The Sun. — London, England, 1852-03-30 00:00:00

FRANCE. The /ndependance of Brussels copies from the Bulletin dc Paris a long letter addressed to it by the Viscount de l'Espine, recommending an appeal to the electors of France for the proclamation of the Em pire. The Inctipendance publishes the letter, with a grave introduction, which would lead the public to believe that the communication of M. de l'Espine was a mere pilot baloon, to ascertain the direction to be given to the project which he supposes to exist. There is nothing, however, in the character of the lithographic sheet which publishes the letter of M. de l'Espine, or in the position of its author, to give to them the importance attached by the Indepen. dunce. M. de l'Espine concludes his letter as follows ; " The French nation can never comprehend the nephew of the Emperor receiving the Senate and the Legislative body at the Tuileries by the side of a vacant throne. France knows what is suffered by short govern ments. L9t the character of the votes of the 10th and . 20th December be appreciated. Let France be again consulted, and we shall see that what she wants is the Empire" The; Brussels journals state that the verdict of ac quittal in the affair of thn Bulletin Fraiisais was only adopted by a majority of r to O. BELGIUM'. The Belgian Se ate on Thursday elected the Prince de Ligne its president, by 41 vo t es t o 6, g i ven t o Count de Renesse. The budget of Belgium for 1853, which has just been distributed to the Chambers, estimates the re ceipts at 121 ,849,250 f., and the expenses at only 117,662,724 f. 41c. The war budget figures in the c xpensea for 26,787,0001. A royal decree of the King of Holland of the 24th, -pacts that the postal treaty recently concluded with Belgium shall be carried into effect. MALTA. We have letters from Malta of the 22d inst. On Wednesday, the 17th, Admiral Sir William Parker, Bart., G.C.8., left the Admiralty House, to proceed on board the Queen. At three o'clock, accompanied by some of his personal friends and his staff, he proceeded, after having partaken of a dejeuner la fourchette at the residence of Lieutenant Colonel Warde, R.A., to the Custom House, where a guard of honour, supplied by the Maltese Fencibles, was drawn up to receive him. Here also Lieutenant- General Ellice and his staff, Colonel Warde, several staff officers, the veteran Ruggiero Settimo, his secre tary, and many friends, assembled to bid farewell to the Commander-in-Chief of the naval forces. To them Sir William Parker addressed himself ex pressing the gratification he had ever experienced from the manner in which the heads of departments had seconded his views, and from the courtesies he had always met with from the public in Malta. The admiral then embarked, under a salute of 17 guna, from Fort St. Angelo, the ships in port manning their yards. At eleven A.m. on the following morn ing a signal from the Queen was made .to the ships (Spiteful steam-sloop excepted) t o striae the blue ensign and hoist the red o ne ; thus giving up the command to Rear-Admiral Dundas. An hour after, towed out by the Scourge, the Queen left port on her route to England. Sir William in the fleet was highly unpopular ; wedded to opinions of the old school, it was difficult to adapt his views to the wants of the day. In Malta he was, however, as popular as his warmest friends could desire. Ever courteous, ever hospitable, ever provideat, he had the interests of commerce warmly at heart, and his pride seemed to be to afford any as sistance at his command when circumstances called it forth. The Scourge has gone to survey Graham's Shoal, which, if report is to be depended upon, has been rising since Lord Kerr last reported upon it. She returned yesterday. The Spiteful has left port for Gibraltar, where she is reported to relieve the Janus. The Hercules troop-ship, sent out to take the place of the old Ceylon, has gone homewards, manned by a portion of the Queen's crew. She has on board seve ral invalids. The island is in a state of considerable excitement, to-day being fixed upon for the third reading of the Militia Bill in the Council. As it is proposed, the measure is unpopular, not, it is believed, from the Maltese lacking the courage to defend themselves if attacked, but on account of the provisoes to deprive them of their civil liberties and privileges if they du not go out when called on. In a word, the measure has been proposed and carried before the people knew of it, and has been badly timed. Two volunteer corps, the one a rifle, have been set on foot, and will perhaps ere long be organized. The military are being taught the use of hand grenades 4 2-5 inches, by Lieut.-Colonel Huey, 68th Light Infeniry. On Saturday night the master (Lang) of the Eng lish brig James Ray, 233 tons, arrived in port with his craw, eleven in number, in his long-boat. It appears that the brig left Trieste on the 12th instant with a carve et s isnsus. sea co tt o n roc Liverpool weather fresh, On the 19th she sprung a leak early, which gained rapidly, the crew cuestantly employed at the pumps, and all endeavours to free her were fruitless. The pumps became shortly efter choked by the grain, and the captain, finding all hopes of saving his ship gone, determined on abandoning her. Ile put into the long-boat a small quantity of water and provision, his papers and chronometer, and embarking his crew, stayed by the unlucky brig for an hour, when she went down. The accident hap pened off Mount Ems, about 175 miles distant from Malta. From the moment they embarked till in sight of the island, they saw no ship. The sailors, with the humane feeling which is often shown, would not allow a parrot to perish, but took it with them, and it is now alive in Malta. CAPTAIN STOPFORD. (From the Portsmouth limes and IVaval Gazette 0) Saturday.) We see it stated in the daily papers of yesterday that Ciptain the lion. l'ilontsgu Stopford, of the London, goes again to the Waterloo at Sheerness, as flag-captain to Vice-Admiral the Hon. J. Percy. Port-Admiral at the Nore station! Is this ahuffl) really going to be tolerated by the Duke of Northumberland? If so, wo shall begin to think that his Grace is not SO sharp-sighted as we judged him, or that a large amount of influence " from without" has been brought to undermine his Grace's better judgment. How many changes has this shore-hugging Captain rung out of the 4ating Admiralty since ho was appointed last for sea IrcNice? Let us see. Oa the 26th of July, 1850, T' Was appointed to commission the Trafalgar, 120; be f itted inf.. her out, and when she was about putting to sea a went ashore, of captain Stopford's family fell ill, and he (7:',o4tore, tra,eafering the command of her to Captain had lately paid oil another ship! Captain Greviliv who soak the Trafalgar to the Mediterranean, arid ret a i ns the of Augu.,t, command of her. On the sth appointed Captain the Honourable Montagu Stepford It.to, at SheorneVointed to commission the Waterloo, tl t tl h ti e t fitted her out for the flag of Hear- Admiral Dundas ception of the min.ra s i he was nearly ready for the re- I when the French cock began to crow and frightened' the Lards of the Admiralty, W h o substituted • the Britannia 120, at this port, for the W lest t the aterloo, of that ship should get her sidesbattered in an n clher flag salted by the overpowering French squadron in the Capt a i n M,di terra nean; thereupon So ford a Z s a (the a t flag-ship), s ferred to the Lond on, 92, at s heer_ e p while Captain Mundy went on with t h e fitting the Waterloo, to take the gag from the London; and now we are told Claptqta Stoptord is ..aboe;to , l eave the Lon don for the Waterloo, Cap tain All'"uY returning to the f ormer again! 110',v this is, without exception, one of the moat " art ful &Agra" to gain sea time at t he ex p ense of lons in_ fluentially named otlicer3 we ev er heard °- f . When Captain Stopford has served time" in th>o 'lon shore manner, it is rumoured Captain Charles E d :', 3 (anothm- lucky name in the navy), the late court eous private secretary to Sir Francis Baring , Will Slide into his berth, the senior sea Lord of the present Admiralty being a relative of the Eden family by mar riage! A pretty hash up of naval patronage truly! Can the Duke of Northumberland—a man of honour, and a sailor—be aware of this " shuffling and cutting" to wi n the game of " sea time" by the party who have so long, 'mail. the , reign of the Auckland-Baring Boards of Admiralty, appropriated to themselves and obtained for their cc:•nncxious the best berths in the service? If he is, and tolerates it, the country and the navy will be very much deceived is the character of the noble and distinguished head of the Admiralty, from whose able and impartial administration of the affairs of the service they anticipate a total regeneration of prin ciple in the distribution of that patronage which falls to his gift. PtrnLlC INCOME AND EXPENDITURE.—There was on 'hfonilay printed, by order of the House of Commons, a Parliamentary paper, showing the public income and expen diture from 1822 to 1851 inclusive. In 1822 the revenue r 4 velved into the Exchequer amounted to 54,135,743/. ; the "xl i eniliture was 49,391,2251. ; leaving a surplus of 4,744,518/. This wee the largest excess over expenditure mentioned in the period embraced by the return. In the same year taxes were repealed or reduced amounting to 2,139,1011., and no new taxes were imposed. The capital of the funded and unfunded debt was 832,811,2951. The balances is the Ex chequer at ',the close of the year were 7,797,0201. In 1851 the revenue received into the Exchequer was 52,233,006/. ; the expenditure 49,506 ,610 i .; leaving an. excess of 2,726,396/. Th e faxes repealed and reduced were 2,679,861/., including the window - tax of 1,878,80 04, and the i n h a bit e d h ouse d u ty imposed, estimated t; , 600 ,000/. The capital of the debt was 784,869,332/, awl the balances in the Exchequer at the close of the year were 8,381,63 11. In 1846 the surplus of i ncome wa s 2,846,;5 08 i. In 1847 th e d e fi c i ency o f i ncome was 2,956,684 1, an d in the foll owing year the deficiency was 796,419!. In 18 49 t ha surplus Ives 2 , 0 98,12C 1 ., and in 1851 2,578,800/. FOREIGN ~._IIII. P JUILDING.—TiIere is BRITIiii AND NEW :".. 