The Sun. — London, England, 1850-04-17 00:00:00

LAW INTELLIGENCE. BAIL COURT, April 16. (Before Mr. Justice COLERIDGE.) 'IN RE MOSES. Mr. SIMONDS was instructed by Mr. Thomas James Moses, an attorney of the court, to apply to his Lord ship for leave to amend the roll, by striking out the name of Muses. The gentleman was admitted in 1848, and his father had since consented to advance him a con siderable sum of money to purchase a practice, on con dition that he adopted the name of Thomas James. Mr. Justice COLERIDGE—Bat why should the roll be altered, which is right? Mr. SIMONDS replied that the gentleman now passed by the name of James. There were two precedents fcr this application. The first was that of a gentleman who, on searching his peligtee, found that he had been called by a wrong,nsne, and on representing the circum stances to the court, it was held that he could change his name without going to the expense of a royal licence. The next case was that of Mr. Thomas Doggitt, who was admitted as Thomas Doggitt Ingledew; but on sue ce)ding to some property left him by his mother, he ob tained the leave of the Court to adopt the surname of Doggitt, tho maiden name of his mother, without ob taining an Act of Parliament or a royal licence for the purpose. Here the father of the gentleman had ad vanced him 8001. to purchase a business, and for some time passed he had droprei the name of Moses, and was now known as Thomas James. Mr. Justice COLERIDGE said the application was somewhat novel to him, and he must therefore take time to consider it. The Court afterwards sat at Nisi Prius cases, and dis posed of several undefended cases. GREECE. The Allgemeine Zeitung has letters from Athens, of the 2d instant. The last French steamer which arrived in that city from Marseilles brought a 'letter from M. Trikupis, the Hellenic Ambas sador at Paris. M. Trikupis informs his Go vernment of the arrival of another Russian note, addressed to the Czar's Ambassadors in London and Paris, and dated from St. Petersburgh of the 23d. February. According to thisnote the Czar's Go vernment insists on_the return of the captured vessels before the affairs of England .and Greece can be allowed to enter into nearer consideration. But if the vessels are not returned ,, adds Count Nesselrpde, the 'Czar's Government will not consent to recognize any of the proposals which Baron Gros may have to make. ITALY. The Monitore Toscand has the following from Rome of the 6th : " It is now said here that the Holy Father will enter Rothe on Saturday next (13th). All public demonstra tions have been forbidden, and the preparations made by 'the Commune and the Minister of Finance sus pended. A- solemn triduo (service of three days) will, however, be celebrated in the church of every rione, or quarter' of the city. The Holy Father will not pass through the centre of the town, but through the rioni Monti, Trastevere, and Borgo. The Neapolitan troops will escort him to Velletri; the Carabineors from Velletri to Geziaine; the French Dragoons thence to Albano; and the Chasseara of Africa from Albano to Rome. Cardinal Patiisi, Bishop of Albano, will accompany his Holiness from his diocese to the capital. When the Holy Pontiff shall have entered the gate of San Giovanni, General Baragney d'Hilliers will ride on one side of his carriage, and Prince Barberini on the other. The Swiss guards will.he drawn upon each side of the street, and the noble guards; the French staff, and the suite of his Holiness will fallow. The Pontiff will stop at the Basilica of St. John's, where he will be received by their Eminences the Cardinals of the Government Commission and by the Chap:or. In this church the Holy Father will re ceivo the benediction and Holy Sacrament." _ The following notice was published at Turin on the 9tb " Adminstration of Public Safety.—Questure of Turin. —This day the law for the abolition of ecclesiastical jurisdiction and immunities has been published. The graitude of the nation suanifesti itself by an attitude full of dignity. All demonstrations and crowds shall be dispersed, as they may become a pretext for disorder and violence. " The Councillor Director of the Questure, " ADVOCATE MICONO." THE GREAT SEA-SERPENT ASHORE. Marvels never cease. Scepticism has been ram pant against the existence in the " depths of ocean" of the, leviathan sea-serpent. Few' dared ,to profess belief in the reality of the gigantic denizen of the deep ; and none were found bold enough to hope that the mystery would be solved by that veritable wonder - being exhibited in all its long gradations on land. The sea-serpent, however, has at length 'apparently taken to heart this general contempt towards his monstership ; and accordingly, as we learn from an American con temporary, has determined himself to climb the shores and dethrone the general doubts. 'The follow ing we extract from the Christian (U.S.) Mercury : "The following letter from a gentleman of Beaufort gives exciting news of what may, by this time, be the ' seat of war. The old fellow has got into close quarters, and if he does not make a sudden and for tunate. dash, has nothing better than offering himself as an oblation on the altar of science Beaufort, hfarclsls,.lB.so. The report of Captain Bankenship and ptesseug-ers• has been verified by many other wit nesses. ,Thia_ fsrmitlable sea monster has been seen again to day, we understand, in our waters. Whets discovered by those on board the steamer, "his enainenee" was in; Port Royal Sound, a distance of seven or eight miles-from this town. Since that time he kaa.l4aen. lazily making .his way up Broad River, and wise .seen by a gentleman, we understand, to day, in. , White Branch River, an arm of the Broad. Re 6 „reported to be making his way' higher up still, when, perhaps., he may be captured. He is deacril;ied asp being. from 120 to 150 feet in length, and of proportionate • bulk ; has the head of a ser pent, which he carries, when in motion, five or six feet' out of the water. About ten feet from his head is a hump,.reserablieg a hugs hogshead, and as far as he could he seen eat the•wat i er a succession of humps was observed. .11d .was, pursued for several miles along, the bank of th e river, at times the party in pursuit coming very near to him. He was shot at w i t h a rifle and shot gun, which bad the effect of making timid, and caused, him to sink below the surface of the water when nearly approached. We understand that a. party from this place has been made up to capture him if possible. The plan is to man two large' flats with a cannon to each, one Oast below, where he is represented to be, and the other above, and then approach each other, and, when he lee diaeovered, to fire into him: In this way he may. he taken, if, 'peradventure, he does not take them first. Tne Whale Branch is not more than one hundred yards wide, and there is every probability of an animated, conflict with this king of the waters, within his own dominions; and'l suppose it is admitted that the battle must h.s waged upon his own terin'a:" The Chartestou Courier has a letter from Beauthei, of the same date, and of a similar tenor, to which is apnended the following Information has just reached us that the said sea-serpant is ashore at the Month of the Skull Creek. If so, the prize is certain, taildl3-3aufort immortalized.' : MARKET TELLIG-ENCE. (FrOrtit`io LOstdo; !Vein Price Current, April 16.) the West India Sugar market pre sented a brisker appearance, and the business coocluded by priTatocoottact - was at full former rates. The total operations amount to 650 hhds, &c.. including at public sa l e 150 hhds 5 tree Barbados - 9, which wont at steady prices for.the better-sorts, but, a. decline of •6d fn. infe rior 'kinds; fine yellow realised 40: 6d to 425, mid to good 37. 6d to 40s, inferior 35: Gd to 375. 32 hhds, 41 tree ' , crystalised -137merarta mold -rather cheaper; good yellow at 41s" to 41s 61, mid 40s 6d, low 373 6d, and brown 333 6d to 34s per cwt. Raritino.—'ro7day a further redliction took place in the Vain° Pf, Refined Sugar, and home de a l ers operated with "caution. We quote brown Lamps at 473 6d to 488, .and, fair .to good grocery , 48s sa to 110 a per cwt. few buyerslof Crushed Sugar, and 275 to 28 s There - are Is the: value of British, MA MUS.-- This afternoon the public) sales of Mau "*sted of 6,713 bags ;, they went , off at ritius Sugar cons' - steady rates, and the whole so , fine and goo d yellow went at 37s to 6d, nAt Alow to mid 34s to 368 6cl, fine brown _.133 343 inferior 2 c 9 w 3 t ..t0 325, and low t o g oo d rogniAg .3.5,3 to p er 8 EAST INDIA.— This afternoon there were bags,eightiu the sale: of B enga l Sugar, consisting of l chief p or ti on o f w hi c h comprised wh t it s e Botehnearreksin; kinds s e vr a e r n ly t the whole so ld, b u t a t ra ther lower rates ; fetched 39. to 40s, low f at full ter ms . Fi ne w hi te B en aras to good- 3 - 64 to 38 8 6d;' damp and y washed 34s 6d to 39. 6d; fine' gr a i ny white 46s- to 46s 6d; good and fine low 403 Gel t o 418 6d. and low to goo d soft ditto 32s to 35t 61. OF China 699 bags were taken in at 35s 6d to 36s 6(1 for greyish yellow. report Fonrausi.—By pr i vate treaty since our last 3,000 cheats yell ow llavannah have been sold at from 19s Qd to 21s 6d for low to fine, with a few Florettas at 238 61 per cwt, and two cargoes white Havannah for Russia, at 32s per cwt. There are,however, several buyers rather under present rates. At public sale 419 chests of Pernambuco were withdrawn, and 7,456 bags Manilla were taken in; low to ord damp brown Muscavado at 13 to and ord yellow at 17s. At auction, 1,022 chests kfavannah were all taken in at from 37s Gd to 41s for low to fine. By private treaty the ellieE sale has been 150 hhds Cuba Muscovado at 353 par cwt. Moi:AssFs.—This afternoon there was ant much de mand I'm- Molasses, and at auction .87 pligs 11,n6a1 were, all withdrawn. Cecos.—There has been little business concluded in West India by private treaty, and a small parcel at pub lic sale' was withdrawn. The value of red Trinidad is 41s to 465, and - grey 39s to 43s per cwt. There has been little business concluded in Foreign, and 28s to 305 is tho value. COYFEE.