remind your lordships of one instance which we had occasion to mention in a report during the last year, the magnitude of which appeared very remarkable; the returns of the persons liable for the profits of their partnerships having been for many years about £6,500, and the amount really charge able, and on which duty was ultimately paid, being about £32,000 per annum. In this case, too, there was no room for the excuse which is often made, that the acquiescence of the detected persons in an enormously increased charge was extorted from them on account of their reluctance to ex-, hibit their accounts to the commissioners, the actual profits having been ascertained by our officers from inspection of the books of the firm, and with their voluntary assistary ce. We regret that no proceedings for penalties were inst:, tuted against these offenders. The officers who discova red that some evasion of the duty had taken place thou v:,tit it more important to obtain payment of the deficifincy than to punish and expose the delinquents, and luvd agreed with them before we heard of the case, that, ha consideration of a full disclosure of their accounts, there should be no prose ; cution. We should not have taken this view of the sub ject, although the amount of duty recovered was consider able, and could not have been obtained by resort to legal proceedings ; bnt we did not feel justified, aft , ,3r what had passed, in suing for penalties. In our second and third reports we stated that, in our opinion, it would be very desirable to, alter the present sys tem under which both the assessed taxes and the income tax are at present assessed and collected. For some months past our earnest attention has been specially directed to this important object. It was suggested to us that, instead of a general application of the principle of the assessment and collection by officers appointed by the Government in lieu of the present parochial officers, that system should be car ried into effect in those divisions only where the local com missioners might voluntarily desire it. It was believed that a change thus introduced would, after a time, find favour with all who had noted its working, and if not spontaneously adopted in all the districts of the kingdom, might soon, without fear of opposition, be made compulsory. But more careful examination of the plan in detail, and an attempt which we made to prepare for its execution, forced upon us the conviction that it would be so liable to failure from want of the necessary organisation in the particular locality in which we might be called upon to act, that we could not undertake the responsibility of recommending its adoption. The present distribution of our officers throughout the country not being made with reference to these new duties which they would be required to perform, we should pro bably find ourselves, when called upon to provide for the assessment and collection in a particular district, entirely without the proper instruments for the purpose, and either be obliged to resort to some imperfect temporary expedients, or incur great and unnecessary expense in forming a special establishment for that district alone. But the main objec tion to the scheme was the impossibility of working it upon any uniform system. In each district our proceedings would require to be regulated by a separate code of laws. In one we might have the means of collecting from house to house ; in another we should be obliged to exact from the tax-payer an attendance at some fixed place of collec tion; in a third we should require that attendance on cer tain fixed days to meet our collector on his rounds. Now regulations such as these must Le supported by the sanction of an Act of Parliament, and it is not easy to see how any Act could have been framed for the purpose so as to meet all the various circumstances of the different districts in which it might come to be enforced. We. therefore, have been obliged to abandon this scheme ; but, in order to ascertain how far the principle upon which we intended to proceed, of making the assessments and col. letting the duties through the instrumentality of Govern ment officers, instead of individuals appointed by the parishes, would be acceptable to the local commissioners throughout the country, we addressed a letter to the clerk of each division (a copy of which will be found in the ap pendix), giving an outline of the proposed plan, and inviting the commissioners to express their opinion of it. Answers have been received up to the present time from 550 divisions out of 693, the total number in England and Wales; and we regret to state, not only that the majority