The Sun. — London, England, 1819-03-10 00:00:00

ion, ;or. 31.1 no• 'Sir 111(ff 80 4 i 1641 Olt o Fl l, tnus t have seen th e beer casks abOnt. the • I.ti e g s a e i c ti r s c t . zl ( i t o st, n an information had been filed o n l a petitioned the Commissioners (j .n vai n• His house was daily beset with E x cise l 'st who urged him to compromise the case Instead of going to trial , r a for their' is not s 1 ,7 1 v 14 uteet the Revenu e , b u t t o aggran di ze the te;iefiBerl,ll the ruins of others. The individual mthus °fret eel to pay 1501. but th a t was reject- He th en screwed op his courage to come 'e'r 0 Court, wh ere h e a l so found five Connsel in ltia against ; but by the a ble a s s i stance o f "o.when th e wretch who h ad i nformed came " the witness box, and was cross•examined, the h°lesystern wa s exoosed, and the Jury found a I j rd irt for t h e defei;dant. The last case lie should b y a was one which lied been transmitted to bins of most resp ecta bl e S o li c i tor an d Ald erman ;'"lebester. A mar i ner name d U n d erwood, 6 e , ;" 1 !"g Hear that town, had a smack called the 'went, wi t h w hi c h he used to carry oysters, 1 -41( ` egm duct over t h ose per il ous coasts sh i ps that Butte out of their course. He had incurred 1 7 e , deadly hatred of a notorious smuggler in the eul itY, who had sworn his destruction. It hap penedin , one day that the smuggler was at sea, and ° anger of perishing, when he saw the smack o f . nde rwood, and requested that he would send his t anti tw o men to take hint safe to shore.— ith the generosity of a British seaman, Under dinund sent his boat, and relieved his enemy ; he "i go himself, but seta two of his men. The 171ibuggler conveyed certain' contraband goods in a' boat thus sent to his assistance, which it was sel llns sible that Underwood should know, and . l en the latter returned to port, his vessel was 4. 12 , ed at the instigatian of the smuggler. liiste rd v,:ti l4 Ylug the case before a Magistrate, two ilifor `Pnl were filed against the unfortunate Under v-n",: One, for the purpose of condemning the I,: s ei, and the other to recover the penalty of the th -ud given by every ship-owner, as a security tti " i al he will not engage in contraband. The put for the amount of the bond could only follow c"lidentnation of the vessels, but yet the two vtinrolations were f i led at once. When the case rue r before t h e Court of Exchequer, the whole 14 4- 1 l ,'"" to have been a predetermined system tt Inost notorious contrivance. The informer convicted of being a most confit rued smug . - a ml the Jury gave a verdict for the clefen -14 t - • After a va i n attempt to seduce him to enter ft l . ° a co mpromi se with respect to the second ii Mrich must have dropped at once with lyt tl " 4 is i s " of the fi rst , th e C ounse l f or t h e C rown dle c lef tile Rec o rd. B u t th e consequence o f li t ( et i ► e nce and triumph of the poor mall was, had to pay expences to the amount of Ittio„ ad a the only solace given him was, that he sat e l p ro secute the smuggler for perjury. When Par; ‘vere the abuses of informations,. it was lin lralaelit t:/ ascertain to what extent the principle T lle{l . The facts which lie bad stated chal et' ltivestivation : the injured parties sought bi t ; 1 . 11 it now only remained for him to express land 4re t that the subject had not fallen i n t o tor 0-ea Lore able to do it justice. He theft moved 41 r mentioned at the commencement d e th e It tech. O, OI 7 T ToRNEY-GENIIRAL said, he did not think 44 r dhave o p pose d t h e mot i on, if i t were not Th e R e sPeech with which it was accompanied.— tsslo Gentleman h a d at t ac k e d the Com 44kti,iersers of tire Excise, the Solicitor of the e• } t - and the humbl e i n di v id ua l w h o t h en h a d • pe r 4° , ll r to add ress t h e H ouse ( t h e Attorney .:4ktin?' He had stated, that prosecutions were tt h - nd c arr i ed on in the Court of Exchequer ba se to benefit the public, but for the pur -444— iudividuals with costs. But lie (the ne)cGenera) had conducted the prosecutions l tin . 4 q t Court fur the last four years, and if the ; e r e n e l : it i l enten intended to insinuate, that he had ,C°n Nt r ,,‘" n ered the costs, not on his own account, ut 1, --e °lnit of any one—if he meant to state, had any other vi ew i o carry i ng on tars. • ' seeu tions but for the protection of the 4t ers . e a rid the public from the frauds of smug !i. t hat of relieving individuals under pe exrcit 44 r e the In stances—or compromising, in cases n Penalty was heavy, lie was actuated by to t th li.tuel.motti4 than the public good, he most bef , *h i ore that House, and he called his God i t: l er li np: i ' i s tt 3 t t he truth of that declaration, that such ch ar I°ll was false.—(Hear, bear !)—These yo 4l igh tf • g e l of such a nature as should not be m e re ~n i' eard in the British Houseof Commons, kht CverY thing that occurred went forth, as e '4 , l : " "ea r r : I , )e the case, to the world—(Loud cries !)