—This afternoon there was no public sale of Coffee, and the purchases made by private treaty were small for all purposes, still it was difficult to buy good ord Native Ceylon under 48 per cwt; there is, however, a disposition on the part of some holders to press sales for arrival. The public sales of Coffee declared to take plug) on Thursday and Friday are at present of little moment, but several parcels of various sorts are on offer by private treaty. Tea.—Operations in Black Tea have been small for ( all purposes, and the quantity on offer is larger than for some time past, while the rates acceded to have been rather under those that existed on Tuesday last. Sales of ordinary and good common Congou have been made at 9d to 9,d, better sort 10d to is lid, and superior Is 2d to Is 8d per lb. Green has been operated in with caution, and supplies are getting larger. The amount of business concluded in Scented and Pekoe Teas has been upon a small scale, and prices are receding. For public sale large parcels of Tea are declared. SPICES.—To-day Pepper met with little attention, and at public sale 642 bags Black went at barely former rates—Malabar half heavy selling at aid to 3id, da• waged 30 to aid, and Sumatra good sound 3d; 24 bags white sold at 4i to 4id for ord and good ordinary dingy, which are lower rates. Cloves are rather cheaper, and 212 bags Bourbon sold at 7d to 7-id for mid to good, and damaged at 6d to 7d. Of Pimento 300 bags were taken i❑ at skd to 511 , 1 for good ord coarse. 180 chests Cassia Lignea sold cheaper, pile 1, at 93s 6d to 94s 6d, ditto 2 at 91s 6d to 92i, ditto 3at 86s 6d, out of condition 74s to 85s. 134 bags 450 pockets Bengal Ginger went at 19s to 19s 6d for fair export sort, which are lower rates. RICE.—The purchases amount to about 10,000 bags. Madras pinky white at Bs, pearl barley 7s to 7s 60, cargo 6s 6d to 7s, Bengal low white Bs, middling Ss 6d to 8s 9d, better sort in small parcels 9s to 108 per cwt. There has been little desire to operate in cleaned Rice, with ready sellers of low to fine Patna at Ila to 20;, broken 9s 6d to 10s 6d, town dressed Carolina 20s to 26a, and American 18s 6d to 19s per cwt. SAGO.—Of Sago several parcels have been offered at public sale, and nearly all taken in. The ♦alue of Sago Flour is 21s to 225, with few buyers. This afternoon the public sales of 300 chts went at 22s to 24s for fine and good small white, and at 22s 6d for bold grain. SPIRITS.—For Demerara Rum a good business has been concluded; and the sales are 300 puns at 2s 3d' to 2s 4d for 30 to 40 per cent over proof. Fine Jamaica has been sold to a fair extent at fully former rates; but other sorts continue to be operated in with caution by shippers and home dealers; prices have still a down ward tendency. The value of 20 to '29 per cent over proof is from 2s 3d to 2s 9d, 30 to 38 over 2s 9d to 3s 6d, and choice marks 3s 8d to 4s 2d. The value of Lee wards is is 4d to is 5d proof, and there are stilt few buyers. East India has been operated in with cau tion at is 3i-r1 to is 4d proof. Only moderate purchases have been made in Brandy, and there are ready sellers of Cognac best brands of the vintage of 1849, 4s 4d to 4s 6d, 1848 ditto 4s 7d to 4s 9d, 1847 at 5s Id to 5s 3d, and inferior sorts 2s 9d to 4s 4d. Geneva shipping sort is is 7d to is Bd, and home trade kind 2s 3d to 3a 3d. For British made spirit the market is still quiet at 9s 5d to 9s 6d, and for Gin at 7s 103 to 81 4d per gallon. , COCHINEAL.—To-day the public sales of Cochineal met with little attention, and consisted of 314 bags; the whole sold, but at rather lower rates—low to mid Hon duras silvers went at 3s 7d to 4s Id, ord and good Maxi" can black 3s 6d to 3s 10d, and Teneriffe 3s 7d to 3s Ild per lb. INDIGO.—This afternoon the public sales of 63 sarong of Guatemala Indigo went at from 3s 2d to 4s 3d for coppery to fine sabres, and which are full rates. TALLOW.—For P.Y.C. the rates required are 36s 6d to 37s per cwt for first quality. Few contracts have been concluded for delivery in the last three months of the year, and sellers are willing to accept 38s to 38s 6d. Home melted in good demand, but at the moderate rates of 35s to 36s net cash. Other sorts met with little at tention, and are depressed in price. Of 360 packages South American offered at auction a part only sold at from 31s to 36s for low to fine ; 560 casks New South Wales 33s to 36s 6d, and 27 packages of fine Cape 31s 6d per cwt. Rough Fat is freely offered at 2s per stone of Sibs. OlLS.—Although Olive Oil is to be obtained at a fur ther reduction, yet operations hive been to a limited ex tent: Gallipoli at 461 to 471; Barbary, Levant, and Por tugal, at 44/ lOs to 451 lOs per tun. Only small pur chases have been made in Palm, and OR the part of holders a desire is evinced to sell fine at 30s 6d to 31s per cwt. Of Cocoa Nut large arrivals have taken place, and the amount of business concluded has been small, good and fine Cochin at 32s to 345, and Ceylon 31s to 33s per cwt. Rape Seed Oil is cheaper, yet a fair business has been concluded, pale at 39s to 40s, and brown at 37s to 38s. For Linseed Oil prices have de clined from 31s 3d to 31s 6d on the spot, at which only limited purchases have been made by home dealers, and few export orders were completed. Only trifling contracts have been concluded for delivery, although consump tion of Oil is getting larger. Sperm has been operated in with greater freedom, prices have improved to 81/ lOs to 821 per tun fur fine Colonial, and there is only a limited supply. In Cod the purchases-made have been limited at 341 lOs to 35/, and a decline is looked for shortly. Seal has been operated in with caution, Palo is to be obtained at' 36/ to 37/, straw and tinged 321 lOs to 354 yellow and brown 311 to 324 but the better kinds are least in de mand. Southern .has been operated in with more rea diness and at stiffer rates ; sales having been made at 311 to 331, lOs for low to fine. Headmatter is yet in scanty supply and wanted; prime is worth 861 to 891 per tun. FROM THE LONDON GAZETTE OF TUESDAY. FOREIGN•OFFICE, Aritu. 12, 1850. The queen has been pleased to approve of Mr. Ben jamin Everett Smith as Consul in Turk's Island for the United States of America. DOWNING-STREET, APRIL 16. The Queen has been pleased to appoint Jacobus Johannes Le Suear, Esq., now Civil Commissioner and Resident Magistrate for the District of Swellendam, at the Cape of Good Hope, to be Civil Commissioner and Resident Magistrate for the District of Worcester, in this Colony, and Richard Southey, Esq., to be Civil Commissioner and Resident Magistrate for the said District of Sraellendsm. Her Majesty has also been pleased to appoint James Davys, Esq., to be Colonial Surgeon for her Majesty's Forts and Settlements on the Gold Coast. OFFICE OF ORDNANCE, APRIL 12. Royal Regiment of Artillery.—Erratum.—ln the ".Gazettes" of 22d•December, 1846, and 10th December, 1847, the name of Mr. Philip " Bedingfeld," on his ap pointment as Second Lieutenant, and subsequent pro moticoi to First Lieutenant, was incorrectly spelt " Bedingfield." commiuion by the Lord-Lieutenant of Inverness-shire. 76th or Inverness-shire Militiv.--Walter Grant James Macgregor, Esq., to be Lieutenant, vice, Grey, retired, April 6. _BANKRUPTCY SUPERSEDED. John Holland, cloth merchant, Leeds. BANKRUPTS. Edward - Hole and Joseph Wonfor, manufacturing cheniists, Battersea, to surrender April 26, at half-past eleven, and May 31, at eleven, at the Court of Bank ruptcy. Graham, official assignee, Coleman-street; Cole, Tokenhouse-yard. Thomas Collingwood, butcher, Abingdon, Berkshire, , April 27, at twelve, and May 30, .at eleven, at the Court of Bankruptcy. Graham. official assignee, Cole • man-street; Graham, Temple ; Graham, Abingdon. George Williams, builder, Woolwich, April 26, at one, and ,May 28, at eleven, at the Court of Bankruptcy. Edwards, official assignee, Sambrook -court, Basinghall street; Morgans, Old Jewry-chambers, Old Jewry. William John Alfred Joe, shipbuilder, Bexley-heath, Kent, May 4, at half-,past twelve, and May 25, at eleven, at the Court of Bankruptcy. Pennell, official assignee, Guildhall-chambers, Baeingball street; Teague, Crown court, Cheapside. Joseph Donovan, fishmonger, Oxford-street, May 4, at one, and 25, at half-past eleven, at the Court of Bank ruptcy. Pennell, official assignee, Guildhall Chambers, Basinghill-street; 'Moseley, Bedford-street, Covent garden. Charles John Hubbard, hop merchant, Crutched Friars, April 27, at eleven, and . May 18, at half-past eleven, at the Court of Bankruptcy. Pennell, official assignee,, Guildhall-chambers, 13 asinghall-street ; Rus sell. Martin's-lane. Henry Daniel Turton Johnson, H Hilditch Johnson, and George Hilditch Johnson, wholesale tes dealers, Alder mary Church-yard, Watling-street, April 30, at half. past eleven, and June I,at eleven, at the Court o f B unk .. ruptcy. Johnson, offic ial assignee, Basinghall-street ; Phillips and Voss; Sise-lane. Joseph Arundel!, brewer, T 23,itchfio1d, Southampton, April 2.5, at half-past one, and M ay at tw elve, at the Court. of Bankruptcy. Johnson, o ffi cial assignee, Ba singhill-street; Compigne, Bucklersbury. Richard. Dean, builder, Church-street, Trinity-square, Southwark, April 25, at eleven, and May 23, at one, at the Court of Bankruptcy. Bell, official assignee, Cole man-street-baildings; Barnard, York road, Lambeth. Benjamin Symes Saunders, quarryman, Stamen, Soo mersetshire, April 23, at eleven, and. May 23 (and not on the 3d as before advertised), at one, at the Exeter District Court. Hirtzel, official assignee, Exeter; Pooles, Bridgewater; Stogdon, Exeter. Matthew Dixon Robinson, confectioner, Dudley, Worcestershire, May, 2 and 28, at twelve, at the Bir mingham District Court. Christie, official assignee, Birmingham; Bolton, Dudley; Metteram, Knight and Emmet, Birmingham. Alexander'Brown and William Todd, provision mer chLiLiavvneerrtrpp,ooLocilliv;Deßripesotilrio,l, May 6, and June 3,, at eleven, a t t h e District Court.. Morgan, official. agaignee,. David Henry Beresfard, linendraper, Stockport, 'May 2Hoabnsdo3no,,oaffitetiwal as elve, si a g t e t e h , e Manchester District Cou r t. Manchester; Slater, Man chester. George po n A . e y x n a e n , d A e rp April Von D a t o m h a m l r p , a s m t merchant, a andnt, Ne w May eas t 1 e - u neevect"Nt N ew c astle-u pon- 'Tyne B 2B a , k a e t r, t w o e ffi l v c e i , a a l t t a h s e si N g Newcastle-upon-Tyne District yne Cour t. ia a w renee. Crowdy, and DOWlby, Old Fish -street; Griffith and Ctighton, Newcastleupon,Tyne. SUPERSTITIONS REGARDING FRIDAY. It is strange enough that Friday is regarded, in all countries, as a peal. liar day. In England it is generally considered unlucky, and many people will not commence any undertaking; on that day ; and most sailors b e li eve that the vessel is slue to be wrecked that sails on a Fri day. If a marriage takes place on that day, the old wires shake their heads, and predict all kinds of misfortunes to the bride and bridegroom. Nav, they even pity all children who are so unlucky as to be born on a Friday. In Germany, on the contrary, Friday is considered a lucky day for wed dings, commencing new undertakings, or other memorable events; and the reason of this superstition is said to be the. ancient belief that the witches and sorcerers held their meet ing on this day; and, of course, while they amused them selvesro. with dancing and riding on broomsticks round the 161 ck B berg, they could have no /hue to work any evil. TH E JRws BERLIN.