1 A 1 I', IN at pre3ent loading in the river , ! , : i y l n e a new vessel belonging ---- •" --' to a company at Hamburgb., 6 8 was built at Sunderland e• — •..--/ -_, - ,!.. ~ . t'-'"I -" ~.,• '_ —..., . for emigration purposes, is 484 tons new measurement, was L than what would ' /,' built at 91. per ton. and 1.3 stated to have cost her owners, in I ler. build lug and fitting out, :',.' a:e been the outlay at fiambtagu , the aalPwrights on the 1,502/. less /4 i-.49l'ear being pail 4a. per day. ,1 %- J 1%.1, 1 s French packet Vl* M e... , ....., ~..A.,,,...A...., 0 : "C:3 • O ES., ...> e—, ';'' .: 4 t 1 15 771. .4 1 .2 c 1) I = El o te Ir. 5 ‹ 4•-• l'' , ... c , ...., _, 3 , „., . a.. : as &.. as cin ,1 ,t E 0 .5 cs T s .5 7, i:.• 8 " Thus taking 50,355,0371. 5s 6d. out of the p the people to put a sum of 21,28.4,761/. Bs. 9id. public treasury of the State. But the total net less cost of collection, from Customs and Excis year ending sth January, 1851, was 35,133,953/.1 representing, at the same rate of charge, an a taxation of 83 119 1634 7s. 0.0. pockets of into the t revenue, ;e, for the 193.10,P., .mount of The difference £47,985,209 ' Less the charges of collection 2,116,469 1 7 2 0 7i Leaves .. £45,838,739 16 6 or 130/. 94. 4icl. per cent, upon the net revenue raised from these sources for State purposes, neither paid into the Exchequer nor to any Government officer, but simply wasted in the process of collection. " To state the case another:way :—Supposing the same amount of revenue were to be raised by a system of direct taxation, which might undoubtedly be collected at an expense not exceeding 2 per cent., ; and probably less, the gross amount to be levied on the public would ... £35,e50,973 9 3i Cost of collection, say 2 per cent... Net amount to be paid into the Treasury X 35,133,953 19 104 " The Finance Accounts show that— ofCustosduties £22,019,783 19 7 { rn were collected at }£1,293,801 12 1 a charge of 15,260,639 10 111 of Excise duties at do. 862,664 18 6i £37,280,423 10 6, 1 , Total. £ 9 ,146,469 10 7i But the cost, if levied directly, would be as above 717,019 9 41 Showing a saving, in the collection alone, of As shown before, the actual amount paid by the public under the present system of Customs and Excise Duties, is ..,•• • But if levied directly it would only be 35,850,973 9 3.'2 The annual saving to the public under a system of direct taxation, would, therefore, amount to ... . £47,268,189 17 9{ " We thus raise a revenue of 35,133,9531. 19s. 101 d. from,Customs and Excise duties, at a loss of 1341. 10s. 9d. per cent., while, at the same time, we impose a charge upon industry and production (for taxes on consump tion are necessarily taxes upon production—a fact often forgotten) of upwards of eighty-three millions yearly, besides stamps amounting to some some five millions more. Such ' a load would sink a navy. Were there no other reasons—which the Council would by no means affirm—it is in itself amply sufficient to explain why im ports should bo unprofitable, important manufactures ees u a f_g e ling, and competition everywhere intense and ex no_l_ t a end though this estimate may afford an ap -4 AZ e t t ir to the amount of money paid directly out consequence of the customs and excise sys tem, item for money not earned, which, could tem, th ere l ed it be t,:icart,:in , would probably prove at least as much more. To pay a directt FL.e costs nothing beyond the amount of the tax itself and the aim collection of it. In the S ta te of New yo;; K there is le • vied what is called the mille tax, because the inhabitants or the thousan dth Part of are taxed one mile, a dollar on every dollar of capital they posses!. Thi s tax is levied at ' f t a t cost 9 two per cent. But if it wer e to be rai se d twenty m u no le per dollar it would cost oen mine or more to collect it. In fact the per -tentage cost, though something must be allowed for increased responsibility, would be lessened as the rate of the tax increased. What is do i n w York may be done in England; a Single rate on all kinds of property, real and personal, or capitali se d • income, collected by one staff of collectors, would serve all ' pur poses, a corlaiu proportion for the estate, s o muchfor the poor, so much for police,: so much for sanitary pur poses, &e., &c. Every other tax could be dispensed with. Away then with all custom -houses, all excise and customai officers, and all the odious and detestable re strictions which belong to customs and excise duties. Away with every kind of tax or rate-colleeter• What to fraud, a mass of temptation to evasion, to c orruption, we should annihilate at once! Truth wou ld take the place of falsity, Government would cease to be a cheat, and cease to make cheats of the people. This ono change would do more to reform morals than the Church ever has done, and England would in consequence be ren dered a comparative paradise. EXTENSIVE GAROTTE ROBBERY AT LIVERPOOL.' About nine o'clock on Friday night a gentleman was ac costed by a female in Elliot-street. He remained in conver sation with her a minute or two when he was suddenly at tacked by two men, who knocked him down. The woman immediately grasped his purse, containing about 3001. in gold and notes. She was captured on the spot, but the two men unfortunately escaped. On the way to the station house she threw away] 2301., and in the 13ridgwell 601, was found upes► her, . . When made np in From what When PLACES. General Post-office port dis- London: patched. due ' America (by Brit. pkt.)N March 2G .. ,Llverpoel .• March 30 America (by U.S. pkt.) N'April 6 .. • • jLiverpool .. April 2 • America (by IJ.S.pkt.)3l l llarch 31 .. ..liboathavapt. Africa (West coast).• N 14th of the month Plymoath April 3 Alexandria* ........ N 19th & 30th of mo., Dover .. March 23 Belgium • .. •• N Daily • • IDover .. Daily Brazil M 9th of the month Southampt. April 16 Buenos Ayres • • .. M'9th of the month iSotithampt. April 16 California(viaChagree)3li2d & 17th of month Southern pt. IMarch 29 Cape of Good Hope Nll4th of month Plymouth • • April 3 Constantinople* •• 2411th 17th 27th ofmo 'Dover .. March 30 Central America .. BS,2d lic 17th of mon. 'Southampt. March 20 Channel Isles •• N Mon., , Wed., &Fri.,'Southampt. Ta. Th.l3at Chili •• •. Mll7th of the month (Southampt. March 20 Prance M& N Twice daily .. Dover • • Twicedaily Greece* •• •• N 7th 17th 27th ofmo !Dover •• March 30 Hamburgh N•Tuesday & Friday ;London .. Tues. Sat. Holland MiWednes. & Satan ,London Moa.Thur Honduras .. . 17th of the mouth;Southampt. March 20 Ireland .. M& W Twice daily ;Holyhead • . Twicedaily India (via Southamp.) M 20th of the month Southampt. April 21 India (viaMarsellles) N Sth& 24th ef month pover • • April 2 Mediterranean (via Southarenton) .. M 20th of the month Southampt. April 21 Mediterranean (via Marseilles) N Sth&24th of month Dover • • April 2 Mexico .. M2d of the month.. iSouthampt. April 5 Madeira • • .. 9th of the month 'Southampt. April 16 Malta* 7th,17th,19th,27th 1 Dover 'March 28 & 20th of month Naples' .. •• N sth 15th 25th ofmelDover .. April 2 Papal Statza* sth 15th25thof mopover .. 'April 2 Peninsular.. .. . .. M 7th 17th 27th ef mo Southampt. April 6 Peru • • .. .. •• Mil7th of the month Southampt. March 20 Tuscany* .. N'bth 15th 25th of me Dover • 'April 2 West Indies .. M'l7th of the month Southampt. ' March 20 West Indies (except Havtutna & Nassau) M 2d of the month ..,Bouthantpt.lAprll 5 * The mails to those c ountries thus marked ( 0 ) are conveyed by SonthamptiAprll 5 :ed (*) are conveyed by IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. HOUSE OF LORDS, March _29._ The LORD CHANCELLOR took his seat on the Woolsack at Five o'clock. Lord CAMPBELL presented a petition from the Lord Provost, town council, and magistrates of Edin burgh, praying for the abolition of the tests imposed on the professors of Scotch universities; also a petition from Perth to the same effect; also a petition from Brighton, praying for the enfranchisement of copyholds; and a petition from Cork in favour of tenant right. PRIVILEGE.—EXCLUSION OF LADIES FROM THE HOUSE DURING PRAYERS. Lord CAMPBELL called the attention of the House to a question of privilege. On the last occasion when he was present in their Lordships' House, when the Noble Earl now at the head of the Government had been installed into office, there naturally had been a groat anxiety shown to be present, and the galleries appropriated to Peeresses and their unmarried daughters were accordingly filled. When prayers commenced the ladies were ordered to withdraw, and obliged to remain waiting in the cold corridor until prayers were terminited. It appeared to him that this „„, w rrty ..saauag -...yv')U3 courao, cull 1.1t7 hoped that their Lordships would take some steps to remedy the grievance of which he complained. The matter then dropped. FOREIGN REFUGEES. Tho Earl of MALMESBURY hid on the table of the Rinse further correspondence relating to foreign re fugees in England. OPENING OF NUNNERIES. The Earl of RODEN presented a petition, signed by a large number of ladies of the county of Tyrone, pray ing for the opening of the nunneries io the visits of in spectors. DEPOSITION OF THE AMEER ALI MOURAD. The Earl of ELLENBOROUGH rose to move for a copy of a proclamation issued on the 21st of January, 1852, by Mr. Frere, the Commissioner in Scinde, by order of the Governor-General of India, declarin 2; the forfeiture to the British Government of all the territories held by the Ameer Ali Meurad, except such as he re ceived from his father, on the ground of his having wrong. fully obtained possession of a portion of those territories by means of a forged document styled the treaty of Nownahur ; also, for an account of the estimated reve nue of the territories so forfeited, distinguishing such as were obtained under the treaty of Nownahur from such as were held by the Ameer Ali Mourad at Rais, under the Cession of the Turban, concluded at Dejee on or about the 19th of December, 1842 ; and also, for an account of the estimated revenue of such of the terri tories so forfeited as wero heretofore in the possession of the Nuwab of Babawulpore, and were intended to be ceded to the said Nurfab by the several treaties signed by the Ameers of Sciade on the 14th of February, 1843. Tho Noble Earl said that the papers for which he moved