--•unless they . were founded on hi ns ilt ve s °t flore than vague conjecture. The Hon. el . " (the a Professional man ; but he had surprised elf." Atio tl‘ e wh . r ney-General) that night, by a de- i klin,;' l , Non 'eh was contrary both to the law am : .(1 b e at ion. He had said, that these causes 1 - 4 1) . 11v ate i lri e e 'l either before the local Magistrates tl ► i n H e rby the Commissioners of the Ex- N e oul,l h w euld be gl a d to k now b y what 1,% l le th ' er e d wke ? If a m an i s p rosecute d as t h e If% ti a shiP en ledin a cont ra b an d tra d e , sh et i Y thi n p ro secuted in the Court of Exchequer.. lei, (!o ur .g 'vat -seized, it must be recovered in llj a `.e(l eti `• The person from whom it had been Irtfilstyt t ula into that Court for redress, and his iititttlatioAttorney-(3eneral was bound to Me an 14, : ere w.. n . upon which the Court proceeded."— e t '6 tth, ted,,,,, n Mber point to which the Hon. Gent. oa q _ lo a nd informations. He seemed to ! no i v . with those which were called ex ._get 'corinations but they were totally dis laetli) a n(l the te-e_ in f ormer were no o th er than the ht..4ter d_iwnleh the Crown brought actions to a _'° ll3 . If he (the Attorney-General) tirttliis.htt: actio n to recover a debt, he should, to., %%lie,. rnethe , A. or 8., complain t o th e C ourt, " Crown brought an action, in "19:lie "ee of its V j• • 5111,t1t di gn i ty and authority, it Iv 'en the Court by the Attorney -General ; Here e : er n i( l B( he done, unless frauds, such as e a t te all ow Y 14'1 Practised against the revenue, y e( to go un punished. He would riot in ns n ' s es were never made in Crown pro th:rnSerrlict otec toile tim e lot bad s had for the defendants; but ete otions, the ye- 1 ' car ried . on these to n 01 +(nets given against the Crown e d" d"oht in the hundred. Wherever the )7s w etiteri. • hoed the t . dine(' by the Jury, be al (ln•wbt, eiendant to have the benefit of 4" °ft" allowed such doubt to ape- thte it% his favour where he wall well convinced in Lis own mind a verdict should be had for the Crown: By a law of George the First, a writ;of Habeas was to be issued by the Barons of the Exchequer to seize the person of the' man against whom information was laid, yet not one writ of this kind had been ever issued without an affidavit having beena.previonsly filed in corroboration of the information, and sworn before one of the Ba rons. Unless some severity ond strictness was exercised in the discharge of the lows against sinugglers, it was probable the revenue would be destroyed, for there was nothing in the power of human ingennir y which was not done to elude them. The Hon. Gentleman had quoted two or three cases. The fin st was one in which the health of the lowerorders,who were the consumers,as well as the revenue, was at stake. And in no prosecutions was he so anxious to convict as in instances like that adduced by the Honourable Gentleman. It was true the expellees were peat ; but a person should only be the more careful not to incur them. In this case, a man who only lent his name and his money to another, was prosecuted for selling vegetable powder ; the penalty was one hundred pounds, and because he pleaded his ignorance of the transaction, it was compromised on his paying thirty, and indemnifying the Crown. Another was that of a small brewer. Those small brewers were in the habit of giving, as their daily beverage to th e p eo pl e , t h e most de leterions mixture. The great and respect able houses were injured by this practice, be cause, when they furnished good and wholesome liquor to the retailers, those small brewers fin-- Dished them with this mixture, which was min gled with the good, and both were sold to the un fortunate consumer under the name of the re spectable house. The third case was that of a ten dealer. He was prosecuted for two offences, sell ing adulterated tea, and vegetable powder for cof fee. And here he .(the Attorney-General) felt call ed to say, that in no instance where the article was seized and produced, was there ever a verdict given against the Crown. In this case the tea dealer was acquitted on the charge respecting the tea, because the Jury did not believe the evi dence for the Crown ; but he was found guilty of selling vegetable powder for coffee, because the article itself had been fortunately produced in Court, and the Jury could judge by their own or gans of vision. The Hon. Gentleman objected to the number of Counsel employed. There were five Counsel, the Attorney and Solicitor-General, two King's Counsel, and a Junior Counsel. Nei ther he nor his Right Hon. and Learned Friend could be always in the Court of Exchequer. It was therefore necessary that tire Crown should have learned anri able men in that Court to carry on these prosecutions in their absence. With respect to compromising, he assured the House that he often wished he had discretionary powers in this respect ; for nothing could be more diffi cult, where the penalty was heavy, than to affix that which should be exacted, so that it should have the effect of punishment, and yet stop slaort of ruin. It was often his misfortune to be ob liged to prosecute a poor wretch for whom his heart ached. In such a case he always endea voured to find out who was behind the curtain, that he might, as he could not reach him, so pro portion the penalty, that the merciless master might not allow the miserable instrument to go to jail for it. Mr. Waernmasi regretted that the Learned At torney-General had said nothing of the expence attending these informations. The House had been considering the Penal Laws, the Criminal Laws, and the Insolvent Debtors' Laws, and this was a part of the same system.