---AP7.—The Jewish com munity here are at present wailing for a• centralisation* of the Jewish congregations com mittee has been appointed for °fPrussia.that purpose; A provisional len g th yappeal is now i n c i rculation here, setting rth the advan tages which ar e lik e l y - to arise from the plan of centralisa tion...iiewish Chronicle. THE SUN, LONDON, IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. HOUSE OF LORDS, April 16. Their Lordships assembled at Five o'clock. Lord lIATHERTON presented a petition praying for a total cessation of Sunday labour in the Post. office. ASSISTANT-SURGEONS IN THE NAVY. Lord REDESDALE presented several petitions pray ing for better accommodation fur assistant-surgeons in the navy. The Earl of. FIARDWICKE opposed the prayer of the petition. It would be subversive of discipline if they were to mess in the ward-room; the room in which they messed was the gun-room, the best in the ship. They had the companionship of their own fellow assistants, and their presence and example was useful in keeping order among the midshipmen, and setting them a good example. He had a petition to present with the similar prayer, but he thought that the peti tioners did not understand the subject. The Earl of MINTO agreed with the Noble Earl, and regretted that the subject should have been mooted by those who were totally uninformed on the subject. The assistant-surgeons had in addition to the gun-room the reading cabin, of .the accommodation of which they had neglected to avail themselves fur study, and had in too many instances appropriated it to improper uses. The Duke of ARGYLE presented several petitions deprecating say change in , the constitution of parochial schools in.Scoiland. The Marquis of BREADALBANE presented several petitions from divers Presbyterian congregations in Scotland against Post-office labour on Sundays. BRICK DUTIES BILL. This Bill was read a third time and passed. EXCHEQUER•BILLS BILL. This Bill was read a third time and passed. Their Lordships then adjourned. HOUSE OF COMMONS, April 16. The SPEAKER took the Chair at Four o'clock. PRIVATE BUSINESS. The amendments to the following Bills were considered and agreed to, and the Bills ordered to be engrossed:— Exeter and Crediton Railway Bill; Londonderry and Coleraine Railway Bill. . KIDDERMINSTER ELECTION. Mr. WILSON PATTEN brought up the report of the General Committee of Elections nominating the fol lowing Members to try the merits of the petition com plaining of the return of Mr. Best for Kidderminster:— Viscount Enfield, Mr. A. Stafford, Mr. D. Morris, Sir William Jolliffe, and the Hon. Edward P. Bouverie (chairman). PETITIONS. Mr. EVANS presented two petitions from Derby shire, one praying for the repeal of the paper duties, and the other in favour of the Education Bill. An HoN. MEMBER presented a petition praying for the abolition of the taxes on knowledge. An Horr. MEMBER presented a petition praying for the abolition of church•rates. Mr. C. LIISHINGTON presented a petition from the parish of St. Martin's praying for the repeal of the window-tax. Mr. FOX presented several petitions in favour of his Education Bill. Mr. THORNELY presented similar petitions from places in Staffordshire and Cheshire. Mr. LOCKE presented a petition from the London, Brighton, and South Coast Railway Company against the Stamp Duties Bill. • Mr. BROTHERTON presented a petition from Man chester in favour of the claims of assistant-surgeons in the navy to increased accommodation. Mr. W. PATTEN presented a petition from the same place, signed by 3,600 persons, praying for the abolition of the duty on paper. Sir E: BUXTON presented several petitions against Sunday labour in the Post-office. Mr. ROEBUCK presented a petition froni Sheffield praying for the abolitiOn el taxes' on knowledge; also a petition from Bengal complaining of the defalcations of Sir Thomas Turton, and praying the House to take steps to prevent a similar occurrence. Mr. COBDEN presented a petition from Rudders field praying for the repeal of the taxes on knowledge, and a similar petition from the West Riding. Lord GALWAY presented a petition against the Copy hold Enfranchisement Bill. Mr. HEYWOOD presented petitions from places in Lincolnshire in favour of the Ten Hours' Bill. General LYGON presented petitions, against Sunday labour in the Post-office. Mr. ELLIS presented a petition from Leicester pray. ing for the repeal of the taxes on knowledge. Major BLACK ALL presented similar petitions. Colonel THOMPSON Presented petitions to the same effect from Sunderland and WalthamstOw. Load NUGENT presented several petitions from places in Buckinghamshire against Sunday labour in the Post-office; Also a petition praying for the abolition of church-rates ; and several petitions in favour of the abolition of the punishment of death. Sir J. HANMER presented a petition praying for the extension of the jurisdiction of county courts. Mr. RICARDO presented a petition from Worcester in favour of the Education Mr. MULLIN GS presented a petition from a place in Gloucestershire praying for the separation of Church and State. Mr. COCKBURN presented a petition from South. ampton praying for the aholition of church-rates. Mr. G; THOMPSON presented a petition from Roch dale in favour of th• Ten Hours Bill; also several peti.ions praying for the repeal of church-rates. Mr. A. HASTIE presented a petition from Glasgow against Sunday labour in the Post-office; also another petition from shipowners and shipmasters of Glasgow against the Merchant Seamen's Bill. — Mr. BUTT presented a petition from the county of Durham against Sunday labour in the Post•oflice. Mr. DISRAELI presented a petition from the tenant farmers of For!ar complaining of agricultural distress ; also a petition from the grand jury of the King's County, Ireland, praying to be relieved from local taxation. Mr. DIVETT presented a petition from Exeter in favour of the claims of assistant•surgeons in the navy. Mr. EDWARD ELLICE presented a petition from Fifeshire against the Scottish Poor-law. Mr. FAGAN presented a petition from Cork against the Fisheries' Bill. TURNPIKE ROADS. Mr. EWART moved, that standing orders Nos. 5 and 87 be suspended with respect to all opposed Turnpike Road Bills introduced in the present session; and that it be an instruction to the Committee of Selection to refer such Bills to a Committee or Committees, constituted of u Chairman and four other Members not locally or other wise interested in such Bills. Mr. WILSON PATTEN opposed the motion. He did not conceive that any good would be obtained. After a short discussion, the motien was ultimately withdrawn. • IRISH POOR-LAW. Lord NAAS gave notice that on that day month he should call the attention of the House to the working of the Irish poor-law. PACKET STATIONS ON THE IRISH COASTS. Mr. HENRY HERBERT gave notice that on that day month he should call the attention of the House to the importance of establishing mail-packet stations on the south and west coasts of Ireland. MILITARY KNIGHTS OF WINDSOR. Colonel SALWEY gave notice that on Thursday h• should move fur a return of the sums expended on the building for the Military Knights of Windsor. EIGHT SHILLING DUTY ON CORN. Mr. H. )3ERKELEY postponed, on behalf of his hen. relative, Mr. G. Berkeley, the motion for a reim position of an 83. duty on corn until the 18th of May. TOBACCO,, Colonel DUNNE gave notice that cm an early day he would move that the House resolve itself into a Com mittee of the whole House to consider the laws relative to th• admission of tobacco into this country. lONIAN ISLANDS. Mr. HUME gave notice , that on this day week he would move the appointment of a Committee to inquire into the late cases.of :riot and. to proclamation of mar tial law in the lonian Islands. IRISH CHURCH. Mr. ROtBUCK gave notice that on this day week he would propose that the House take into its consideration the state of the Irish Church, with a view to the promo tion of the well-being of the people of that country. THE INDIA BENCH. Mr. SADLEIR gave notice that on this day fortnight he would make a motion with respect to the exclusion of members of the Irish bar from the judicial bench in India. Colonel DUNNE moved for certain returns of income tax arising from securities and possessions in Ireland, which were agreed to. MILITARY • KNIGHTS OF WINDSOR. Colonel SALWEY gave notice that on this day fort night he would move the appointment of a Select Com mittee to inquire into the claims of the MilitiOY Knights of Windsor. POOR-LAW. Mr. lIATCHELL stated, in reply to A question from Colonel Baekall, that the Poor-law Commissioners, had no power to award salaries to assistant poor-law g uardians, nor had they any power to pa l them out of the rates. They were in the position of ex officio or re presentative guardians, and were not .entit 01 to any salary. WEDNESDAY EVENING, APRIL 17, 1850. pair of boots and then put them into the post-office, they would go as a newspaper.