related to the late deposition of Ali Mourad from the territories lately occupied by him in India, on the ground that he had gained possession of them by means of a forged treaty.Thc condition of Ali Mourad was that of an independent prince, en ally of the British Government, and the question between him and the British Govern ment was one of state against state, and we had no right to proceed against him both as a prince and a subject. Ho was no ordinary individual; fir many years he had been a faithful ally of the British Government, and had it not been for his co-operation in the year 1843, when ho joined with Sir C. Napier with 5,000 men, it was very doubtful whether Sir C. Napier could have brought the operations which he was engsged in to a successful issue; in the affair, too, of Moultan, and in still later operations his assistance had been of great service. The charge brought against him was that be had gained possession of certain districts by means of a forged treaty, and the result of a trial ordered by the British Government was to confirm the accusation. He (Lord Ellenbo rough) complained of the manner in which this trial had been conducted, and the judges who had presided. Gallant officers they were certainly, as ho freely allowed, by the qualities of a bold sabreur were not those of the judge, and he certainly did not think that two majors were the most fitting persons to couduct an investigation of this sort. The value of the property which Ali Mourad had got possession of was but 4,0001. per annum, while the tine was 100,0001. He therefore hoped that if the present Government did not altogether annul the judgment which had been pronounced, they would at least revise it, and relieve the British name from the tar nish which the whole of this trausacton had thrown upon it in the minds of the people of India. Lord BROUGIITON said he should not have presumed to rise before the Noble Earl, the First Minister, if this matter concerned her Majesty's present Government, or if ho were about to speak for any but those who were immediately answerable for that proceeding. If that injustice had been committed, or if there were that gross violation, not only of the substance, but of the forms of common equity, to which the Noble Earl had alluded, he (Lord Broughton) alone was answerable for it, he having been President of the Board of Control at the time of those proceedings, and having autho rised the sending to India of the dispatch by which this Prince had been tried, and unjustly, according to the Noble Earl, but justly, as he (Lord Broughton) should show their Lordships, deprived of those ill-gotten possessions which he had acquired. By the courtesy of the Right Honourable Gentleman who now presided over the Board of Control, be had been enabled to refresh his memory with regard to these transactions, and as they had heard the precise and admirable statement as far as it went of the Noble Earl, he hoped they would now lend him their attention while he (Lord Broughton) stated the facts according to his know ledge of the matter. In the early part of the Noble Earl's statement he had with sufficient accuracy intro duced to them the charactor and position of this Indian Prince. It was quite true that he was a man of consider able importance, that he had rendered services to the British Government, and had taken taken a distinguished part in the eldest was Meer P proceedings in Scinde. What sort of services these were, and what kind of distinction he had acquired, he should how everstate d presently show them. He was, as the Noble Earl bad the third son of a chieftain in the upper portion of Scuds, Who died sometime ago,ad left three sons. The , 00stana khan, the second li portions, of which he gave khan, when Khan, and the • third Dleer Ali Mourad who was considerably I younger than his brothers. Now ' the father of these I three princes died he . divided his property into four equal an additional fourth to the eldes o t e s a o c n, of the rail, With the h; swsaosns )Veer left A hea dship, or turban. The brothers, after the. death of their father, went on amicably tegether until after the death of the second brother, who was succeded by his son Meer Nussen Kha n, who took a conriderable part in the transac tions of Scinde. In a short time these princes quarrelled themselves, the eldest brother, Meer P among ,00stani and his nep h ew , taking Part against Ali Mourad, who wished to secure to himsel f a lari.er share of ower. There pm a Icing gaggl e ) IY AI CII at lastl2r9k.e Out into THE SUN, FINANCIAL REFORM. LONDON, GALLANT ACT of a YOUNG FISHERMAN. A short time ago a fishing yawl, containing four men ; and a boy, in endeavouring to enter Dunbar Harbour, with the wind at north, a fresh gale, and an exceedingly heavy surf, when just at its mouth the lower pintle of j the rudder gave way, which rendered the yawl un manageable, and in consequence was almost instantly dashed to pieces against the rocks. Her crew, however, fortunately succeeded in getting on them. The Coast Guard look-out man, observing the accident, called out the rest of the crew, who wheeled Manby's mortar, with ono of the baskets containing tbo line, in a barrow as quickly as possible to the eastern pier head, where un der their direction, assisted by Mr. Famage, the harbour master, a boat took the line across to the north pier head, then paying the bight to the rest of the crew and fisher men, who had got round cm the rock outside the old har bour pier, succeeded in bringing it in a straight lino over the five people on the rock; three of them immediately extricated themselves, by holding on the line and throw ing themselves into the sea. The old skipper, however, being unable to induce his nephew, the boy, to follow their example, determined not to leave him, and having been much hurt in clambering on the rock from the yawl, and by this time exhausted and benumbed with cold, as every sea came topping over them, ho appeared to have given up making any further exertion to save either himself or the boy. At this last extremity a young fisherman, named Robert Turnbull, a native of Dunbar, at the imminent risk of his life, and to the great admiration of some 200 spectators, dashed into the boiling surf with a rope tied round his body, and safely landed on the rock, where he fastened it to the boy and pushed him into the sea, and afterwards did the same with the old man, and both were thus hauled in safety to another rock. A recurrence was thus pre vented of the sad calamity which occurred at this place in August, 1845, when, in endeavouring to save a man on the same fatal rock, and under precisely similar cir cumstances, Lieutenant Wild, R.N., and five men, be sides him whom they sought to rescue from a watery grave, perished in their noble endeavours. We are glad to find that, as in the case of the uahappy lieutenant and his brave crew, when the Royal National Institution for the Prevention of Life from Shipwreck granted to their widows an award of 501., the Deputy Comptroller- General of the Coast Guard, Captain Ommanney, R.N., has brought under the notice of the same society the heroic conduct of young Turnbull, and that the com mittee have resolved on presenting to him the silver medal of the institution and a reward of IL, in appre ciation of his gallantry. SEABORNE MAILS. [N signifies that the mails are sent frors the General Post-office by the night—and M by the morning—dispatch.] THE COST OF CUSTOMS AND EXCISE 1) UTJES. By the Liverpool Financial Reform Association. Liverpool: George Philip an Son. London : J. C. Bishop, Aldine Chambers, Pater noster-row. During the last four years the Financial Reform Asso ciation of Liverpool have issued a series of Tracts on the National Expenditure—the Customs and Excise Duties, laws, and practices—Taxation, direct and indi rect—Our Fiscal System, &c. &c., with the view of instructing the public mind and paving the way for procuring the " adoption of a simple and equitable system of direct taxation, fairly levied upon property and income, in lieu of the present unequal, compli cated, and expensively collected duties upon commodi ties," or, in other words, "complete Free Trade." Of all their publications, the pamphlet now before ns appears to be the most practical, and if the basis of their calculations be correct (which we see no reason to doubt) most conclusive. The questio vexata of direct versus indirect taxation is com pletely set at rest on the single ground of expense, setting aside all reference to increased employment, increased production, decreased poor-rates, and every other benefit which would accrue were industry relieved from all fiscal burdens. _ . Few persons have an adequate conception of the cost of collecting the revenue under the system of Customs and Excise duties. If we examine the finance accounts, we find it therein stated that the rate for which tho gross receipt was collected averages from 5 to 6 per cent., or each 1001. levied on commodities yield only 94/. to 95/. to the Government. We consider this costly, as our direct taxes, such as income and property, land and assessed taxes, and stamps, are collected at from 2 to 3 per cent., or for every 100/. taken from the tax-payers, 97/. to 981. is received into the Treasury, the difference about 3 per cent. being generally con sidered the total saving which would accrue were the whole of our revenue collected under one uniform and direct system of taxation. We forget, or rather over look the fact, that the duty must be paid on the articles before they are taken from the importer or manufacturer for consumption, and it forms therefore an integral part of the first cost, to which the profit of two, and often more, traders—the wholesale and retail dealers—is to be added. The Government thus first of all collects the duties from the importer or manufacturer, next the im porter or manufacturer reimburses himself by collecting them from the wholesale dealer, then the wholesale dealer from the retailer, and, lastly, the retailer from the public as consumers. The public, therefore, have to pay no less than the cost of four collections, the last three being accumulated per-tentage in the shape of profits, upon all revenue derived from duties upon commodities. The estimate of this cost, or loss, to the public was pre pared