—He was de cidedly. of opinions, that those persons who were connected with the Excise and the Customs were the last who would he for amending these laws, because that moment their ettioludients would cease. He knew nothing of the case which the Hon. Gentleman had stated ; but he knew that the expenses in all such cases were enormous, perhaps six times the amount of the penalty.- the alleged abuses existed, no man could have the face to oppose the production of the accounts called for; and, if they did not exist, let the Ac counts be shown, in order that the Government might be vindicated. MI:TIERN I EY had never heard a more strong, distinct, and perspicuous statement, than that of his Hon. Friend (Mr. Harvey). He had been utterly astonished at the manner in which it had been received by the other side of the House. But he supposed it was meant as a warning to all who had any complaints to make of griev ances or abuses in that House, to be measured in their language, and to beware of any expres sion that might by any ingenuity or sophistry be tortured into a personal aspersion on Gentle men oppoSite. He hardly ktiew - any man of the legal profession for whom he had entertained a higher respect than for his Honourable Friend, and that feeling was certainly not diminished by the way in which he had brought forward his motion. He knew that the revenue could not be upheld without some severity tolndividnals, but that was no reason why unreasonable and unne cessary cruelties should be practised. The Right Hon. Gentleman then examined the several cases referred to in the opening statement, commenting on the hardship and wanton expellee to the de fendants they exhibited, and interred that there was the strongest ground laid for am interpo sition of the House. The SOLICITOR-GENERAL argued at consider able length against the motion. He opposed it on the ground that the Honourable Mover im puted blame to the Board of Customs and Excise, and the Law Officers of the Crown, while be proved the existence of none. The Hon. and Learned Gentleman here went into a minute dis cussion of the three cases mentioned by Mr. Harvey, and contended that in none of them was there any reason to be found for the present mo tion. In 99 instances out of 100 the informations were prosecuted to a successful issue fur the Crown; and because the litindredth failed from the impos sibility of knowing the strength of the evidence before coining in to Couryberefore the whole sys tem was now to be contiemned as vicious and unjust. The Honourable and Learned Gentleman con cluded by some observations on the two informa tions against M-r.Waithman. In both the instances alluded to, he contended, the propriety Di the , eondoet of the tmt , Ofncets of the Crown was proved by the result of the proceedings instituted, In the one case, the Hon. Alderman had compro mised with the Crown, and dins alloWed the jus , !ice of the prosecution ; and in the other the proceedings were stopped on an allegation of conspiracy, for which the Honourable Alderman, if he felt himself aggrieved by being obliged to pay costs', ought to have prosecuted the informers to conviction.—(Here Mr. Aid. IVaithmau offered himself to the House in explanation )—The case for which he compromised was one in which he was rendered liable to penalties by the introduc tion into his house of an illicit article by one of his servants ; and the other case was one of con spiracy, for which he had intended to prosecute, and in which he had gone 'so far'as to have asked the names of the informers front the Board of Excise, that he might commence proceedings against then). Sir M. IV. RIDLEY said the last speaker opposed the motion became it went to impute blame to the Officers of the Excise. For that very reason he would support it. He should do this, because the character of a most respectable individual (the Solicitor to the Excise) had been called in ques tion, who he was sure w ou ld court i nqu i ry i nto his conduct. Mr. IV. SMITH eulogized the exemplary equity with which the Attorney-General conducted his prosecutions, but nevertheless insisted that many cases of hardship had occurred, some of which he cited. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER showed that in a case referred to by Mr. Smith, the pro perty of the unfortunate man had been seized by the Excise Officers in the ordinary discharge of their duty. Liis property had been re6tored, but no reparation could be made for the injury he had sustained, and not the smallest blame attached to the parties concerned in the seizure. But his case bad nothing to do with the preset' motion. Mr. LUSH I NGTON opposed the motion --More informatio n might have been obtained had the Hon. Gentleman called for specific information on specific cases, than the motion as at present framed would produce, though to comply with it would occupy the clerks of the department to which the order consequent upon it must go for a very considerable time. He opposed the motion, but disclaimed all intention of withholding any requisite_ information. Mr. W, IVtwAms supported the motion, and contended, that as the facts that had been stated were denied, the Papers ought to be given, to vindicate the characters or those charged to have been implicated in that which had been com plained of. Mr. HARVEY replied at some length. After which the House divided : For the Mat ion Against it -2 Majority —is Mr. BROGDEN brought up the Report of the Poor's Laws Amendment Bill, which was agreed to, and the Bill'ordered to be read a third time on Thursday. The Report of the Committee of Supply was brought up, and agreed to. Lord PALMERSTON obtained leave to bring in the Mutiny Bill. He afterwards brought it in, and it was read a first time, and ordered io be read a second,time this day. The Alians . and Denizens Bills were reported, and ordered to be readLa third time this day. The Annual Indemnity Bill was read a second time, and ordered to be committed this day. The other Orders of the Day were then dis posed of, and the House adjourned at ONR'• O'CLOCK THIS 'MORNING. RIEFROPOLITAN LAW SOCIETY. , (.From The Times.] A Meeting► 'yesterday took place at Searle's Coffee-house, in Carey-street, of many very re, ,spectable Members of o.le Profession, A ttornies and Solicitors, with a view to the establishment of a. Society, which should have for its. object the preservation ot•the just privileges and the support of the credit of A►tunnies and Solicitors, and par ticularly the .prevention and correction of the growing abuse of improper and unqualified per sons becoming Members of the Profession. %V. LEAKE, EN. AL P. took the Chair at about half-past two, and a series of Resolutions were moved and approved of, containing the opinions of the Meeting, 'that the existing laws, so far from protectin"g regular Practitioners, subjected them to much injury aml discredit, by allowing unqualified persons to enter into the Profession. It was further agreed, that for the better protec tion of the Profession, its rights, and its charac- ter, a permanent Society should be formed, can• skiing of Attornies and Solicitors practicing in ,London or Westminster, or within the limits of the two-penny post. This Society was to be called " The Metropolitan Law Society." Some discussion arose among the Gentlemen present, and many cases of gross abuse were stated. As the law now-s;ood, it signified very little to any Solicitor, as far as• regarded pecuniary matters, whether he was struck off the rolls, as at the ex- pence of between 201. 301. be might be en abled to put himself- in the same situation as be fore his disgrace. This was an evil which hail been gradually increasing for many years ; and, tailless a stop were put to its rapid progress, the injury to the respectable class of the Profession would he incalculable. Solicitors, it was ob served by one of the Gentlemen present, had paid too,much attention, and had been too anxious about the cases of their clients, to regard their own. It appeared by the statement of one of the Meeting, that the 'limber of persons articled, front the year 1794 to 1804, was 2700, by each of whom a duty was paid of,lool. making a total of 270,0001. paid between those two periods. From 1804 to 1815, the number of persons ar ticled was 6500, by each of whom 1101. was paid, making a total of 715,0001. From 1815 to De cember, 1818, no fewer than 1900 indkidnals were articled, and the duty paid was 1201. each, making in the whole 225,0001. By this it appeared, that very large sums were given for admission to the Profession, which was by a defect in the law almost totally avoided by those who introduce 4 themselves by sinister means, It flu they appear ed. that tly 'umber of e 11 Attornies admitted *from This Society, which we stated, last week, to he, in contemplation, and gave, at the same time, a sketch of its object, was instituted yesterday. The Meeting took place as before, at Searle't Coffee-house, and a number of the most respect able Members of the Pr ofessiou were prescot. At half-past two o'clock, W. LEAKE, Member of Parliament for St. Michael's, havinz been called to the Chair, opened the business of the day by shortly restating the general objects of tl►e proposed Society, and expressing his great willingness to forward them by every means hi s p ,, wer, both in his private and Parliamentary capacity. Mr. MALL, in rising to propose a tiumber of Resolutions for the adoption of the Meeting, re marked upon the high importance of the Proles. sion, and described