—(Laughter.) It was well known that Savory, the silversmith, was able to send his catalogue of plated goods through the Post-office by getting it stamped as a newspaper. It might be said that the tax on newspapers was a political question, and that its tax ought to be maintained in order to keep newspapers respectable. He would relate a circumstance which showed what security it afforded for that purpose. There was a paper called Sam Sly, which lived by libelling individuals; and amongst other persons it libelled a clergyman at Barking, by stating that he had been guilty of some improper communication with one of his female servants. The Solicitor of the Stamp-office was written to, and that gentleman (Mr. Keogh) wrote in reply that " the paper called Sam Sly was not liable to the newspaper stamp." If libelling individuals was not news, and that of the worst description, what was news? But according to the solicitor of the Stamp office they might actually circulate a paper like Sam Sly without being liable to the stamp duty. Where, then, was their security fur respectability? With respect to scientific publications, although they contained matter which might savour of news, still the details assumed much of the character of a review. Now, considering the enormous penalties involved in breaches of the Stamp Act, he (Mr. Gibson) thought something more definite than speaking about articles which "savoured of news" should be given for the re gulations of persons liable to these penalties. Ho hoped the Noble Lord at the head of the Government would be more explicit, because the statute wag a penal statute. He had been in correspondence with the proprietor of a small publication at Greenock, who had fallen upon an ingenious mode of evading the Stamp Act. The person informed him that he was prosecuted for an infringe ment of the Stamp Act, and was subjected to pay a penalty of 100/., being 201. fur each of five numbers. Having studied the Act very carefully, he found that printing on cloth—(Hear, hear)—was not provided for; and, therefore, with the view of keeping within the law he resolved to use an inferior and more expansive me dium. He had received a letter that morning, from the same person, explaining that he had appealed against the penalty to the proper authorities, and that the fine had been remitted. The name of the publication had been changed, in consequence of what had oc curred, to the " Greenock News Club." (A copy of this publication, which appeared to be of the size of Cham bers's Journal, and printed upon cotton, was produced by Mr. Gibson, and handed, amidst some merriment, to the Chaneellor of the Exchequer, who scrutinised it with some interest.) Now, he would say, enforce your law. It was fatal to select particular cases, because it placed a censorship in the authorities of Somerset House as to what constituted a newspaper and what did not. If the House was not prepared to tolerate that principle, let one of two things be done—repeal the stamp duty or enforce it—enforce it fairly and indiscriminately. Let there be no evasion ; let all bear the burden. If that was not to be done, do not let the House place itself in that other predicament of erecting and maintaining a censorship in Somerset House. These were the grounds upon which he called upon Hon. Gentlemen to vote for the repeal of the stamp duty. The revenue might be 350,000/., but the whole of that sum would not be lost by repeal. All which went through the Post , office would still pay the duty. 'Mr. Rowland Hill calculated that of 86,000,000 of stamps printed, 66,000,000 were trans mitted by post. He (Mr. Gibson) would not say that as many would be sent through the post as were now sent were the duty repealed, but it was fair to presume that a considerable portion would continue to be transmitted. All that he asked the House to do was to sacrifice a portion of the 350,0001., and thus confer a great boon and advantage upon the great body of the people, by circulating cheap newspapers among them. There was no reason why newspapers should not be as cheap in England as i n oth er coun t r i es . Th e case o f America was well known. There was no reason why the working man in this country should not obtain, un der the new order of things, a faithful abridgment of the news and occurrences of the day at the same cost that he paid for publications of a less useful kind. By means of; a better class of newspapers working men might be taught useful hints as to the best means of get ting employment and of earning a livelihood, and by this means the mistakes and mi sconce pti ons w hi c h h a d in several instances occurred—sueh, for instance, as on the subject of machinery—would be avoided. Correct ideas, too, on the subject of factory legislation, would be circulated. He believed that cheap newspapers would be of infinite advantage in the discussion of questions affecting labour and employment. Let him say one word in reference to the law. A man was not allowed to plead ignorance of the law. If so, why were steps taken to prevent men from knowing the law by excluding them from all knowledge of what occurred in courts of justice ? He would contend that cheap newspapers contained the best and most practical mode by which that information could be communicated. Few could study Blackstone or Coke, or other learned authorities; but the proceedings in police-courts and courts of justice were calculated to yield warning and instruction. On these grounds, then, he did hope that he should have a favourable consideration, on the part ' of the Government, of the newspaper stamp, as well as of the duty on paper.—(Bear.) With respect to the next resolution of the series, he hardly felt himself at liberty to enter upon it, inasmnch as it was in the hands of his Hon. Friend the Member fir Dumfries (Mr. Ewan), who had paid great attention to the subject. He (Mr. Gibson) had placed the subject of the duty on advertisements in his motion, as coming under the ge neric term of " taxes on knowledge," and without it his motion would have appeared incomplete.—(Hear.) It was, indeed, a tax Lull of inequalities, and one that pressed very unfairly upon the poor; making, as had often been said, the poor servant in want of a place pay as great an amount for an advertisement Its was paid by the rich proprietor for the sale of his estate. — (Heir, hear.) They both paid Is. 6d, in the shape of advertisement duty. He remembered that Mr. James Mill had put this question of an advertise ment duty very cleivly and strongly when he said that the old fashion used to be to advertise all our wares by means of the public cries, and supposed the case of an exciseman stepping up to him when he was about to announce some important event necessary to be known, such, for instance, as the loss of a child and any such circumstance, and telling him to stop, for that he must not say a word on the matter he was about to announce until he should have paid eighteenpence into the public exchequer.—(Hear, hear.) Tbis advertisement duty would have amounted to a tax upon speech. What would have been said if the excisemen had really stepped forward in such a case and asked for is. 6d.? Why, he would have been scouted—(Hear, hear)—and people would have almost been tempted to have bad recourse to physical force to get rid of him. Our advertisement duty o su p b e ;c a r t i ed be , r o e s ~ a t s o a a tax g u g p e o d n s c c h h o a o r l i ty ; without for o s n o e m c e o p u o l d r t h i o o n t of the money going to the State.—(Hear, hear.) People did not know that when they were giving their money in aid of the great Exhibition of 1851, part of their subscription to that object went to the Exchequer. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, when complaints were made on the subject of this duty, said, " True, but the advertisement duty brings us 153,0001. a year." The Right lion. Gentleman, however, ought to deduct that which he himself had to pay in the shape of advertisement duty, for he, too, had to advertise, like the rest of them. And, after all, what was this sum of 100,000/, or 150,0001., or whatever it was, in comparison with the wrong that was thereby done to the people, the injury to literature, and the cruelty to those who were in distress,—(Hear, hear.) The Daily News, not long since, proposed, he understood, to give a list of all sales that had passed, and all the sales to come, just as all the papers published accounts of where the hounds met, the law notices, and such other things, and which were not what was technically termed " news," but still information which was of use to many persons. The Stamp-office, however, said, " You must not do anything of the kind without paying the advertisement duty.— (Hear, hear.) One would imagine, at the same time, that the insertion of forthcoming sales in a newspaper was quite as natural as the publication in the Morning Post, Bell's Life, or any other paper, of the particulars of sporting matters, or many other things of a far less use ful character. He believed that the expense of adver tising in the United States of America, as compared with the cost of it in this country, was so largely against Eng land as scarcely to be believed by persons not acquainted with the facts. The charge for one advertisement in this country would be found to be six or seven times as large as for the same thing in the United States; and indeed he believed that the comparative charges would be found to be, in some instances, in the proportion of 8/. or 9/. to 200/. The advertisement duty was, in short, a fatal drawback to all trades, and to the necessary intercourse between men, not only for commercial, but even for social purposes.