at the suggestion of Mr. Hume, M.P., who, in a letter to the President of the Financial Reform Asso ciation, says— " I hope you will appoint a committee to inquire into that subject [direct taxation]; and the strongest point of view that suggests itself to me will be, to take the total amount of tea imported and its import price, add the total duty paid by the importer, the profit or charge by him on the same, the additional charge by the re tailer on the prime cost, duty, and profit of the wholesale purchaser, and a calculation of the additional per-tentage, and the actual increase in the price of the article to the consumers. " It the chief articles that pay the twenty millions of Customs' duties, and also the articles under the Excise that pay the fourteen millions, are thus worked out and extended, the additional charge on the nation as con sumers will surprise the public." The Council have carried out Mr. Ilume's yiews by preparing schedules on seven of the principal articles of consumption which pay Customs and Excise duties, and from which nearly three-fourths of the revenue are de rived. These schedules have been compiled and checked by " persons of standing and experience in their various lines of business," and the result is really startling, nay almost incredible; but an examination of the different schedules, which aro simple, plain, and easily under stood, will convince the must sceptical. We quote from the pamphlet:— "It remains to sum up the totals., and show the gross money loss entailed upon the nation by this thriftless and preposterous system. ,) ,—, 00 0,1 .-4 c 0 ,r) . F a.,6 0 ..:I 4 0 ).0 .I. c., ...P r.... r•-• P",.0 1 , ,„, co co co co t •-• = CI C, OGI CO Of CI VI ".--' al t.-. CO .-. .1. c..., .r ... r.„,, C., n .1. C . . IVD CO 0 1, gD C 3 7.7. c ,, , OD Cp. .. C, 0 vi . ... C... p.,, ~.. t. CO Cti 4 06 . .-. C:4 z .G 1 I C 4 •••• v.-4 .491 el C . , ". C. 7) .1. •-• C• 3 r. .1 • 0 7ii 6 I 1 Mci co 4 - a el co ° o al ..-• ~., .-• ,o -..0 --, c , ") el e:•1 ••••• GI 40 GI CO .0 GI -..;•• '7:' CO C, C", 0 ../. 1 C, .. 0 c2I ~.", t... kr3 --n <I. ~.1 t as ,-. -1. CX) CID 1.-.1 In ir"" .....• CI I , Ci s 0 CO . C") co " 1. .xi . ..... , ...° I 41 Ti V .--. 0 .--. ~ ..0 ,—. .... CD -8 ci o ciD cl t-. ,-.. .. Cr, C 1-.. 0 a © C O -r cl co -t o o ao - rb t a s 1,. Jr: CO o cn CI IN. ce Cl 0.4 ':- -, EVENING, TUESDAY open hostilities, and a battle was fought. Ali Mourad was victorious, completely defeating Roostam Khan and Nussen Khan. He then compelled them to sign a treaty which was, in fact, the basis and cause of most of the com plaints which had since been made against Ali Mourad. By that treaty certain lands were given up to Ali Mourad. These were the fruits of victory, which, if he had behaved well afterwards, no one would have wished to dispute with him, and which he would have had a clear right to. But he was not satisfied with the legitimate fruits of vietory, be cause, as it clearly appeared, he did afterwards contrive to substitute for the leaf of the Koran on which the treaty was signed another by which he obtained possession of a certain quantity of land to which he had no right whatever. By so uoing the imposed on the British Government, and made them believe he was a person of much greater importance than he really was. That was pretty well, but it was not all, nor anything like all. When Sir Charles Napier entered Scinde at the head of the Indian forces, by order of the Earl of Ellenborough, Ali Mourad persuaded his brother, Meer Roostam, to resign the headship of the family, and with that to give up certain lands attached to that dignity; and, as he should show, he did that by the advice of Sir Charles Napier himself. Meer Roostam, indeed, denied that he had ever wished to do so ; but said lee was induced to take that course at the express instance of the British general, who refused to protect him unless he gave up his dignity as Rais to Ali Mourad. Ali Mourad entered into another agreement in December 1842, by which he undertook to give his brother compensation for what he had surrendered. This agreement was jointly signed by him and Ali Mourad, but the messenger who was sent with it to Sir Charles Napier was intercepted, and the document taken from him, so that Sir Charles Napier knew nothing of its existence. In consequence of this transaction Ali Mourad did not give to his brother Roostam the indem nity agreed on. This was not only a cheat practised on Roostam, but on the Britsh Government, as the territories in question became confiscated by the conquest of Scinde. The next thing on the part of Ali Mourad was to persuade his brother Roostam that Sir Charles Napier intended to place him in custody, upon which representation Roostam took to flight, and this was the immediate cause of hostili ties between the British and the Scindians. Of this there could be no doubt, as it was declared by the Ameers in the conference on Feb. 13, 1843. On that occasion they said if the things which were taken away from them by Ali Mourad were not restored to them they must fight for their bread. It was not his intention to enter into the details. He was sorry the question had been entered into, and told the Noble Earl previously that no good could result from it. Their Lordships might ask, after the conquest of Scinde, and that Sir Charles Napier had taken possession of that country why there had been no suspicion of this forgery. The fact was that it was suspected, and there was a memorandum at the Bombay Government of a letter from Sir Charles Napier which contained information of these frauds. It stood recorded at the Government of Bombay against Ali Mourad that he had appropriated land in Sinde which belonged to the British Government. In fact so early as 1847 Sir Charles Napier became cognisant of this fact. Sir G. Clarke, Governor of Bombay, went to Scinde and looked into the case, of which be entertained no doubt. Mr. Pringle also looked into the case, and reported that he had ao doubt of the infidelity of Ali Mourad. Not satisfied with this the commission was appointed. To this the Noble Earl objected that military men had been placed upon it. It was not the first time military men were placed upon such commissions. Major Jacobs, who was z one of them, was distinguished, not only as a military man, but as an able man in the manner in which he conducted affairs on the borders of Scinde, where he was in charge. Ali Mourad was himself present at the investigation. He exa mined the witnesses, but in the result the fraud was made clear, and the decision was against Ali Mourad. The report of the commission was sent to the Governor-General, who examined the evidence, and returned it to the Governor of Bombay. The Governor-General, as well as the Governors of Bengal and Bombay, gave their opinions in accordance with the report of the commission, which was finally sent to this country. There was no difference of opinion on the subject either in this country or in India. He saw an article in an Indian newspaper, in which it was suggested that Ali Mourad ought to be hanged, and it insinuated it was well for him that he did not live in the times of a Clive or a Hastings. If it had not been for the conduct of Ali Mourad the war would not have broken out. If they had known as much before as they did after the war in Scinde, it would not have taken place, and the effusion of blood might have been avoided. This man was guilty of fraud towards his own re lations, perfidy to his own countrymen, and of a betrayal of the parties to whom he was indebted for his position. his guilt was a complication of crime. He obtained these lands from his brother by fraud, which he concealed from the British Government, and now that they knew how he got them, they were bound to act. It would not have been sufficient punishment to have made him restore to his brother the lands he had deprived him of. Some said that nothing at all ought to be given to Ali Mourad, but he thought a middle course was preferable, and a dispatch was transmitted to Earl Dalhousie, with in structions that if the Indian Government, upon reconsidera tion, thought that Ali Mourad was entitled to his patrimo nial property, they might give it to him. Lord Dalhousie directed troops to proceed to :Moultan, to enforce the full penalty. He was now in possession of everything he would have had if he had not committed this crime. He agreed that the Indian Government should be above all suspicion, at the same time they ought to be very cautious in their conduct to the high functionaries in kind. They ought to be very kind to their virtues, and sometimes a little blind to their imperfections. He hoped their Lordships would ex cuse him for entering into so many particulars iii giving an unvarnished tale of the transaction, and hoped it was suffi cieet to uphold the Indian Government from blame.—(Hear.) The Earl of ELLE.NBOROUGHIeaid, if it required any thing to convince him that the proceedings wanted judicial authority, it was the speech of the Noble Baron. If it was upon the charge of forgery Ali Mourad had been deprived of his estates he could understand the matter, but he was dealt with upon matters unconnected with that charge. He would have gone further, and would have laid with the utmost confidence the whole case before the native princes and the Durbar of every native prince in India, and he should have no doubt a s to th e resu lt, namely, thati while they would have deposed the individual, they would have preserved the raj. They would not have punished the state for the crime of the individual. With respect to Sir Charles Napier, his connexion with this matter, and his present o ne „s e e, n i au Lie doubt be read suspicion:, to the validity of the document, but he had no proof that it was forged. When Ali Mourad came to him for letters of introduction to Lahore, Sir Charles said he might have them it he would deliver up the deed which he believed him to have in his possession. The reply was, that he had left it at Moultan, so that it never was produced at all, and no proceedings could be taken upon it. He could only say, in conclusion, that taking the statement of the Noble Baron himself in reply, it was in his opinion quite clear that the Government of India had in this case gone beyond its powers, and had acted most improperly.