The Express.
London, England, 1852-12-09 00:00:00

TO TILE PRIME MINISTER.

Yesterday, a deputation waited on the Earl of
Derby, at the Treasury, fur the purpose of presenting to his
Icriship in address from the AVOol.intiOn for promoting the
the Taxes on Knowledge. The deputation cons
mimic; of a large number of gentlemen interested in the sub.
.ket, and included Mr. Hume. M.P., Mr. Milner Gibson,
for John V. Shelley, M.P., Mr. Swart, M.P., Gene-
ral su, De Lacy Loans, Mr. Charles lonter,
We.. Ike.
Mr. Mltxaa 0,14.10 introduced the deputaCon, obwry
lag that t present sten had arisen Irom a resolution posed
at a public mectiag, to the effect that a deputation should
seek an interview with the government, in order to
beteg under their motes the anomalies of the Newspaper
Stamp Art. It was considered that the present
was • stung opportunity for bringing forward this question,
bens e the civernment bad introduced • unaware into
psrlrane at with a view to emend the stamp act, the Attor-
at r-General hiving given notice of a bill to that effect.
The menthers of the present association thought it desirable
the: the goven went should be put in posses ion of all the
anomalies wlieh now rioted under the law, and it was
with this object th t they had requested his lordship to re-
ceive Unit deputation. For himself he was is favour of a
repeal of the newspaper stamp act, but his present purpose
was to point out to the goverument the pernicious
dints of the law, and to call upon the guverierneut to pry-
er!, aine adequate tamed, for the evil.
Co tten. presented an address to Lord Derby, in
whic.. the deputation put forward their views.
Mr. Ilt re was :unions to slay a few words in addition to
and in ezplanation 01, the address. Ho would direct his
obo memos to two main notate—the state of the law and
the CUP* of rdotation. The volume now before his lord-
ship, curtaining • variety of isestansped publications which
dissesehiatest news, comprised only • small portion of what
mntnt he collected, but the object of presenting these
essreples to bus lordship was to show that publications were
ajoned fat local distributiou without a stamp, and that if
• stamp were ailed to them they might be transmitted
throughout the country. Now this plan he considered very
simple is its operation, and in point of justice it was one
which ought to be generally adopted. The Attorney-
Gener.l bad brought in • bill, and it was fit and proper
that the government should be made acquainted
with the evils of a law that wield not be satisfotorily end
consistently caned out. Out of some 200—or at least 1.50
—pubkations which appeared, there were none which
ought not, if justice were done, to be put upon the saner
footing as the oneanspi.,l works before his lordship. If,
!herd we, the government had hued the necessity of asking
for a grant of ISU,OOuI. to ratted the knowledge of the arts
sail winch, sad to prJento the sawmanity with those ad•
vantages which bail hitherto hen denied them, the time
hod Armed for them to re-eswalise taw artast
matt. rs There was no mama eftalegar die
piedications to which he had shads;s
fmm the stamp ; and neither Mr. Joie
hod, of the Inland Revenue, nor Lord John
Reuell had been able to point out to him why they should
be regarded in a delerent light to other prodectione which
it was thought menewary to stamp. lie would now re-
seed his lardihip of what be must have observed during
his suit to the United Stares. Newspapers weft published
epos such • principle in that country that all perrons were
ambled at • very small cost to obtain • paper esetalaift
news rosaetted with their owe immediate interests and
with the perticalar locality in which they resided. Why
not ate to the people of this es .atry the same advents"( s
which ess•ted is the pained Sham I As regarded the
deficit which it was suppled the rowel et this
tax would produce ia the fleaftes of the country,
be would undertake to gemeatre the government
wtsterer amnion of roomes they might espies to Mee,
peorided they saneteased Meal psbiieatisss and the prin-
ciple of -tamping only such copiers me they desired to tram-
mit by poet. Ti,, total number of newspaper stamps mor-
ally circulated in England amounted to 95,000,000 ;
whereas is America the number of newspapers aannall)
was 410 el/nasalises that was to be negotiated
for by the fact that in the letter wintry no stamp wee ems•
eidrad necessary. his thought that the great impetus and
adtaatsp which America was rapidly gaining was in a
pot intssere to be arribated to its cheap proas;
and, in his opinion, the salsa now was
One of the many means which ougl.t to be adopted
in this country to ri move that ignorance and to promote
that mend and religious knowledge which ought to saint is
every pert of the country. The subject was oft weli worthy
of the serious consideration of government, and he trusted
that it would ere lveg mein due attention from the ad.
winistrat i's. _ _

Mr. Y.srart, Mr. Digby Seymour Sir J. V. Shelly, and
ethic untlemen haring offered a law observations in favour
of:. he objects of the deputation,
fbe E sal of Daunt said he had listened with grist alien-
Lon to all that had been said ; but it wee not to be expected
that he should enter at onee into the details of this gre it and
somplicated question. More masons point, however, upon
which he was quite clear, six., that the law upon this sub-
ject as it at present stood, was not in a satisfactory position,
and that whatever the law was it ought undoubtedly to be
plain, and simple, and effectual, for the purposes for
which it was intended. Ile thought the present government
had shoen on inclination to discourage the Idiseemins.
Wm of knowledge. The question of thee. various taxes—
more p odium early the advertisement duly—was already
ender r notice, although, from financial considerations,
thy hot been precluded at the present moment
from d, i,ing with it. It. wee prepared, however,
to admit, and withost undervaluing the importance of
ttr oth, r branches of the 'abject, that the present *dyer.
at duty wax of an objectionable character ; and he
oh, ul,l as,, that if it were possible and consistent to notice
or repesl it, one course or the other would meet with the
'town, n 4 it ion of government. The subject was one of
vr. it im;•ortalier., and it would receive every attention from
himself and colleagues.
The deputation then retired.

Itit•stvi.—A letter from Trieste in the Breslau
newapai t r autit —" Among the remarkable sights in our
town mu.t he reckoned the appearance of the celebrated
trmpns,r It who ham purchased property here with a
I ,r•eae of n emsple of millions of francs. Itossini is a great
+amateur of fishing, is.d may be seen every day, as he puts
Oat t', sea in his elegant and comfortably arranged goodel
to entrap with net and book the brisk inhabitauts of the
deep. Let it a fat more comical to se* the corpulent o!d
agleam. girt with a white apmn, sitting as a salts:Kan in
the mitket, where he himself tarns his booty into money;
for he is on leas a mercantile than a muiaal
illg NI1:11DER NEAT STAFTORD.—CORONCRN IY•
investigation, which was at Ant conducted
IllUiff certain rtstrktine., was autnequeatly, through the
sour(, .y t.l the eoroner (W. W. Ward, Hot), throws open
to the i.oh i Since the previous meeting of the jurr, as
w, ha,. 1.. fare st tted, four men, nainid Chart,* Moore,
r Kirwan, Edward Walsh, and Henry Blackburn, one
of the sera of the dec,ased, have been committed on the
Otiose of wilful murder, by the magistratee. The inquiry
lief ire the coroner was maned ea Tuesday morning, when
a quantity of evidence inculpating the prisoners was taken,
W the isgairy wed adjoins&