of the commissioners ardladverse to any change, but that the terms in which that adverse opinion is conveyed are so strong and decided as to lead to the conclusion that any measure of the kind would encounter the most vehement opposition in Parliament. Under these circumstances, we cannot take upon ourselves the responsibility of advising your Lordships at present to introduce the changes which we advocate, although our views on this subject have not been substantially altered by any of the representations which have been addressed to us. MISCELLANEOUS. We have sustained a great loss by the death of our secre tary, Mr. Keogh, which occurred on the Ist of April last. In announcing that event to your Lordships we dwelt at some length upon those estimable qualities which endeared him to all who knew him, and those talents and acquire ments which rendered him so useful to the public service. In reply to this, Mr. Hamilton wrote :—" The value of Mr. Keogh's services was not unknown to this department ; and my Lords cordially join in the testimony borne by you to the eminent merits of that gentleman, whose energies and ability have been so unremittingly devoted to the public during a long and honourable course of service." The office of Chief Secretary held by Mr. Keogh has not been filled. When the consolidation of the Department of Stamps and Taxes with the Excise took place it was supposed that a Chief Secretary could undertake the general management of the business of all those three branches of revenue ; and Mr. Freeling at, first for a short time, and Mr. Keogh af terwards held the office, upon the supposition that after a while this view could be carried into effect. Practically, however, it has been found impossible to carry out the con solidation to its full extent in such an office as that of Se cretary, and Mr. Keogh's time was entirely devoted to that portion of the business with which he was familiar from his previous training,—namely, that of stamps and taxes, and chiefly the former. We therefore thought it much better to abolish the place of Chief Secretary, and to substitute two joint secretaries, one for Excise and one for Stamps and Taxes, and by giving to each of them an assistant we felt convinced that we should fully and satisfactorily provide for the requirements of this great department. Your Lordships were pleased to agree to our recommen dation, and to appoint the former assistant-secretaries, Mr. Dobson and Mr. Sargent, joint secretaries, and Mr, Corbett and Mr. Charles Hay, assistant -secretaries. The vacancy in the office of Accountant and Controller- General, occasioned by the death of Mr. Lyne, has bean provided for by a somewhat similar arrangement, three chief accountants having been substituted for the one officer for merly charged with the superintendence of the accounts of Stamps, Taxes, and Excise. Consolidation of offices is accompanied with an apparent economy and simplicity which render it very attractive, but it may so easily be carried beyond the point of safety and efficiency that every experiment of this nature should be carefully watched by those who may be called upon to re peat it. Without going the length of saying that the union of offices which now constitute the Inland Revenue De partment was a measure of doubtful expediency, we cannot but think that it was at least one in which the principle of consolidation has been carried to the utmost limit consistent with safety. What is wanted in subordinate officers in a public department is intimate and accurate knowledge of the subjects on which they are engaged, and it is obvious that the best security for obtaining this is to confine the attention of such officers to a class of subjects limited in number, and homogeneous in description ; and that the more the principle of consolidation is adopted in the case of the chiefs of departments the less is is practicable with re gard to subordinates ; for the chiefs, not being able to mas ter the details of the numerous matters which then come before them, are obliged to rely entirely upon the know ledge possessed by their subordinates, and if that is not both extensive and accurate much mischief may ensue. Experience rather points to division of labour as the true principle on which public departments should be arranged. The change which we made in the last year in the system of instructing a certain number of our Excise officers in chemistry appears likely to be very satisfactory in its re sults. Your lordships are well aware of the great advantage de rived for many years past from our haling secured to our selves the means of detecting adulterations in articles sub ject to the