—(H ear , hear.) Lord BROUGHTON said he would not have gone into these matters had not the Noble Earl passed such a high eulogium upon Ali Mourad. The Earl of ELLENBOROUGH said, what he stated with respect to Ali Mourad was this e—As far as his political re lations were concerned, he was faithful to his country. his troops were at the disposal of the Indian Government, and political fidelity in India was, in his opinion, a peculiar re commendation which ought to have been remembered when dealing with these other matters. The Earl of DERBY said ho concurred with the Noble Earl who had just sat down, and who had so ably brought this subject before them, in the hope that the time would be far distant when, either in that House or in the other House of Parliament, the complaints of any of her Majesty's sub jects might not freely be brought forward, listened to, and advecated with that sincerity which had characterised the advocacy of the Noble Earl. But he must add his own wish that whenever complaints may be made against those who were invested with the power of the Government in distant parts of the empire, there would never be wanting Members of that House to defend them against these attacks with the same power, ability, and clearness as had been shown that night by the Noble Baron.—(Hear, hear.) After the very clear and satisfactory explanation which had been given by the Noble Lord of the course which the Government, of which he was a member had pursued, it was not necessary roc him to enter into any details upon the subject, except to state that he believed the guilt of Ali Mourad had been clearly proved, and that his punishment was no more than the case demanded,—(Hear.) He would be unworthy of the position in which he now stood if he was not prepared to take his share of the responsibility of these transactions, simply because they had occurred under a former Govern ment. If he understood the Noble Earl correctly, his argu ment was that we could not treat Ali Mourad as a prince, and at the same time as an individual, and then upon that assumption the Noble Earl proceeded to draw a distinction between the offence with which he had been charged and was legally punishable, and th at w hi c h had taken place. He contended Ali Mourad was an independent prince, be tween whom and the British Government in India treaties subsisted, and should have been treated in accordance with that position, as far as his territories were concerned. But a commission which had been appointed to examine the matter had reported that, without further investigation, there was enough to justify us in stripping him of his ter ritory by an act of war, because he had by his falsehood and his intrigues among the other princes been the cause of the expenditure of a vast amount of blood and treasure. It was necessary to proceed against hint in the manner they had done, in order that there might be no misconception, on the part of. the native princes, as to the position of the Indian Government in the matter, and he thought it was superior to the very extraordinary . proposal of the Noble Earl to refer the whole question to the native Princes and their Durbars. Though it might be admitted that some of these proceedings were not in accordance with the usual forms . of law, yet he was sure that whoever would fairly investigate the subject, would find that the Government had treated with extra ordinary forbearance and lenity a person who had placed himself, by his act, in a position of hostility to that Govern ment, and deceived it in the way he had done. If any further justification were needed, it would be found in the circumstances under which the cession of the turban was held. Ali Mourad kept back from that cession the papers which set forth all the conditions under which its power was to be exercised, and that secured the turban of headship by fraud. The facts of that case were perfectly clear, and yet his Noble Friend complained that the British Government de prived tom of the turban, which he had gained by such means. As to the value of the property taken by the Government, while he would not object to that part of the motion, he must add that he did not think the Government were in possession of exact information on that point, and therefore he did not pledge himself that it would be given. What he contended briefly was, that the Indian Govern ment was justified in demanding not only restitution of the property obtained by fraudulent means, but also in inflicting a penalty, by depriving him of the turban which he had ob tained by the suppression of documents and by:other frauds. He would not object to the motion of the Noble Earl on the part of the Government, but, in order to do justice to the character and motives of the Indian Government, and to place clearly before the public the grounds on which they had acted, he proposed to add to the papers moved for by the Noble Earl the words, namely—" and the whole of the report of the committee appointed to inquire into the conduct of Ali Mourad, and the evidence taken by them, and upon which the sentence was based." Earl GREY observed that the statements made to their Lordships that night had a bearing on prior transactions ,, rise Indian he trust e d b o th h er M a j esty ' s G overnme nt and Indian Government would remember. It now appeared that Ali Mourad had been guilty not only of frauds a ga i nst t he British Governm en t, b ut a l so aga i n st his own fused , , by which they had been placed in a position which necessarily involved hardships, and removed to a great distance from their native country. If the other Ameers been deceived though the instrumentality of of Ali he thought or made to appear guilty when they were not so, ent and the it was incumbent upon both the home Government Mourad, order to Indian Government to investigate the matter, see what could be done by way of redress fora in j ustice or hardship that might have thus unconsciously been in flicted.—( Hear, hear.) The Earl of DERBY, while he did not entirelLeadcwquitiht the the Ameers of Scinde from all criminality, so farj i g nns had been Noble Earl, that he had to state that instru . h e p ne tt r t p o o t B h e e o i r f already sent out, not fur the purpose of restoring native cpuntry . , or their former position, but 0 the rouderin g the i r P9oitivn wvro agKeegibl€l' MARCH 30, 1852. Earl GREY believed that no war would have taken place if these Princes had not been driven into it by the persua sive influence of Ali Mourad. He was gratified that the Noble Earl (the Earl of Derby) had expressed an opinion to that effect. After a few words from Lord COLCIIIATEa and from Earl GuET in explanation, The Earl of ELLENBOROUGH said, that in consequence of certain hostile proceedings on the part of the Ameers, a treaty was agreed to. They signed the treaty one day, and on the second day were collecting their troops both in the front and in the rear of the British troops, and nothing but the gallantry of Sir Charles Napier on that occasion saved the British army. The Ameers were condemned, not for their treachery which preceded the treaty, but for their treachery afterwards. The returns were then ordered. The Commons Enclosure Bill was read a third time and passed. The Consolidated Fund Bill was read a third time and passed. The LORD CHANCELLOR moved that the Law of Wills Amendment Bill be read a third time. Lord CAMPBELL was understood to express the alarm with which, when in a distant part of the country, en gaged in the administration of justice, he heard of certain provisions in the measure as proposed to be passed, on a sus pension of the standing orders. The LORD CHANCELLOR remarked that the Noble and Learned Lord had opened a discussion which had been closed, and found fault with parts of the Bill which had been withdrawn. _ . _ After a few words from Lord CAMPBELL, explaining that he had wished in a single sentence to state the objections he had to the course which his Noble and Learned Friend had adopted in his absence, and from the LORD CHANCELLOR, expressing his anxiety to have it understood that he had not had the slightest intention of showing discourtesy to the Noble and Learned Lord, The Bill was read a third time and passed. The Personal Estates of Intestates Bill was read a second time ; the Proclamat ion for Assembling Parliament Bill passed through Committee; several private Bills were ad vanced a stage, and their Lordships adjourned. HOUSE OF COMMONS, March 29. • The SPEAKER took the Chair a few minutes before Four o'clock. NEW MEMBER. Mr. Sctrux took the oaths and his seat for Cork. PRIVATE BUSINESS. The Liverpool Corporation Waterworks Bill was read a third time and passed. The following Bills were considered and agreed to, and ordered to be engrossed:— Accidental Death Insurance and Railway Assurance Companies Amalgamation. Belfast Gas. Bradford Piece Halls. . . Cheltenham improvement and Health. Droitwich Junction Canal (Amendments to be pro posed). Macclesfield Improvement (Amendments to be pro- posed). Yaxley Drainage. The following Bills were read a second time, and ordered to be committed:— Dumfries and Maxwelltown Waterworks. Eastern Union Railway. North and South- Western and Brighton and Dover Junction Railway (Wandsworth to Croydon). North Staffordshire Railway (Sandbach to near War rington, &c.) Swansea Local Board of Health. Tramore Embankment. Wycombe Railway. EDINBURGH AND CANONGATE ANNUITY TAX ABOLITION BILL. Sir GIBSON CRAIG moved the second reading of this Bill, which he said was approved of by the late Government, but he understood that some part of it would be resisted by her Majesty's present advisers. He hoped, however, the Government would now state what their views were with regard to this Bill, and not al low it to be read a second time for the purpose of being hereafter opposed.