at some length the difficulties under which it is at present labour-int , . One cir cumstance complained of, as a great and increas ing evil,,was the vast number of Certificated Con veyancers, who are continually springing up, to the exclusion of the regulatly-admitted Attornies. These Conveyancers he described as being, in many instances, persons who had been struck off the Roll of Attornies for mal-pr l acticesi in others, as so utterly ignorant of the law as to be unable to draw up a common title-deed without the ad- vice of Counsel; in others, as living at a great distance from the metropolis, and carrying on an extensive practice entirety by proxy, not only in conveyancing but at common LIN ; and in ot he's as being mere non-entities, existing only in name, and the business being conducted by a set of clerks. Several others of the Gentlemen present bore testimony to this statement ; and added, that the evil was of such magnitude, that not more than one-fifth of professional business' was done di rectly by regularly-admitted Attornies. The tor• due adv,,ntages enjoyed by the Clerks in Court, in the Court of Exchequer, was strongly animado vetted upon. It was stdred, that these advan tages arose from the circumstance of the business of that Court being carried on almost entirely without the agency of stumps, and the repeated use of the same instrument tu a number of differ. cut causes, whereby the Clerks in Court were enabled to bold out great advantages to Attornies bringing causes into that Court, but to the injury of the revenue and of the profession generally. Several Resolutions were then put, and curried una voce, in substance as follows : "'That the existing laws, so far from protecting regular practitioners, subject them to much injory and discredit, by the sufferance of irregular wad unqualified persons. " That, for the protection of the profession, its rights, and its character, it is requisite that a permanent and active So-, ciety of its regular and honourable professors be forthwith established, the chief object of whiCh Society shall be to pre serve the jest privileges, and support toe credit of Atturnies and Solicitors, and to take such measures as may be necessary fur that object," &c. The Chairman here informed the Meeting that e was ►ender the necessity of attending in his lice in the 'loose of Commons; and in con- stitierice T. W. BLAGRAVE, Esq. was unanimously re quested to take the Chair for the remaining business. ' Some further conversation then took place, se veral other Resolutions were carried, a set of Rules were adopted for the government of the Society, and the whole of the persons present rue tered their names as members of it. The illeet , 4 ing then adjourned. LONDON JOURNALS. FROM THE MORNING PAPERS OF THIS DAY. [Morning Chronicle.] The report in a Morning Paper of the two new frigates %Odell had arrived from the United Statet at Buenos Ayres having gone round Cape Horn to join Lord Cochrane's fleet is incorrect. We have sera a letter from the Chili Deputy at Bue nos Ayres to his Correspondent in London, dated the Gth December, in which he distinctly says that these two frigates still remain in Buenos Ayres. It appears that some hard fighting preceded the capture of the Spanish 50 gun ship, called the Reyna Maria Isabel, in the port of Taleaguano.— The Independents had 27 killed and 22 wounded. The ~bove prize is represented as a most valuable vessel, 2 years old, perfectly well fitted out, and an extremely fast sailer.—(lbid.) [The Times.] The Lords of the Treasury have given direc— tions to the Commissioners of the Customs for tha immediate dismissal of 81 tide-surveyors- and %salters, who have been proved to have take!' itcs contrary to the Act. 1 1 ) 05 e c o h lB A l s u , o 7 n a e s y 2 a 1 1 3 n 8 . : 1 n t t li e 1 , idnt, •?-°'-17. F t ' t'- :.: ::. , i . i i (4 l l 45,7601. From 1815 to 18i• . < . ll ' -- .7- ' ad- mitted was 1091', and the duty 4, 251. etch, was 27,27516 The rminber of ' out in the years 180 and 1'..,:' the ditty paid, a t an vet I :7'`- i , eAtoits 45,5911. per annum. The Society w as f orme • RICA present enrolled their ttants ' t's• ANOTHER ACCOUN ) [From The Morning lierald.l ....... _ _ [Morning Herald.] The report of the elopement of a young Officer of Hussars, the son or a worthy Baronet, toc Gretna Green, with an Heiress of title, is void of foundation. The title of Marquis of Annandale, %vide!) bas been dormant since the year 1792, is now claimed by a Gentleman of the name of Johnson, as the lineal descendant of the family.—(lL(l.) [British Press.] Michell, who was apprehended on Wednesday last at Covent-Garden, during the riot at the close of the Election, and suspected at t • time to be the villain who attempted to intird Fowles, the (laughter of a master carpente ~.. ornhatn, t is, Bucks, has been sin ce p rove d to b e t iit nt i ett I man, lie has been concreted to Bum , awl % alter undergoing a long inve s ti gat i on t 1 c, liti been committed for trial. Great holies ate en tertained of the vouny Woman'. .Rof,t,pe., ez ,