duties of Customs and Excise by officers so care fully imbued with the necessary scientific knowledge that we could safely rely upon their conclusions. Up to last Year these officers received their in structions at the Univer sity College, at an annual cost of about £BOO. Now, how ever, that our chemical department at this office is so e cient, and that the laboratory is so spacious and complete, we consider that the training of our chemical students can be more effectually and more economically conducted under the superintendence of Mr. Phillips. We have entire confi dence in his ability for this undertaking ; but, in order that we may have the most satisfactory evidence of the acquire ments of his pupils on the completion of their course, we have made it a rule that they shill then be examined by some eminent chemist unconnected with this department. Nine officers were accordingly selected in the early part of the year IK 9 to attend in the laboratory, and when the time arrived for their examination we were so fortunate as to induce Dr. Hofman to undertake the task. It is impossible to speak too highly of the pains which that distinguished professor bestowed upon the investiga tion of the knowledge and abilities of each of the students ; and it was very gratifying to us that, after classifying them in order of merit, and pointing out that some of them had displayed a degree of proficiency which had surprised him, he was able to speak in the most favourable terms of the system of instruction which they had un dergone. We• have the honour to be, Your lordship? most obedient humble servants, CHARLES PRESSLY, C. J. HERRIES, ALFRED MONTGOMERY, HENRY ROBERTS, ALEXANDER DUFF GORDON, JAMES DISRAELI. [ADVERTISEMENT.] Pills and medicine invariably ag eravate and perpetuate diseases; their annoyance, dis appointment, and expense may be avoided by persons in indifferent health sending only their address to E. S. Barry, Esq., 77, Regent-street, W., London, and they will receive gratis and free by post the " INvarans' OWN GUIDE," or Natural Restorer, without medicine or ex pense, of perfect digestion, strong nerves, sound lungs, and refreshing sleep, to the most enfeebled, insuring the removal of indigestion (dyspepsia), constipation, liver complaints nausea, epilepsy, paralysis, debility, nervousness, palpitation, cough, asthma, emsumption, dropsy, flatulency, diarrhoea, dysentery, biliousness, fevers, sore throats, catarrhs, colds noises in the ears, rheumatism, gout, impurities, eruptions, hysteria, neuralgia, irritability, sleeplessness, acidity, palps, tation, heartburn, headache, despondency, cramps, spas m i : sinking, fits. rouchitio.—" Unquestionably the safest Guide, to health, 'Y 15,300 16,011 THE NAVY. The steam storeship Rhadamanthus, F. It. Sturdee master commanding, having discharged machinery, &c., was removed from Keyham steam yard on Wednesday, when she steamed to the Royal Wil liam Victualling yard to load provisions for the fleet at Milford. The Rhadamanthus was appointed to sail yesterday (Thursday), and would take in tow the lighter Hamoaze, also laden with provisions. The Admiralty yacht Vivid yesterday steamed down the river to Sheerness from Woolwick Dock yard, to try her machinery and to test the merits of Mr. 'Lee Stevens's patent regulating air doors, one of the numerous apparatus applied to her Majesty's ships with a view of remedying the smoke nuisance. The vessel left the offing of the dockyard at 10 a.m. and returned about ;6. The result of the trial is stated to be satisfactory as regards the consumption of smoke—a slight vapour only being perceptible from the chimney, except at the time of adding fresh fuel, when smoke was seen to issue for a few seconds only—and to leave no grounds for com plaint. It was also stated that a saving in fuel was realised, but that the speed of the vessel is somewhat impeded, which it was hoped might be prevented on a future trial, with a greater amount of caution on the part of the stokers. The atmos phere of ihe boiler room, it was stated, was consi derably improved, as a constant current of air ne cessarily passed through the perforations of the doors. Her Majesty's paddlewheel steam sloop Spiteful, commissioned at Woolwich by Commander Wilson, is in a forward state for service, and has received a portion of her stores •for sea. The whole of the officers have been appointed. Lieut. Croke, Lieut. Lake, and Surg. Gray have joined the commander at Woolwich. In consequence of the extraordinary lack of seamen at the present moment, not a single petty officer or man has joined, a circumstance ac counted for by the fact of large numbers of our men having gone