—(Hear.) Mr. F. MACKENZIE did not speak now as a Member of the Government, but as an independent Member who last year sat upon the Committee which investigated this subject. He was not altogether opposed to the object of the Bill, but nevertheless he thought it defective both in principle and detail. It was said dis sent was on the increase in Edinburgh, and that was one of the reasons for reducing the number of minis ters of the Established Church, which the promoter of the Bill urged in its favour. He, however, could not recognise the force of that reason, nor could ho say that he had much confidence in the securities which were proposed to be taken for the payment of these fifteen ministers, and unless the Bill came out of the, Com mittee very much altered he should feel bound to oppose it on the third reading. Mr. MONCRIEFF supported the Bill. He examined its provisions while in office, and he highly approved of it, and if the House could be made sensible of the heart burnings that it was calculated to put a stop to in Scot. land, it would do so also. The security, in his opinion, was far from defective, and he hoped the House would ultimately pass the Bill. Sir GEORGE CLERK supported the Bill, though he was opposed to many of its details, and ho trusted, when the Bill came down from the Committee, the defects would have been expunged. He should resist any attempt to reduce the number of clergymen attached to the Established Church, and ho called upon her Majesty's Ministers to second his exertions in that respect. Mr. J. B. SMITH was also anxious to put an end to the agitation which for the last twenty years had prevailed upon this subject, and that was the principal reason why he was favourable to one part of the Bill- - He contended that the number of clergy ought to bo rodno.d, for it was a great hardship upon the people of Edinburgh that they should be compelled to support their own clergy, and that of a church which they never attended. Sir E. COLEBROOKE objected to the clause which authorised the appropriation of the funds of the Chapel Royal in Scotland to the payment of the clergy in Edinburgh. This Bill was not a private but a public measure, and so it ought to be treated. _ _ Sir R. H. INGLlS — said this discussion was only a waste of time, and as the Bill would be withdrawn if Government determined to oppose it, ho called upon Ministers to make such a declaration.—(Hear, hear.) Mr. TUFNELL supported the Bill, and protested that it was high time the question was settled.—(Hear.) Mr. COWAN would not enter into the details of the Bill, but he knew it was approved of by all parties in Edinburgh, and he trusted it would be sanctioned by the House for the sake of restoring peace in Scotland. Mr. HUME call&I upon the Government to take up the Bill, and pass it into a law.—(Hear, hear.) Mr. WALPOLE said he was not prepared to do so, nor was he prepared to say that he approved of the measure; but ho was quite ready, if the House would only grant him time for the purpose, to take the question into his consideration, with the view of arriving at a speedy settlement. There were interests compromised by this Bill which he could never consent to; and although it might be read a second time, and referred to a Commit mittee, it would still be liable to be stopped by the Crown.—(Hear, hear.) Mr. FOX MAULE treated this declaration as a direct negative to the measure, and ho therefore recommended that it should be withdrawn. Ho advised the late Government to accept it as a settlement of the whole question, and ho could not help feelirg if any delay took place now it would be tantamount to a loss of another year. There was an opportunity now of settling the question, and ho regretted that it should be thrown away. The Bill was then read a second time, and ordered to be committed. METROPOLIS WATER SUPPLY BILL. of agricultural statistics in the country and the colonies, though the Government were constantly alive to the im portance of the subject. MAYNOOTH. In reply to Mr. GRANVILLE BERKELEY, Mr. SPOONER said it was his intention to per severe with his motion for the abolition of the Maynooth grant, and ho should take the earliest opportunity after Easter of balloting for the motion. COMMON LAW FEES REGULATION BILL. This Bill went through Committee. ORDERS OF THE DAY. On the motion of the CHANCELLOR of the EX EHEQUER the other orders 9f the day were read and postponed until after the motions had been disposed of. On the motion for the second reading of this Bill, Lord EBRINGTON presented a 'Petition from the Metropolitan Sanitary Association, praying for a com prehensive plan for supplying the metropolis with water. He then moved that it be an instruction to the Commit tee to cause inquiry to be made into the cost of bringing into the metropolis a supply of soft water from the sources recommended by the Earl of Carlisle and his colleagues of the Board of Health, and to report thereon before they proceed to consider the Bill, and the various other Water Bills referred to them. The late Government referred the question of water supply to the Board of Health, who, after examining an enormous number of witnesses and devoting great attention to the subject, recommended a definite scheme for providing an abundant supply of pure water to the inhabitants of London. Those suggestions were never carried out, but a plan had been proposed which was universally condemned, because it would give rise to a very wasteful expenditure of capital without accomplishing the object desired. Ho hoped before the House compromised the pecuniary as well as the sanitary interests of the metropolis, it would, at least, cause an inquiry to be made, and direct the preparation of estimates of and plans for obtaining an adequate supply of water from the sources recommended by the highest scientific au thorities. Mr. H. COCHRANE seconded the motion. Lord J. MANNERS trusted the House would reject the motion, not on its merits or demerits, bat on the , simple ground that if acceded to another year ma_sy pass without anything being done to improve the s m uppL t of water to the metropolis. Though it 4" I be so be obections to the Bill, yet he hoped it a to t amended e g g t h a t e i n v, r e o d atbEilau i i n :: Committee nevertheless eo m rn i t. t h t e e l e e ih a ys s : h t i o u w s d e a i C d t tl e r r e , the poorer classes, if not the best supn n " a d better sup any rate a cheaper, far more abundant, that the districts ply than they enjoyed at present..ne Mr. MACGREGOR compulariatedd_. not by an over. south of the Thames were s t at of drainage, and he hoped supply of water, but e_ the House would Mr. COCLIRA.NE said the present a dvisable to divide the floes moment 0 houses in the metropolis with Cher© were 18,00 ,„, of water; • n ot a pure suP" - be think it would e on this Motion.w wor ds from Lord EBRINGT ON in reply, Afte r a few UNSTONE entered into an explanation, Sir • with the vie"' of showing that th e pu b lic had no cause find fault with the pr esent water companion, either to firegarded the price, the supply, or the quality of the water which was furnished to them. no motion was then negatived without a division. NOTICE OF MOTION. Lord ROBERT GROSVENOR gave notice that on a future day he would put a question to the Government on the subject of the formation of a park on the south side of the Thames. POOR-LAW COMMISSION. In reply to Lord D. STUART, Sir J. TROLLOPE said it was intended to bring in a Bill this session to renew the Poor-law Commission for a short period. AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS. In reply to Mr. H wry, Mr. iIENLEY said he could not yet see his way clearly for the formatien of t$ Immure fer she ccillectiQu THE MILITIA. Petitions against the enrolment of the militia were presented from different parts of the country by Mr. Hume, Mr. Henley, Mr. Thornely, and other Hon. Members. Mr. Secretary WALPOLE then rose, in pursuance of the order of the 20th day of February last, " That leave be given to bring in a Bill to amend and consolidate the Laws respecting the Militia," to bring in the Bill accord ingly. In doingfthis he owned he felt no ordinary anxiety, and he threw kimself on the indulgence of the House while he stated the liew,of her Majesty's Government on this highly import‘ant subject.—(Hear, bear.) Ho felt on the one hand the vast magnitude of this subject, and the difficulties that surrounded it, while on the other ho experienced the deep responsibility which attached to him in bringing ,it forward, and had he been in the private capacity of an independent Member it was doubteul whether he should ever have spoken upon it.—(Hear, hear.) But he was convinced of the absolute necessity of some such measure as that which ho should presently have the honour of proposing, and if he were to shrink now from the task which devolved upon him he should be not only neglecting his duty as a Minister of the Crown, but in his opinion actually abandoning the best interests of the country.—(Hear, hear.) Consider for a moment the circum stances under which they were placed. They must all agree that this country ought to be in an equal state of defence, whatever might be its means of attack, with the other powers of Europe; but was that our position at the present moment?—(blear, hear.) No; the country having enjoyed the blessing of peace for nearly forty years, had been lulled into a state of apathy, and it was now hardly posssible to imagine, let alone believe, that there was any possibility of danger.—(Bear, hear.) But though ho trusted, nay he believed, that any actual danger was far removed from these shores, yet, looking at the state of Europe and at the elements of anarchy and con fusion which might break out not many months hence, ho thought they were bound to see that the country was in such a state of defence as to be able to resist any attack that could possibly be made upon it.— (Cheers.) A question was put to him the other night by an Hon. Member as to whether Ministers had re ceived any information from abroad as to render a measure of this nature necessary, and he now frankly admitted that they had not, but it was that absence of informa tion, and our being on friendly terms with all our foreign allies, which made the present the most fitting opportunity for introducing such a measure as this.—(Hear, hear.) Looking, therefore, at the cir cumstances under which the present Government came into power, and the admission not only of all our military and naval authorities, but of the House itself, that the country was now in a defenceless state, the Ministry, in the event of a war, would be liable to be impeached if they failed to press on a measure of this kind, so that the country should be ready for the foe should ho ever make his appearance on our shores.