—(Hear, hear.) His last resolution referred to a somewhat smaller matter, but one, at the same time, of much importance, namely, the duty on foreign books. It was true that this duty only gave about 8,000/. a year, but it operated as a very heavy per centage on foreign classics, and as a great obst a cle to the supply of libraries with foreign books; and, as such were the effects of the tax, and as it led to so much fraud, he did hope that he should have the concurrence of the House in his opinion that this duty should be removed from the tariff, as it was one of those which it had been contemplated to remove, acting, as it did, as a great obstacle to literature and the free circulation of books between this country and other nations, and being attended with many practical evils. The Right Hon. Gentleman then said, in con clusion, that he would proceed to place in the hands of the Right Hon. Gentleman in the chair the first resolu tion comprised in his motion, viz., that on the paper duties, hoping that it would receive the favourable con sideration of the House; for it was his firm conviction that if they did not remove these taxes, which hindered and retarded the spread and progress of knowledge among the great body of the people, they were laying in store some great and serious evils that would fall on this country, at some future time, as a not unfit retribu tion for their erroneous policy.—(Cheers.) Mr. COWAN, in seconding the motion, said he was not afraid to say, before the landed aristocracy of En gland, that nearly all he possessed in the world was con nected with that manufacture which had been referred to by his Right Hon. Friend in the earlier portion of 1 his speech. And this, perhaps, might expose him to some disadvantage, inasmuch as that the bight Hon., Gentleman the Chancellor of the Exchequer might tell i him he ought to leave well alone — that he ought, n short, to beware of stirring in this question, as the repeal of this tax would necessarily create greater corn petition in the manufacture and sale of paper, by in ducing a greater number of persons to enter into trade. He was not, however, afraid of such a result—(Hear)— nor,'even it he were, would he refrain from denounci ng this tax as one of a most injurious description, and one in the removal of which he would not by any means stand in the way.—(Hear, hear.) The Hon. Member then, in explaining the peculiar pressure of the restric tions that were imposed on the manufacture of paper, said that the duty was levied at once, and 'by means of affixed ,ta ~every_ paper atampa awl labels that mast be TAXES ON KNOWLEDGE. Mr. LUSHINGTON presented a petition from print ers and others in London and Westminster, in favour of Mr. M. Gibson's motion for a repeal of the taxes on paper and advertisements, and for the repeal of the newspaper stamp duty. Mr. LABOUCHERE presented a petition from Exeter to the same effect. Mr. COBDEN presented similar petitions from Scar borough and several places in Lincolnshire. Mr. M. GIBSON rose, after presenting several peti- tions to the same effect from the metropolis and other parts of the country, to move the following resolutions: — Whereas all taxes which directly impede the diffusion of knowledge are highly injurious to the public interests, and are most impolitic sources of revenue, this House is cf opinion, Ist, That such financial arrangements ought to be made as will enable Parliament to repeal the excise duty on paper; 2d,•that it is expedient to abolish the 1 stamp duties now payable on newspapers in Great Bri tain and Ireland; 3d, that it is expedient to abolish the duties now payable on advertisements in Great Bri tain and Ireland; 4th, and that the customs duty on foreign books ought to be repealed. Before entering upon the merits of the particular resolu tions he was about to submit to the House, he thought it right to make a few preliminary observations, in or der to explain to the House why he had thought it con sistent with his views to make this motion in its pre sent form of separate resolutions; also to explain to th( House the way ill which he wished the motion to be pu i; ./. bud also to explain how he could reconcile it w ith la „ sense of public duty to move fur a rather large reduction of taxation after the financial arrangements of the year has been concluded. With regard to the last of these points, he wished to say, that if a Member of Parliament were to wait previous to asking the House to express an opinion upon the policy of particular taxes until there was a clear surplus, and no way pointed out of applying that surplus, he very much doubted whether ho would ever have an opportunity of submit'ing such a motion to the House.—(Hear.) Why, at all times Government managed to spend as much as it could get.—(A. laugh.) The expenditure was always up to the revenue, and if they were to wait until there was a surplus before making a motion on the policy of taxation, an independent Member would scarcely have an opportunity presented to him for the purpose. Now, in 1842, the Right Hon. Baronet the Member for Tamworth entered on power with a large deficiency, but that did not deter him from dealing with taxation as a matter of policy, or from making such arrangements as enabled him to repeal taxes, without injuring the revenue, which rested upon the springs of industry and retarded the operations of trade and manufactures.—(Hear, hear.) And, therefore, he said as a matter of principle they were entitled, without reference to the mere fact of there being a surplus, to raise the question or taxation as part of the national policy with as much right as if they were seeking the opinion of the House as to any particular contemplated tax.—(Hear, he sr.) He did not ask any gentleman to do anything rash, or to interfere indiscriminately with the public finances. It had been hinted that a new school of repudiation was springing up amongst them, but he was not of that school; he only desired the Howe to consider whether they could not raise the revenue of the country in such a way as should be likely the least to depress any important branch of trade or manufactures.—(Hear, hear, and cheers.) He did not wish Hon. Members to adopt all the resolu tions if they could not do so consistently with their own opinions; they would be put separately, and those who could not vote for the repeal of the duty on paper might feel at liberty to support the resolution for the repeal of the newspaper stamp duty.—(Hear, hear.) Now, the resolution which stood first had reference to the duty on paper, which, when they deducted the duty paid on the paper consumed in the offices of the State, yielded something like 750,0001. per annum. ' If they considered the duty on paper simply in refe rence to its effects on an important manufacture, he thought they would find a convincing case for taking its review into an early consideration. Without going into the more immediate object of his motion, namely, the effect of this duty in impeding the diffusion of know ledge, he would call the attention of the House to its effect on the paper manufacture itself, upon the em ployment of labour, and upon some other considerations of a commercial character not immediately connected with the diffusion of knowledge. Now, he held it to be fatal to the tax, if they could not protect by any device the honest trader against the fraudulent one. What a monstrous thing it was, if true, that the Excise had always failed to protect to any considerable extent the honest manufacturer from those that evaded the duty, that they should continue a tax of this description. That was an argument of itself fatal to the tax. A list was pub lished last year of the number of manufacturers who had been fined, and some of them imprisoned, by the Excise for carrying on a systematic violation of the Ex cise-laws. But, in order to protect the honest manufac turer from the fraudulent one, what did they do ? They had recourse to a system of vexatious inter ference, and of constant prying and meddling with all the affairs of the manufacturer of paper; and they were obliged to do this to an extent that he hardly thought was true of any country, even of Algiers. Now with regard to the employment of labour, and he would just ask any of the Gentlemen opposite, interested as they were in the employment of labour is the rural districts, to consider how materially the prosperity of the paper manu facturer was connected with the full employ ment of labour in many of the agricultural districts. The manufacture of paper was perhaps the only rural manufacture which they had. The paper mills were spread over the whole country. They were found perhaps in almost every county in the United Kingdom. They employed a large amount of labour, and if it was the tendency, as he believed it was, of these laws to lessen the number of paper manufacturers, and to limit the production, of paper, then he said, in producing those results, it lessened the employment of labour in those rural districts and increased the rates therein, and it became a legitimate question with Gentlemen opposite how far they would interest themselves in the abolition of those duties. There was no article of an equal value which employed a larger number of labourers than the manufacture of paper. Mr. Crompton, a gentleman of great experience to these matters, had made a calculation that a reduc tion in the duty would afford employment to no less than forty thousand persons, men, women, and clildren, in London alone. That gentleman also stated that a newspaper which purchased stamps to the amount of 3,0001. gave employment to 15,000/. worth of labour; and what more important consideration could there be than this, especially at. a time like the present, when multitudes were leaving their country for want of employment? He was speaking in presence of those who could correct him if he were wrong, that all our colonies were getting their paper from France and Germany in preference to this country. where the manufacturers could not supply paper at a sufficiently cheap price. It was true that they were allowed a drawback, but that was more than overbalanced by the extortions of the Excise. The drawbacks he believed continued the same, they appeared to be stationary matters.