over, after being paid off from our ships of war, to the American service, on account of the superior rate of pay. The new screw steam gun vessel Landrail, at Woolwich, is still open for commission, Commander Field, recently appointed and gazetted to that ship, having obtained the permission of the Admiralty to resign the appointment. The Sirius, targetship, will be moved from along side Portsmouth Dockyard to-day, and placed up Porchester Lake for shot practice on the three tar gets fixed on her side. The Ariel, 9, screw, Commander Alexander, re ceived her masts under the shears in Portsmouth Dockyard yesterday. Lower and topmasts, with their standing rigging fitted on, were shipped at one and the same time. The Cygnet, 5, threemasted screw schooner, yes terday made her official trial of speed at the mea sured mile in Stokes Bay, in charge of Commander Thorp, of her Majesty's ship Asia, and under the supervision, in her engineering department, of Mr. Murdoch, inspector of machinery afloat at Ports mouth: The vessel was tried at both full and half power. Her draught of water was—forward, 7 feet 3 inches ; aft, 11 feet. The mean revolutions of her engines were 110, with a pressure of steam of 20; vacuum, 26. The average of the runs at full power gave a speed in knots of 111, full. At half power she realised 82- knots. Her engines are of 80-horse power nominal, by Messrs. Napier, of Glasgow. This is the eleventh vessel of the same class and power which has been fitted with machi nery by Messrs. Napier, and is said to be the most successful of the whole. The trial was very satis factory to all concerned. The screw steam.sloop Hornet, 17, from Ports mouth, bound for the West Coast of Africa, arrived in Plymouth Sound on Wednesday afternoon, and saluted the flag of the Port Admiral. - Commander J. Brown, of the Devonport Dock yard, from London, returned to his duties on Wed nesday. This officer has to act for the Admiral Superintendent during Sir Thomas Pasley's absence. TEE ARMY. The whole of the available troops in Portsmouth garrison, including the Royal Marine Light Infan try from Forton, were brigaded yesterday on Southsea-common by Major-Gen. Lord W. Paulet, C A B., commanding the South-West District. The military and naval invalids on board the Megoara, screw transport, disembarked yesterday alongside Portsmouth Dockyard. The military were taken charge of by the authorities and for warded on to their destination, and the naval were sent on board her Majesty's ship Victory and to Haslar Hospital. Capt: Schultz and the officers of his Danish Ma jesty's corvette Heindal were yesterday and the day previous engaged in visiting the dockyard, Royal Clarence Victualling-yard, the gunboat-yard at Haslar, the shipping in the harbour, and other points of interest at Portsmouth. Last evening Capt. Schultz and his officers were entertained by Admiral H. W. Bruce at the Admiralty-house in the dockyard. This morning the Heindal sails from Spithead for Brest and the Mediterranean. The preparations for the destruction of the large cliff at Cuxton by the Sappers and Miners of the Royal Engineers having been completed, the at tempt was made yesterday afternoon to remove it by several immense charges of gunpowder. The operations for igniting the powder were at first totally unsuccessful, and continued so, in spite of all that could be done, for more than two hours. Not discouraged by repeated failures, the officers and men of the Royal Engineers continued their attempts to explode the charges, which after some time they succeeded in accomplishing, and a consi derable portion of the cliff, estimated at several thousand tons, was blown down. The several gal leries were fired by means of the voltaic battery, which, at the commencement of the operations, was fixed about a quarter of a mile from the mines. Subsequently, however, the battery was removed to within about 50 yards of the shafts, and at this distance the several charges were successfully ignited, and the galleries in the large shaft being exploded first, and in about a quarter of an hour afterwards those in the second shaft, the effects of the explosions were very grand. The Earl of Darnley, General Eyre, General Sandham, and a number of other officers were present at the blow ing up of the cliff, having remained until the ex plosions were effected. - The following appointments were made yester day at the Admiralty :—Lieut. C. G. M'Grigor, to the Formidable; William Barrett, master, to the Sanspareil; and John Snell, second-class assistant engineer, to the Colossus. HOUSE DUTY AND THE REFRESHMENT ACT. -- A meeting of a few of the committee of the Coffee and Eat ing-housekeeper's