—(Hear.) There were three classes of objectors to the observa tions he had made—first, those who thought the exist ing defences of the country were sufficient; secondly, those who saw no immediate danger and no immediate ne cessity for a militia; and, thirdly, those who considered that if they increased the defences of the country they ought to do so by adding to the army and navy, instead of having recourse to a regular militia. Now, he would say a few words on each of these three classes of objectors. With regard to the first, viz., those who deemed the present defences of the country sufficient, he observed that oar army consisted at present of about 160,000 men who were scattered over different parts of her Majesty's dominions. Now, before they arrived at any hasty conclusion they ought to ask themselves what use could bo made of these troops for home defences. It was true they had a large army, but it was not a quarter of the army of Russia, not a half of the army of Prussia, not one-third of the army of France, and very little more than the army of Belgium.—(Hear, hear.) Be sides, those powers had more compact domi nions, and could readily concentrate their forces, while ours were scattered over the world, and could not be collected together for defence at home without leaving parts unprotected. Tho very greatness of our empire was one source of its weakness. They could not, though availing themselves of all the forces at the central depots and in the manufacturing districts, bring to bear upon the coast more than 25,000 men. After deal ing with the other two parties to whom he had referred, he proceeded to show the necessity of preparing a de fence in the event of an incursion or at tack being made upon the country.—(Hear, hear.) The objections to increasing the navy and army were —first, that they must increase considerably the per manent expenditure, which the House of Commons would not be likely to sanction in a time of depressed revenue; and, secondly, both army and navy were instruments of attack as well as of defence, and if we wore to increase them wo should arouse suspicion and provoke Jealousy among fin ci g e powers, at a time, too, when there was least occasion for it. It was evident that the navy must be our chief reliance for defence, and yet it would be impossible to in crease it adequately unless we bad a covering force on land; and with regard to an increase of the army the Noble Lord the Member for Tiverton on a former occasion had so adequately stated the reason against that—namely, that a standing army was opposed to the habits and feel ngs of the country, that he did not need to allude to them again. There were many reasons why the national militia should be relied on for defence, the chief of which was that it had often done good service, but the calling out of the militia was attended with great hardships and incon veniences. These, however, it was thought by her Majesty's Government might be got rid of by means of a scheme of voluntary enlistment, and it was on this principle that her Majesty's Government proposed to found their scheme of a national militia. The number of men proposed to be raised was 80,000.—(Hear, bear.) The Right Hon. Gentleman then proceeded—Now to raise that force in one year would be open to two objec tions. It would be difficult by means of bounties to ob tain men; and we therefore propose in the first year to limit the force to 50,000 men. The second advantage to be derived from that would be this, that instead of hav ing all the periods of the service terminate at the same time, they would terminate at different times, and you would have some skilled men always remaining.—(Hear, hear.) We propose to raise the force by means of bounties, which we think might be paid in sums of money down at one payment; or, for the sake of con venience to those who might wish it—agricultural la bourers, for instance—in monthly payments at, say 2s. 6d. per month. However, we intend to leave it en tirely optional. With regard to officers, the House is aware there are five qualifications; but we think these qualifications may be dispensed with in all officers above the rank of major. We think it would be a great ad vantage to have the militia officered by men who had previously been in the army, and who may have retired on half-pay. Therefore, we propose, in that case, that such officers as have been in the army, the fact of their having been in the army should be equivalent to a qua lification.—(Hear, hear.) With regard to drilling and training, the House is aware that at present the militia are brought out only 28 days in the year. From all the information we could obtain on the sub ject, we think that 21 days would be sufficient; but then there are cases in which the period might be ex tended or reduced. For that reason wo will provide that the ordinary number of days shall bo 21, the Crown being invested with the power to extend the period to seven weeks.—(Hear, hear.) With regard to the ex pense, I must say that in the first year it will..be_ van rovide b considerable in consequence of having to p r ou d the ex ties, arms, and equipment. But i f f syeorvuitude, the whole penso over five years, the period o will amount to about 1,200,0001., ortahlemosfitrastt thyeearratethoef 250,0001. per year; but expense will necessarily amount this ttohisabarts 4n0a0t,i0000041.1 —(Hear, hoar.) and we Wteher.leofooktrhoeu-consider great altera force, laws in reference to it o se of th th a e t lions should be mad© in a n s ro a p is o as they now stand.-- 03 0a s ;;:rd, hear .) pm equipments, as purse. the expense of the arms shouldern e i a s r borne. by the d p ts u tr b i l e ic t bounties, should be rand e that each h hear.)We -.6.P that, in the neglectof • so doing • , its proper vete y el furnish that amountof should reason s expenditure such quota, if provided, would re ' whic h 5- la then, in a short quire.—(Hear, hear.) See , compass, is the Bill wh i c h we Will now submit for the approval and • adoption o f the House. The reasons for its adoption, as also the objections to it, with one exception, I think I have ex plained in the cour se o f my observations. But there is one objection which I think I objection is, th at i s so large a force of volunteersought to explain. The with must necessarily interfereethe recruiting you must of ft o h u e army. W e h ave consulted military authorities on the point, and we are informed that the• 1 objection will not hold, as regards With reference to the ages of the men, the Mouse •is aware that a recruit must not be more than 24 years of age, and of the height of 5 feet 6 inches. We propose that the height for the militia shall be 5 feet 2 inches. We propose that the ages of the volunteers may range from 18 to 3.5 years; so that there, consequently, can be no interference as regards age. With reference to height, the House is probably aware that the height for the British army is 5 feet 6 inches; for the Russian, 5 feet 4 inches, and for the French, 5 f eet 1 i nch. _ (Laughter.) Gentlemen may smile at this, but although lam speaking in an English House of Commons, it ought never to be forgotten that a nobler or more gallant soldiery never existed in the world than the French.— (Cheers.) If they can fight battles, and they have fought gallantly throughout the length and breadth of Europe, surely our men at 5 feet 2—(Great laughter)—surely our men at 5 feet 2 must be equal to the work.—(Hear, hear.) Sir, lam quite aware that this is a subject upon which I am so little competent, and which involves so many difficulties, that I may not have expressed myself as clearly as I could have wished to the House. Lord J, RUSSELL—What is the length service? Mr. wAIROLE—Five years. Sir, I have endea voured to g i ve a plain and simple statement of the real facts of the case as I believe them to exist with reference to the state of our national defences. I think I have shown the absolute necessity there is for some improve ment of these defences. If you believe that you ought to inoure yourselves against those ousuAlties Rbiely IA" tions as well as individuals are equally subject to, and so to diminish at least, if not to prevent, the chances of danger, by providing against it in time of peace, I bare offered to you reasons political and financial why we be lieve these defences cannot be improved by increasing our naval and military establishments, and hating done that, I know not what course you have to choose except this constitutional and rational course, which bas already done good service, I mean by the enrolment of the militia, relieving the people of this country of almost all the inconveniences attending it, and securing all the ad vantages they have hitherto derived.—(Hear, bear.) ll you accept this measure, I trust you will assist us with your counsel and support in accomplishing an object which all of us have in view, of preserving to this coun try a permanent and effective defence, combining wi lli that the anxious desire to put the as little constraint—to subject the people constraint as we possibly can, and also to interfere in as small degree as we are able to do with their ordinary habits and industrial oecupations.—(Hear, bear.) But I must say that if you reject this messuro from any false, mistaken notions of parsimonious economy topeople to , aosr from l e what I should consider a vain supposition of your being ever able to provide against danger just at the mome nt when it bursts upon you—or if you should trust in .e n overweening confidence in the assumed impregnability of your insular position, permit me to warn you that you may be deceived, and in that case we shall have the satisfaction of knowing that, melancholy • ' ment, we have endeavoured to do our duty; and I ma st add, that the whole responsibility of leaving our Attires in a defenceless state must rest with you, and not with us.