—(A laugh.) But he would now take the effects of this taxation in its most important shape, that of preventing the diffu sion of useful knowledge among the people. Ho could not state this in stronger terms than it had been stated by Messrs. Chambers, of Edinburgh. In a petition pre sented by them to the House, they stated that they had been prevented by no other cause than there duties from continuing various periodi cal works calculated to diffuse useful knowledge among the people. They had also been obliged to abandon a publication which had a circulation of 80,000 weekly by the mere consideration of the Excise duties. The duties alone would have been sufficient to have ensured them a considerable profit. The paper formed the leading item in the expences. But he had another statement of a similar nature from Mr. Charles Knight. He supposed they had seen a very able pamphlet which bad issued from the pen of that gentleman, entitled " The Struggles of a Book against Excessive Taxation," in which he ,gave a history of the struggles of the Penny Cyclopcedia against the fatal effects of the heavy duty on paper. What did they think this little book--(Laughter)—which was in tended exclusively for the working and poorer classes, contributed to the revenue of the country? It paid in hard cash 'for paper duty no less a sum than 16,5001. (Hear, hear.) What an enormous sum was this to exact as a fine from a man before he was. at liberty to spread through this vast country 'the inestimable blessings of cheap literature which, in the words of Sir Henry Parnell, " formed the raw material of all social improvement among the great masses of the working people of this country." In fact tho fiscal re strictions on paper did far more to hinder education than the educational grants of the Government did to promote it. He would quote another fact from the pamphlet of Mr. Knight. He stated that in the course of twenty years he had paid 80,0001. for copyrights and literary labour, but before he could give the world the benefit of that purchase hew as compelled to pay the Government RS much as 50,000/. for the duty on paper. Here was a tax on capital, here was a pressure on the industry of a talented man, which had no parallel in any tariff or excise duty; but he would take another weapon. The proprietor of the Poor Man's Guardian told him that before he raid for labour of any kind he was obliged t I pay the Excise-office 100,000/. per annum. And it was absurd to say that the duty thus imposed could be got back from the consumer, for the poorer classes were unable to give any but a very small sum for a publication, and unless a proprietor sold a very large number of copies his speculation would not succeed. The publishers of more expensive works suffered in the same ratio. If a per son published a work, and had a thousand copies printed, he bad to pay duty upon all, although he might only sell 100 or 200, and the remainder fund their way to the butterman or cheesemonger. The Commissioners of Excise had inquired into the subject, and , they said it was their opinion that a great injustice was in flicted upon the publisher of a book by the making him pay duty on a greater number of copies than he sold. He had stated why he thoright the duty on paper peon liarly prejudicial to the progress of knowledge, while a groat many objections might be urged against it upon the ground that it obstructed trade. Numerous indeed had been the Committees which had recommended its abolition on that ground, while the Excise Commission bad contemplated its repeal, if it did not recommend its repeal.—(Hear hear.) Had the Right Hon. Baronet the Member for Tamworth remained in office it would have been repealed long since. That Right Hon. Baronet abolished the duty oa leather and glass, and it was quite evident that he contemplated paper next. With these observations he would ask the House to adopt this resolution as an expression of its opinion that the paper duty ought not to form one of the perpetual sources of raising the public revenue. He came now to the next resolution, namely the one relating to the stamp on newspapers. He believed he might be permitted to consider this not entirely as a question of revenue. He remembered, when this question was before the Parliament some years ago, the Noble Lord then at the head of the Government expressed a hope that no man would think him capable for a moment of putting this question upon so narrow a foundation as that Of revenue. The Noble Lord viewed it simply in reference to its effect upon the habits and feelings of the pe ople, and it was in that spirit he proposed to di with it now. Now, the newspaper stamp p aid something like 350,0 00 /. per annum to tl le Exchequer. Some • Gentleman might fancy t hat newspapers enjoyed some post al privileges, and ho legged to tell those Gentlemen that he proposed to / cave that part of the matter just as it stood now. Those who wanted to send their paper by post should be compelled still to pay the penny stamp, but let not those who did not use the post-office be .compelled to pay with those who slid. This was no new -principle, for it had alreakly been adopted by the House, and ho held in his hand a return which showed that there were fifty-three periodicals published in London which had stamped editions for those who wished to forward them by post, and unstamped ones for those who did not.—(bear, hear.) He would take the case of Punch, the Atheneum, or the Builder, and he would ask if there was any reason, if they were allowed to be unstamped, when they did not go by post, why they should not allow the Daily News to be un swteaulmdpeedayw h th e e n s i e t w di e d re n n ot et go ne b w y ep p a o p st e ? Perhaps re. The the w H an ou te s d e to know what right they had to allow them to go by post if they were not newspapers ? If that - system was- so anomalous with respect to the postage part of it, he did not think they could maintain it. He thought the thing must break down. It had gone such an extent that he believed if he were to stamp a parcel, however small in bulk or value ; that the paper, when manufactured, was subject to detention on the premises, for the purposes of the exciseman, for no less than eight and forty hours.—(Hear, hear.) Many of those who then heard him might have known what it was, when visiting the Continent, to have been detained, if only for a few hours, in consequence of the delays caused by the passport system, now, be rejoiced to say, passing away, in consequence of the moral mo mentum, if he might use such an expression, of the rail way train. But the law with reference to the duty on paper compelled him (Mr. Cowan) to detain his goods upon his premises for as long a time as would be occu pied in sending them to London and back.—(Hear, hear.) Was such a system as that to be continued ? a system, which, after all, was more calculated to invite frauds than to check them. The reports of the Excise Com missioners themselves had gone far to prove that the at tempt to prevent fraud by means of stamps a,-111 labels had, on the contrary, led to frauds through the medium of successful imitations; and as some proof of this, he held in his hand a letter from an extensive paper manu facturer, who had obtained information as to a system of fraud that was openly, and no doubt largely, prac tised. What he was referring to had taken in the sist, r kingdom, and he hoped that Hon. Members from that country would not impute to him any ill-feeling against their countrymen if he ventured to trouble the House far a few moments with the details of this trans action. The person who had written this letter to a fiend of his said:— " I am the person who sent seven loads of paper into , with the same wrappers. It was long elephant. When the first load, which was regularly charged, went away, I sent a woman with a cloak to the stationer. As soon as the paper arrived, several hands were put to to untie it with all possible expedition. The wrappers were tied up in bundles and handed to the woman, who made the best of her way to the mill, where we had a load ready of the same weight and prepared exactly to the Fame pressure, so that the wrappers exactly fitted. To work we went with all hands we could manage, tying up, and by the time the carter arrived were almost ready for him. But during the time of tying up we had always watchers out at every inlet to the premises, and if an officer made his appearance, we put the loose covers away into a secure place; and as we always took the numbers progressively, we entered in the sending•away book all the numbers we had hid—the numbers we had tied up were standing as not being sent. But it did not often happen that we were disturbed by an officer. The supervisor was more troublesome. Mills more distant from could not run so often. They convey their wrappers by gig or car, or by a man on horseback. This is now almost the only way in which it is done. There is only one mill round about that ventures to send any out without covers." —(Hear, hear). His Right Hon. Friend had referred in a masterly way—(l.lear)—to many of the various restric- tions which, in one way or other, operated against the manufacture of raper: and he (Mr. Cowan) held in his hand an address to George 111., which had been up wards of fifty years ago printd upon paper made of straw; and he was sure that it was only owing to the incubus of the duty on paper that that species of ma nufacture did not exist in England at the present day. —(Hear.) When he stated, however, that the cost of the raw material was 2s. per cwt. and that the duty upon the same was 14s. 9d.—(Hear)—he said enough to show the inducement held out to the commission of fraud, and that the slow progress of this manufacture in this country was not to be wondered at. The Honour able Member here also referred to several specimens of paper which had recently reached him, and all of which were manufactured from indigenous vegetable materials, not hitherto employed in this country, though in others they were used in the paper manufacture.—(Hear.) They were composed, he added, chiefly of straw and cereal plants; and he was persuaded that were it not for the incubus he had already referred to, .they would be able to claim the support of the Protectionist Gentlemen opposite in favour of a new branch of native industry in the prosperity of which they would have a peculiar interest. Free trade was nothing short of a mockery in this country so long as this system of oppressing any interest was kept up.