Association, held by solicitation of some members of the trade, took place the other evening to con sider the best means of getting relief from the unjust and obnoxious tax that is imposed on the trade by bang charged ninepence in the pound, when all other trades are only charged sixpence. A few years ago the tax was resisted by a few of the trade, but being unsuccessful the tax has ever since been paid. The new Refreshment Act now coming in force has raised a stir in the trade, and they con sider now, if obliged to take a license to carry on their trade, they are certainly exempt from paying the extra 3d. in the pound on the house duty. The Act of Parliament expressly says, where any person in trade exposes to sale goods, wares, or merchandise in any shop or warehouse, and on the ground or basement thereof. Now, coffee and eating-house keepers do expose their goods for sale, and carry their trade on tho ground floor or basement thereof. A letter was read by one of the members present which he had received from the Chancellor of the Exchequer in answer from one he sent, that unless a wine licence was taken the coffee and eating-housekeepers were still liable to the ninepence in the pound. This meeting being merely a preliminary one, to consider the matter, it was the unanimous opinion that the whole of the trade should in a short time be called together. Amongst those present were Mr. R. Lockyer, president; Mr. Hay, vice-president; Mr. Sherwood, treasurer ; Mr. Rogers, secretary ; Messrs. Eldred, Law son, and Harding, past presidents ' • Messrs. Vialls, Pitt, Mayell, Beanham, B an k s , Hamson, Langston, &c., Szc. [ADVERTISEMENT.]—The possibility of abandoning medicine altogether is shown by the numerous extraordinary cures without medicine of indigestion, (dyspepsia) flatu lency, constipation, nervous, bilious, and liver complaints, cough, asthma, consumption, and debility effected by D u Barry's delicious Health Restoring Revalenta 'Arabic Food; the following are not the least remarkable :—c ure No. 46,270. Mr. James Roberts, timber merchant debility, of Frim ley, of thirty yea rs di sease d l u ngs, spitting of bl ood, liver derangement, partial deafness.—Cure No. 58 , 8 16. Mrs. Holze, aged 107 years, of dyspepsia (indigesti on ) irritability and nervousness which had tormented her for seventy years.—Cure No. 46,814. Mr. Samuel Laxton; Leicester, of two years diarrhcoa.---Cure No. 180. " Twenty-five years nervousness, constipation, indi gestion, i e a r n y d , an d d eb w il h it i y ch , n fr o om med w ic h in ih lieve, have been effectually cured by D u Barry ' s Foo d in a ecould remove or re very short time. W. B. Reeves, 181, Fl ee t- s t re et, London." A void Pills and Medicines : they invariably aggravate and perpetuate diseases ;a their annoyance, disappointment, and expense may be voided by using Du Barry's Fcod which, at a few pence per day, saves 50 times its cost in re moving effectually, without purging, indigestion (dyspepsia) nervous, bilious and constipation, other liver complaints and all their consequences. Certifier No. 36,418. We find it the safest remedy. Andrew Ure MD., F.R.S., Dr Harvey, Dr. Wurzer, Dr. Sh or l an d , Dr. Campell. Let i rva lid s avoid the fearful dangers of spu rious and injurious imitations offered under a variety of false pretences. Nevill's imitations are prohibited by the high Court of Chancery under a penalty of £5,000 against Alfred Hooper Nevill and his agents; and the pretences that Nevill has a patent for Arabica Food and that Du Barry's are connected with such patent are utterly false. No canister is genuine without the name Barry Du Barry and Co., 77, Regent-street, in full, on the seal and wrapper. Shopkeepers who attempt imposition in one article must expect to be distrusted in all others. Packed in tins 11b. 2s. 9d.; 21b. 4s. 6d. ; 51b. I Is. ; 121 b. 225. ; 241 b. 40s. The 121 b, and 241 b. canisters are sent carriage free on receipt of Post-office order by Barry Du Barry and Co., 77, Re gent-street, London; Fortnum Mason, and Co. ; Abbis, 60, Gracechurch-street ; 4 , Ch eaps id e ; 63 and 150 , Ox ford-street ; 330 and 451, Strand ; 49 and 60, Bishopsgate street ; Batty, 16, Finsbury Pavement ; Phillips and Co, tea-dealers; Petty, Wood, and Co., King William -street, City; at 127, Rigb, goiborn; and all grocers. WORK FURi NEXT SESSION. The Parliamentary session recently c l ose d, pro tracted as it was, does not appear to have been suf ficiently long to afford opportunities to members of the House of Commons t o b r i ng forward various subjects in which they feel an interest, and conse. quently the Notice-book of the house exhibits a rather