—(Hear, hear.) But lam persuaded that you in"' as a Govern fteow give inconveniences;upnot say—that the people of this great country will not g at e s y a o e u d a s r e e a sa d y v — an t t h a that they will tell you, " we will not sacrifice fora penny attiease with so ma., saving the permanent security of our hearths and homes — , but rather, I thi nk ' it we may have to pay a heen er we wilt not grudge a small annual sum when we know the' possibly if we do not pay and a far more disgraceful impost levied upon to by a foreigh power"—(Loud cries of " Hear, hear.") No; we will steadfastly maintain to the utmost of our power the dignity and independence of this country, with eshie h our liberties are inseparably united. We are bound to our ancestors as well as to our posterity to preserve that freedom they have transmitted to us, and which you hold in trust for those who come after you; and kne e ; ing full well that our resources, our national character' present blessings, and o ur f uture h o p es , an d, indeed,l may add, our very existence, d epen d on the measu res ywthciiitec will fori t i h l the ouriwv give, wisdom and nalaeniadsdto foresight defence—knowing cp oa—t ieknoutfo.woPoianorgsl consideration dat that, i t ol n m i e a too y l P t th r : lie ; measure I now have the honour to submit.—(chess_) Mr. HUME said the Right Hon. Gentleman need not be under any apprehension that his statement was not intelligible; but he confessed that ho could not agree with him in the arguments he had brought for ward in support of the measure. The only arguments he had used were based upon a fallacy—upon the apprehension of an imaginary danger. Was it be cause Russia maintained an army of 600,000 men, and France an army of 400,000, that this country will, to increase her military force to so great an ex tent? There was no ground for the increase, and no satisfactory reason had been assigned. If they were to have an army of 180,000 men in England, what became of the Speech from the Throne, in which it was stated that we were in amity and peace with all foreign powers ? The Right Hon. Gentleman appeared to have lost sight altogether of the 250,000 men they had in India. No specific or threatened attack by any powe r had been mentioned by the Right Hon. Gent leman. They were at present upon the most friendly re lations with France, Belgium, and all other foreign p owers. They had already voted 101,900 men for the re g ular military establishment of the country; they had voted 15,500 artillery, and 39,000 men for the navy , with e reserve of 5,000 more, making, in all, a force of 162, 000 men; and yet out of that force the Right Hon. Gentleman told thorn that they could not muster above 25,000 men for the defence of the country. It was stated that WI had 45,000 men absent in the colonies, but whY no ! bring them home from the colonies if there was any danger ? In Canada they had 9,000 or 10, 000 bad troops. Why keep them there when they her been told that Canada was able to manage own affairs? Not less than 14,000,000/. sterling, dbe voted for the army, the navy, and the ordnance, s ate en be did not think the French naval and military establish ments amounted to so much. Out of all their large naval force they had, it would appear, only nine line-of battle ships, fifteen large frigates, one sloop, nine steam' frigates, and eight smaller steamers. He was surprised to hear that statement, when be found that there were no less than 235 sail in commission. Would the House believe that on the coast of Africa, on both sides, they had at the present time 35 sail, that in the Mediterra nean they had 31 sail of men-of-war? If there was enY danger why not have these vessels on our own u" sts .; They had 6,000 coast-guard men, who would be found efficient as sailors. In the East Indies they bad 25 sail t on the North American station 26, and at the Cup° on Good Hope and the coast of Africa 37 sail, Lie would remind the House and the Right Hon. Gentleman, th they had enrolled the pensioners and the dockyard bat talions at a cost of 30,000/. per annum . Teking. tit these different bodies he could find 25,000 men, wing, out touching the regular troops. The M arines bad ° the been recently increased in order to set free that regulars for other duty. Again, het was told 'Bed, they had as many police in the metropolis Grilled, out as would, if armed, drive all the regulars _ a of London, and why should not these men theb regularly armed and drilled? Then three was . _ c . Irish police force, which was already armed, and wht__n_ wile h'.tter than on ;e g ular militia. It alt these w ere put together it would make a force of 232, 000 They had the industry of that country already saddell with a charge of 65 to 67 millions per annum, That they they were about to add another half million to it : heavy charge might be borne when prices were otits hen profits large, but now prices were low and pr . s that it come down, and it was under such circumstance _ a 4 was proposed to increase the weight upon the peon! u peace? high and, that country. Was that wise after forty years of The Hon. Member stated the case of a Mr. Lovell, who win 1831 had been drawn for t he militia, and had pressed for for exemption on the grou nd that having a lay . a support, and having been out of wo rk for some time, bor had now got work, by which h e earned some three . four shillings a day, and that it would be very hard and The unjust to force him to leave his family destitute to 0 0 on the militia service at Is. a day.—(Hear , hear.) _ , magistrate said, however, was committed, exemption; the man refused to serve—be for that this was no ground of still he refused; his goods were seized and put up a sale; no one would buy; for two months a sale . w b. a e a tt e mpted in vain; they were sent to a broker, a r and t e never saw them again; h o became from that ho n te a Chartist, and had since continued so; matter caused such excitement that the Government we re obliged to abandon t he measure.—(Hear, hear-) Such cases would infallibly occur under the proposed p me asure, and with a similar result.—(Hear, bear.) Let the Government make a proper use of the forces they had, including the coast guard, with its 8,000 men and 35 cruisers—such forces would be of far greater effi ciency than ten times the number of raw recruits, There really was no necessity for this measure. The panics that had prevailed had been got up, not by old " grist to women, but halt-pay officers, who haunted the Cubs about town, and were always looking out for ernapley naent and running about circulating rumours and se . d ” ing letters to the papers, in the hope of bringing ... service than • t their mill.—(A laugh.) This was the eo nacq n u ot ence o f promoting so many officers that there were ono in them were actually seven who had employment; and jus It was absurd to a n f o t w er moreLa tl a ie ny war, alarm about the elevation of Napoleen to the excite any a 40 uypeoanrsthage 0n......0n(-}je efenert.;ve 1 Presidency. What had vie to could clo h with that? It was ilia' li o o r s s e prepared i n Franco f wthout our having full n otice of ir. A nd in such an emergency the militi a the ibl e invasionthat any of ar t m hi a s men country t i with its presen t staff, would kepthbaeclusbeeigsat all npfourvaelnitsthese years at an expense of millions, and would be in time of service not only of Of Lansdowne no use but a positive n u i sa fo ri ce, and would be at once replaced by effective officers from When the Marquisffice was th at e tne regular li e ta e f . o o. rees. several experienced officers staff wore useless, and had reported that the militiat be at once got rid of that the volunteer corps eagle t By re-establishin and the militia as soon as possible. about to heist _g such a system the Government were. bon extinguished. a flame in England which would not easily gl llB hed. It would never be endured that such a system should be put levy in operation concurrently with the s of about 15,000,000 e for this very . - 1311' object of ou r tional defences—(Hear , hear)—and while our navy was scattered all over the earth employed for purposes often neither national nor necessary; and our troops sent to distant colonies were they were not wanted.—(Hear, hear.) The people never would stand it! The coun try was in a very different position now from that in which it bad beets when the militia were originally es tablished. The militia could not possibly be new a na tional force. ['he character of the population had been wholly changed.—(lslear, hear.) They had become a manufacturing and commercial country, and every /ne, was applied by the division of labour to tha t species ot employment for which ho was best suited, and the mi litia system would disturb and disarrange all existing sources of employment—(Hear) —and would certainly entail an enormous amount of demoralisation when the force was embodied.—(flear.) The result would be that the riff-raff and refuse of society would first .be re ceived, and then the virtuous and respectable, d anbalml mo te youthful portions of our population would be ot from to make tip the deficiency, and would be combined Would such a with such associates.—(Hoar, bear.) system be endured—the only alternative being the paying for substitutes , which many who would be bal loted for could not afford; for these were times when every man's income was reduced—(Hear, hear) —and he believed that under such circumstance the embarking in such a system would never be sanctioned by the country.—(Hear.) Sir DE LACE' said he bad given not ice, as an amendment, of a resolution with reference t o the provisions of the Militia Bill, that, though an immediate amendment and consolidation of the existing militia laws be indispensable, in order to give the Government t h e power of promptly resorting to the levy o f a force of that descrip tion in case of necessity, any sudden or unforeseen hostile attempt agains t bal d . Majesty's dominions will be most economically and efficiently provided for, and with least interrupti.oll_ to the industrial pursuits of the people, by regale: troops and volunteers. He had been informed• howeve a , by the Speaker, that ho could not move it until the second reading. He should, therefore, confine his s e al servations to the Government measure. He must _ ,_ that the Right Hon. Gentleman who had proposed °I! (Mr. Secretary Walpole) needed not to make anY.l l . logy for himself on account of the novelty of his ! c ac ao tion, for certainly his speech had been most nhl e , ja ht clear.—Hear. ) He eoneeired, however, that t":"0.04 lota, Civutleinon bad follect into gtierai _OW' <.l 1 I I' 1 -4-.... co I 1 • b, tt I n ELI at Ci ti tl t , 0 t. • 3 t a . : • ( f ;;