—(Hear, hear.) His Right Hon. Friend bad spoken of the exportations of paper from this country, but no such article could be found in the retarns relating to our exports. He had been at the trouble of making an analysis to show the infinitesimally small amount which paper formed as a general article of export from this country, even to countries where he knew there was a great consumption in that article; and, in doing so, nothing had surprised him more than to find that, as re garded Brazil—a part of that new world called by Mr. Canning into existence to redress the grievances and to receive the produce of the old—the quantity imported into that country (Brazil) did not exceed in value 4,000/. Let Hon. Members remark what was said in a letter which had been received by the house with which he was himself connected. It was dated Rio Janeiro, on the 21st of February of the present year, and the pas sage to which he referred was as follows: " We note your wish to make a further trial of our market, and nothing would give us greater pleasure could weleafely recommend your doing so; but ,although against our own interest, this we cannot do, as long as expe rience and close watching of the operations in the article of paper has convinced us it is impossible for you to compete with the French and Italians, who almost en tirely supply our market." (Hear, hear.) He had been much disappointed at the little progress they had been able to make towards con vincing the Government on this subject of the paper duties in the various deputations which for many years past he had accompanied to Downing-street, and at the little sympathy they appeared to meet with at their bands. Mr. Crompton, on the last occasion to which he referred, laid many grievances before them in con nexion with all/relit parts of this question, and particu larly with re ference to the contrast of the position of those manufacturers who employed water in their manu facture with that of those who did not; but they were al nays, like an ancient people named in the book of Exodus, sent back whenever they complained, " to their burthens." The Chancellor of the Exchequer told them that "he could not afford it;" but ho trusted that the result of this debate would be that they might be in duced to take this subject into the r serious considera tion with a view to afford the manufacturers of this ar ticle, at no distant day, that relief to which they were so justly entitled.—(Hear, hear.) The Hon. Gentle man, atter some further remarks, concluded by second ing the motion. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said that he did not intend to make any objection to his Right Hon. Friend bringing fur ward this motion, and the more so as it had afforded him the opportunity of listening to so able a speech as he had delivered on the subject—(Hear, hear)—but he did object to his putting arguments into his mouth which he had never used, and which he was not now disposed to use, against the re peal or reduction of thes e d ut i es . eby no means should, on that occasion, nor had he ever before done so, go into any defence of the abstract merits of this or of any other set of taxes that pressed heavily on the people; and he trusted he had shown ere this, that whenever he could remove a tax that pressed upon the people tie had endeavoured to do so. It was but a very short time since it was stated to the House that there would be a portion of the revenue of the country which he thought might fairly be devoted to the remission of taxes. He then stated the taxes which he thought it would be most expedient to remit; and he did nut think that the proposal he had made had been received with dis satisfaction by the House generally; and he could only say that the coarse he bad adopted then he should be 'prepared, under similar circumstances, to act upon in future.—(Hear, hear.) When there was a surplus, he had dealt with it in such a way as he thought would be best calculated to promote the benefit of the country generally; and be objected to the principle of a Chancellor of the Exchequer being called upon to pledge himself to the reduction or repeal of any particular tax before the period arrived when he should be able to judge of the expediency of doing so. He thought it was far better not to commit himself by any arguments against this or any other tax, looking at each and every tax, in regard to the circumstances con nected with it, at such time as it might be in his power to attempt its reduction. He thought, be repeated, that it was far better to leave all such cases utterly unprejudiced till the time when he, in the position he occupied, was in possession of such a surplus as he might be enabled to deal with in the remission of public burdens. With respect to this duty on paper, he must say, however, that on the pre sent occasion, as on former instances, he had been riot a little surprised at the complaints that were made of the injustice and pressure of the excise regulations. And for this reason, that the excise upon paper did not interfere in any way with the process of its manufacture. It was constantly stated, and with much force he admitted, that the excise on malt, on spirits, on bricks, and other articles, interfered with the process of manufacture, so as, in a great degree, to prevent experiments and retard improvements in the manufacture of the articles. Bat what was the opinion of the Excisq Commission in re spect to paper ?--an opinion delivered by Sir Henry Parnell, the chairman, than whom there was no greater friend to freedom from restrictions of this nature in that House.—(Cheers.) It said, " Unlike other commodi ties, the processes of this manufacture are exempt frome Excise interference, to which exemption the Commis sioners attribute the great progress made in the modes of manufacture, and the great improvement in the ar ticle itself, arising from an extensive introduction of ma chinery, by which the processes of making and drying were so combined and expedited that a quantity of paper could now be completed in a few days which formerly would have occupied, perhaps, as many months." The Commissioners said that the absence of excise interfer ence was the distinguishing mark of the excise duty on paper, and to that was attributed all the great improve ments which had been made in paper, and its now greater cheapness; and yet it was this particular excise which was now singled out by Hon. Members to be assailed as the most unjust, the most obnoxious, and the most vexatious of all the excise duties.—(Hear.) When het year he had the honour of seeing the deputation of paper manu facturers—to which the Hon. Member (\lr. Cowan) had alluded, as having received a most discouraging answer, referring them to the absence of any surplus—be (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) naked them whether it was to interference with their manufacture that they ot - jected, or whether he could in any material degree tale its processes. What was their answer? They said that the excise did not interfere with their manufacture, that what they requires was the abolition of the duty altogether. It was true that the Hon. Member did not complain of the weighing of the paper. When the paper was completely made and was ready to be sent out to purchasers, it was weighed by the excise officers, and for that purpose the neauulactirrer was obliged to keep it a certain time on his premises. The deputetion from the north, however, even when invited to state any regulation which interfered with their business, did not complain of this delay, but pressed for the ab solute repeal of the duty alone. The Honourable Member for Edinburgh went on to complain of the heavy burden the duty was upon publications ; but he (the Chancellor of the Exchequer, thought tbs i he rather overrated the degree in which the duty pressed upon publications. He had been told sinc e he came into the House that a most valuable book, "Th e Commercial Dictionary," w hi c h we i g h e d 4 / I b . and sot" for 505., only paid 4d. paper duty. (Loud cribs of " Hear, hear.") He did not think that could interfere much with the publication of that work. The next duty to which reference had been made was the duty on newspapers. There, he must say, that the Right .1 1 °e; Gentleman had attributed to him much that he bad never said. He had never said that the duty must be kept un to prevent cheap newspapers, neither had be ever sf.i 1 that the stamp was a security against libe l ,' The Right Hon. Gentleman h a d di sp l aye d a grea t dea l of ingenuity in hunting up difficulties as to the interpre tation of the words " news" and " occurrencies," but there had been no complaints whatever of any practicsi inc - mvenience being felt on that ground. The Board of Inland Revenue informed him that there bad been 0 ! great dissatisfaction manifested upon th ose p o i n t s ; an d he was ieclined to believe that the extent of the griev ance rested rather in tt e imagination t f the Right nee' Gentleman than in the pracCLe of parties more con careed in the matter.—(Cheers.) He objected princi' ally, however, to this proposition with respect to its hearing upon the revenue.--(Cheers.) The Right Hon. Gentleman had fairly stated the amount of the duties embraced in his motion. His object was to repeat the taxes on knowledge, and he (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) would not say that the time might not come when they would be repealed; but he must sal that it was impossible, with a due regard to the public t creditor and the public faith, to repeal them this seasion, and that nothing could be more unwise than for the House t) pledge itself for the next session. If there was one thing more than another which a Chancellor of the Exchequer was bound to do, it was never to diseloSe any intended changes in taxation until the momen t came at which it was regularly made public. He (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) objected to the repeal now and he objected still more strongly to any promise or pledge as to what should be done in the future. The duty on paper was an increasing duty; it showed 0 0 , symptom of decline from which it might b e inferre d that the excise interfered injuriously with it. It pro . duced in 1840, 581,000/.; in 1841, 758,0001.; in 1842, 785,000/4 and in 1849, 810,000/. The duty on news' papers last year was 348,000/4 on advertisement' , 163,0001.; and on foreign books, 7,000/. The produce of all the so-called taxes on knowledge was—to 1848, 1,264,000/.; and in 1848, 1,329,000/; and he was not prepared to sacrifice so much of the revenue.