numerous list of notices to be made " early next session," being no less than 63. in number, and referring to the most varied subjects. Mr. Scully's name stands conspicuous, that gentleman having given no less th an 11 not i ces of motion ; the sub jects intended to be mo o t e d b y hi m b e i ng the Re gistration of Title to Land, the Time of Passing the Estimates, a Committee to Inquire into Public Ex penditure and Taxation, the I r i s h Vi ce -R oya lt y , the Assimilation of Laws in England and Ireland, the Exclusion of Roman Catholics from Offices of Trust, the Exclusion of Irishmen from the Cabinet, the Deportation of Irish Paupers, and Na tional Education in Ireland. Sir F. Smith has given three notices of motion, the most important of which is for an address for a commission to inquire into the fortifications of commercial harbours. Sir J. Acton proposes to call attention to the treatment of Roman Catholics inmates of prisons and workhouses. Mr. Ayrton intends to move for a committee to in quire into local taxation and gOvernment. Mr. Black has four notices, the most important o f w hi c h refers to the inadequate provision fer measuring grain in the port of London. Sir C. Burrell, the " father of the house," p roposes t o re i n t ro d uce his bill to diminish danger i ncurred b y servants an d others employed in cleaning windows. Mr. Butt will move an address to the C rown upon the sub ject of national education in Ireland ; and Mr. Childers will ask for a select committee to inquire into the subject of transportation. Mr. Dillwyn proposes to introduce a bill to amend the law re lating to endowed schools. Mr. Dodson has placed three notices upon the paper, the chief of which is a bill to repeal the Excise duty upon hops. Sir De L. Evans will move an address to the Crown upon the subject of a fortified work upon Shooter's-hill and the defence of London. Mr. W. Ewart, moved no doubt by the immense pressure of business dur ing the late session, has given notice of resolutions to the effect th a t it i s adv i sable to consider whether the private business might not be conducted by tribunals to be appointed, subject to the reconside ration and supervision of the House ; also whether it would not be well to relegate certain matters now submitted to Private Bill Committees to municipal corporations. The hon. member further suggests that the House of Commons should be divided into committees of seven members each, as the Com mittees of Finance, of Law, &c. ; to which com mittees the bills appertaining to the several subjects shall be referred. Mr, Hubbard propotes to deal with the vexed subject of church-rates, and also to call the attention of the House to the direct taxation of the country. Sir F. Kelly intends to propose the reduc tion of the malt duty to 10s. per quarter, and in the event of that proposition being unsuccessful Mr. Cobbett intends to move for a select committee to inquire into the subject of the malt duties. Colonel Lindsay will propose an address upon the subject of grievances suffered by certain colonels in the army. Mr. Mellor will call attention to the reso lution of the House of Lords fixing a period after which no bills will be received from the Commons, except supply bills and measures of urgency, and will submit a motion u p on th e subject. Mr. A. Mills will ask for a com m itt ee t o i nquir e into our colonial military e x p en dit ure ; an d M r . M. Milnes will propose a committee t o i nqu i re i n t o th e condi tion of our diplomatic ser v i ce . M r . P o tt s will sub mit that monthly collections be made in churches for the support of the fabrics in lieu of church rates. Mr. H. Seymour has t wo no ti ces o f motion upon the subject of the Ecclesiastical Commission, and one for a select committee to inquire into the relations of the Secretary of State for India with his Council. Sir J. Shelley intends to ask leave to introduce a Bill to Amend the Gasworks Clauses Act of 1848, and another Bill to Reform the Cor poration of the City and Liberties o f Westminster. Mr. Augustus Smith will again bring forward the subject of foreshores. Mr. Warner purposes to aki point a select committee to inquire what changes it may be desirable to introduce in order to amend the representation of the people ; and Mr. Wyld will ask for leave to bring in a bill to amend law relating to the taking of votes at elections for members of Parliament. COUNTRY MARKETS. MANCHESTER-Sm. 6. English wheat to-day was at a reduction of from 2s to 3s per qr, and foreign 3d to 4d per 701bs. Flour offered at is to 2s per sack lower. Indian corn was in favour of buyers. Oats and beans at former rates. BIRMINGHAM—SEPT. 6. An inactive business was done in wheat to-day, and a less supply of English wheat offering, with irregular prices, varying from 2s to 4s lower. Barley held for quite as much money. Beans and peas less in request. MELTON MOWBRAY—SEPT. 4. There was a middling show of wheat to-day, with a fair demand, at the following quotations :—White wheat, 64A Od to 68s Od; red, 63s Od to 67s per 36 stone; barley in short supply, at 38s to 43s for malting, and 32s to 36s per qr. for grinding; oats, 30s to 36s Od per 24 stone; beans, 48s to 54s for old; new, 49s per 38 it, EDINBURGH GRAIN—SEPT. 5. Averages per Imperial quarter. Wheat on the top is 6d dewn..., average 2s Od down. Barley on the top is Od down average Oe 3d down. Oats on the top 2s Od d0wn...... average Os 4d up. Beans on the top Os 6d down average 3s 3d down. Wheat.... Barley 1 17 6 3-12ths Oats 1 13 6 5-12ths Beans Total Supply and Sales. Wheat . 599 qrs ........ Sold 305 qrs 8ar1ey..... ... 386 qrs ........ Sold 337 qrs Oats 5 27 qrs ........ Sold 454 qrs Beans 24 qrs Sold 19 qrs DERBY SMITHFIELD—SEPT. 4. There was a good supply of fat beasts to-day, with a fair attendance of buyers ; the best quality were a slow sale at no improvement in price ; inferior sorts rather a heavy sale. The supply of sheep and lambs again large, and sold well. Fat and store calves were an average show, and in request. Pigs were not so numerous, and readily disposed of. Beef ............ 7d to 7&d Veal 7d t o 74d Mutton 7ld to 84d Pork Lamb ........... 8d to Bid Rough fat, bs Od per sto ne . Hides, 3id to 4td ; calf skins, 6d to 6d. THE MAILS. MAILS DUE. Australia, Ceylon, and Mauritius (via South ampton) .. . • • • • • .. Sept. 18. Do. (via Mars e ill es ) Sept. 12. Brazil . Buenos Ayres, Monte Video, & c , e . . .. Oct. 5. Bahamas n C Verd s and Havana e• • .. (via .. Nevr York) .. .. Overdue. Canada, &c. (via Galway) .. .. .. Sept. 8. Cape of Good Hope, &c. .. .. p Oct. 1. China, Penang, and Singapore (via S'ampton) Sept. 18. Do. (via Marseilles) Sept. 12. Gibraltar (via S outhampton) .. . .. Sept. 9. I n dia (Calcutta), Ceyl on, &c. (via Southampton) Sept. 18. Do. (via Marseilles) Sept. 12. India (Bombay), (via S ou th amp t on ) .. • • Sept. 9. Do. (via Marseilles) • • Sept. 19. Lisbon .. . .. Sept. 11. Cuba and Alexic3 .. .. Sept. 13. Malta, Egypt, and Aden (via Southampton) .. S ep t . 9. Do. (via Marseilles) .. Sept. 3. Vigo, and Oporto .. • • • • • • .. Sept. 11. United States, California &e. • • • . .. S ep t. 8. Western Coast o f At r i ca ; Madeira, Teneriff e .. S ept. 10. West Indies an d P ac ifi c , Carthagena, Cuba, &c. Sept. 13. C CAPTURE OF S HARKS.—Last week one of the Portgordon boats caught a shark, measuring about nine feet in length ; and about the same time another of the formidable tribe, of about the same dimensions, was cap tured by one of the Buckie boats.—BanSshirelournal. BIRTHS. SCOTT.—On the 3d inst., at 97, Eaton-square, Lady Scott, of a son. SHAKESPEAR.--On the sth inst., at 5, Beaumont-street, Portland-place, the wife of Major Talbot Shakespear, Bengal Army, of a son. WHE arson. LE.--Cha the 4th i ns t., the Lady Catheri ne Wh e b le, of MARRIA GE S' LAMB ERT--LAMISERT.—On the 4th inst., at Brighton parish ch urc h, Frederick Wm. Lambert, E sq ., M a j or i n the Indian Army, son of Vice - Adinnal Sir Geo. Rob er t Lambert, K.C.B , of Norbiton-pla ce, Surrey, to Mary Jane, daughter of the late General Sir John Lambert, G.C.8., &c., of Weston House, Thames Ditton, Surrey. LEESON—H A RDING.-- 01 !. the sth i nst., at St. George's? Hanover-square, I ha , to Elizabeth Flora, only daughter of R. Harding, vicar of St. A nne ' s , Wa n d a . worth. R o v oe vfe . - r ma s 1 . 1 1 ao it r y j e , Captain Ralph L eeson, nephew of the n worth. . DEATHS. ,t i htte, banker,l s s t q., nl a ,r g tv. e .i aged —On the 4th inst., at Bridge House, Wickford r BREWITT. . BLAIR.— drownede6.9. in Irvine Bay, John. GEDDEs.—On the 3d inst., at Thorn Bank, Cathcart, John Geddes, Esq., aged 82. IKIN.—On the 4th inst., at Scarcroft-grange, Jno. Arthur Ikin, Esq,, town clerk of Leeds, aged 50. Blair,John B Eo r s o n : KNOTT.—On the sth inst., at Old Kent- roa d, S ampson Knott, Esq., age d 80. LAIIBART.—On the 3d inst., at Eltham, the Hon. William Lambart, son of the Earl of Cavan, aged 15. RivEns.—On the 6th inst., the Dowager Lady Rivers, aged 75. STEAD. —On the sth inst., in London, David Stead, Esq aged 81. LONDON : Printed and Published by mur,Do YOUNG, of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at The Sun JlEce, No. 112, Strand, in the Precinct of the Savoy, 1,13 the 0011417 of Ididdieuoz, Friday, septemberlf _lB6O, I I , -1.4 (:a•ro . i