—(Hear.) He trusted the House would forgive him if he addressed it for a moment on the subject of the various ' propositions for the repeal of taxation which had been made within a brief period, which was made on the pre' sent motion, and which was to be made on another motion which stood on the paper for that night. He hoped he was not more nervous than Chancellors of the Exchequer might naturally be expected to b e upon questions of taxation, or anything affecting the revenue; but he could not look without serious anxiety at th e course the House of Commons seemed disposed to per' sue on various questions connected with taxation. Il e had had the honour of holding the situation of Chan' cellor of the Exchequer far about three years and 0 half, and he had the misfortune during that time, tobsfe to deal with periods of extraordinary depression. First, there was the famine in 'rebind; next, the period 0 ' commercial panic which followed; and then the disturb' antes on the continent in 1847 and 1848. All these events, over which they had no control, had a most de' pressing effect upon the revenue, and there was, beside", the large expenditure for the Kafir war, over which the • House had no previous control. Their financial position had now just begun to improve, and he had had th e pleasure that night of laying a balance- s h ee t u pon lir table which showed a surplus of 2,500,0001. Thil was the first time he had been able to show a Or: plus, but he declared most solemnly that there we' greater danger when they had a surplus then when they had none—(ob, oh, and a laugh)—because, deficiency created by events over which they had no con' trol was widely different, as affecting the public credits than a deficiency produced by the wilful and deliberat e , conduct of the House.—(Hear, hear.) He had state' about a month ago that the surplus would probably be 1,500,000/.; and he proposed to give relief on two item s of taxation to the amount of 750,000/. He proposed fur' ther to apply 250,000/. to the purchase of that most tle" profitable annuity the Equivalent Society; and to kal e ° 500,0001. to be applied to the reduction of the debt. this scheme the stamp duty, which was now one-hal Per cent., was proposed to be reduced to one-quarter p e A cent.; but the House was not satisfied with that, an" voted a further reduction, which, at the lowest estimate' involved a loss to the revenue of 100,000/. Now t he Right Hon. Gentleman proposed to take off t axe s to t" e . extent of 1,300,0001, less what would be paid for th e postage of newspapers. He would yield to no man in desires for economy, but he contended that it was utterer impossible this year to effect a further reduction of W penditure to the extent of 1,000,000/. sterling, as all t he t large votes had already been taken. What, then, 1 13119 be done? Taxes of one kind or another must be te r ' posed to make up the deficiency. Hon. Members on that side of the House wished to substitute direct taxe: tion for indirect taxation, and they therefore had le" objection to create a deficiency by abolishing indi rect taxes if it were made up by direct taxation. Honourable Gentlemen on the other side of the House knew there was no chance of re-imposinte import dutie l ' and they were, therefore, not indisposed to support gen: tlemen on the other side of the House in creating a den' ciency.— (Hear.) Each party were anxious to have as opportunity of currying out their own schemes, withou t re fleeting what e oeld be the effect upon the House, th e Government, and the country. If the House by its ow n deliberate act en ated a deficiency, it would then have I settle how it must be made good—whether by addition s ; direct taxation or additional indirect taxation. He J u st thought it possible that, before they were able to sett' that point, beh sides would come to the conclusion th a t ; it was far better to submit to the old burdens until tu Financial Minister wa; able to deal with the most ob' noxious of them. But what effect would this have uP; the public credit?—(Loud cries of " Hear, hear.") deficiency was bad enough when it was created by e": cumstences over which they had no control.—( l-I °7 hear.) It was most essential that the public credit s bou be kept up. He did not impute to the Right ar' Member any wish to impair it—any notion of re puelle c i tion had always, he was happy t o sa y, b een di sc lairoe kt in that House; and he did not f or a momen t do u bt its sincerity; but he was afraid, if these votes we n , agree - 1 to, the country would be put into a Pelf tiou from wh:oh it would take years to recover. 0 the House wilfully created a deficiency without som e definite and probable prospect of making it good, th e , io would be great di ffi culty in maintaining the pub t a credit. If propositions of this kind wore t arried, e e d , so large an amount of revenue sacrificed without sde nite proposal to make it good, the House would be 1 , flitting, he would not say an irreparable, but a ri° l„ , , gerous, wound upon the public character. The io n Member for Montrose had, besides, a motion for t , night, which would sweep away 1,500,0001. of the r e venue. Mr. HUM—It is only completing free trade. arab The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER--; but on seeing the notice he had ordered a return, and found that. it duties were remitted according to the p r e ; position of the Hon. Member, the revenue would se"; to the extent of 1,538,0001, which, with the other clef tion now before the House, made up a remission of u:; tics to the extent of 2,838,0001. He trusted the flou't. would not think him unduly anxious on this subi ee tb but when propositions of this kind were made aig n , after night—when, on a recent occasion, a z e p ",l tion to repeal one single duty, which prodn e- 0 1,820,000/., was defeated only by the narror ie 0 possible majority—(Hear, hear)—there was more 0 1 4 enough to excite the most serious anxiety to find ve g " thus given without a full consideration of th e ir coa se ; quences upon the public credit.—(Cheers.) Th e se a'sj., the grounds upon which he resisted th e mo ti o n of P' t i Right Hon. Friend. He thought it unwise, unsafe, se ; • discreditable to the character of the H ouse to ma ke I'm; reduction of 1,300,0001.; and he thought it Writ ' though not so discreditable, for the H ouse t o pledge'' self to deal with any particular tax in the ensuing ,1; sioa. Those must anxious for economy could bar" ' wish to destroy, by this course, the happy s t a t e of trite ° quillity which, by the blessing of God, had made 05 land the refuge of the world.—(Cheers.) He could /3 1 4 express himself sufficiently against a course which iv eu r e be a political suicide. The question was not a r e o . matter of 10,000/. here and 20,000/. there, but it be essentially a question touching the public bredit; anu i es trusted, therefore, the House would neither deal t o , these taxes now, nor pledge itself to do so vex t iess'w but negative the proposition of the Hon. Member. Mr. HUME said no man was more desirous than P I o self of upholding the public credit, and he woult l6 o s further than the Right Hon. B arone t, an d assert t , ili o any attempt to interfere with the claims of the pow c h creditor would bring on the country calamities 0313 0 - greater than anything hitherto heard of. But the raises of the Right Hon. Baronet were not correct, I le he would show that the House ought to take a e c tot just the reverse of that which the Right Hon. Bs r "heil recommended. The Right Hon. Baronet said that , w ile olt he stated his proposal how the surplus was to be /h ir. with, it met with universal acquiescence. lie ; 0 De Hume) considered the brick duty a very proper one; of repealed, but he objected to the purchasing up el foo se part of the national debt while there were taxes t ) fait ing fur immediate repeal. That did appear to ~," ns error in judgment, and he said so at the time, ant,,, o se• the acquiescence was not unanimous even in that 11).' the .rde It was absurd to apply a trifle like 500,000/. Wt.. — shev liquidation of a debt of 900,000,000/. ; bu t the which was insignificant as compared wi th oral debt would have relieved the public from se far• taxes, the repeal of which was loudly c alled 00 i. The Right Hon. Baronet bad not stated fairly th e jtbe tion of the finances. It was true there had been p ass famine, the commercial distress, and the distual s to abroad; but the Right Hon. Baronet bad no rig ft attribute the deficiences of the revenue to the s t e at• arose mainly from the extravagance of the GoVerit he ch The revenue remained untouched and undirojel' o r The deficiency was created by the unnecessary ea o a. dituro in the warlike establishments. The Righ t i f iog airoeet had epekon of this motion as inv- (Mr' 1,3 00,000/. ; b a t i n t ru th, hi s Ri g ht Hon. Friend OO Gibson) only proposed to deal now with the duty/o, stamps and advertisements, amour.ting to 300,00 0 t 0t o f deed, the speech, just delivered was no reply 10 2' 00 6 the Right Hon. Member, which was one of the 0 , 0 be able, the most convincing, and the 'most condo .AO.O, had ever heard on the subject of the taxes online/r e :at (Cheers.) This question was the more ileP_u_ i i o p, because large sums were annually spent in °dna:n i ne and the House was about to consider a national s t 13 9 ; 00 fir that purpose, while the abolition of thes?, „ f ret would do snore in that direction than all they coa_l_a_7 so by this expenditure, actual and proposed. It "oat reflection upon the House and the c ountry_ like these taxes ,were allowed to continue. It wit expending money in sanitary improvement and reps A could If it bei4 mu c h th e 1144,