The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-12-23 00:00:00

MYSTERIOUS ROBBERY OF 7EA.

Samuel Robinson and James Petty were brought up, at the
Manchester Police Court, on Saturday, on remand, at the
City Court, charged under the following circumstances i
The prisoners were seen driving a cart along Oldhattt street, On
Friday week, and Went into a hods() with two bags full of
green and black tea, about 1301 b in weight. The officer fol.
lowed them into the house, and after sonic enquiry, he took
them into custody, and they all got into the cart together.
The account they give was, that they were shopkeepers in
\loss lane, and that the bags simply contained their own tea
that they had transferred from ten or twelve canisters. They
were brought up on Saturday week last, and remanded until

them to give a further account of the
.
manner in which the tea had come into their possession. Mr.
George Henry Fryer, of the firm of Binyous,„ Robinsep, and
Co., proved that the firm had frequently missed tea, stolen
in transit, after leaving the Custom House in London and
before it reached the bonding house in Manchester. The
parcels of tea in the possession of the prisoners were of the
same qu dity as some they had missed. One of the bags, too,
in which the tea was carried was a coffee bag of a certain
quality and a peculiar number, which Mr. Flyer identified as
the property of the firm, Ho was enabled to do that, as he could
state that the same kind of coffee bag was not used by any other
firm in the country. They had missed the bagabout two months
ago from their stock. Within the last fortnight a quantity of tea
had been stolen shortly after it had been delivered to the carrier
of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company for transit,
who had signed for it, but the cart had not left St. Ann's
Square when the robbery took place. That loss would fall
upon the carrier. Mr. Roberts appeared for the prisoners, and
in cross-examining Mr. Fryer as to the identity of the tea, he
said he could only speak generally to the tea as of the same
quality as that which they had lost. Several witnesses as to
character were called for the prisoners,.who spoke to their
having a shop in Moss lane, and a billiard room in Market
street. Mr. Maude, in summing up the case, said that looking
at the low ground that had been taken for the prisoners, he
was greatly disappointed. He expected that any, tradesman
would have no diffictiltY in strewing that he bought articles
from so and so, and producing the various invoices. Instead
of that, the defence had been put upon the difficulty of iden
tifying the tea : and no doubt there was great difficulty in so
_. He thought it right to say that, because, although
they might be set at liberty, gill they would not have dispelled
the suspicion that rested upon them It was impossible, from
the nature of the case, for Messrs. Binyons to say it was their
tea, or that it was the produce of a robbery from the shop or
the bonded warehouse, or of the robbery from the railway
carrier. In consequence of that difficulty, and that alone,
they would be set at liberty. Upon that intimation, Mr.
Fryer asked for a further remand, as he thought he could
produce further evidence. The prisoners were thereupon
remanded for a week.

Satu►day,

to enabl

EXTENSIVE SEIZURE OF 7OBACCO AT

SOU7HAMPTON.

A short time since we reported the fact of a large seizure of
tobacco at the village of Woodmill, about three miles from
Southampton. The tobacco, which Was concealed in the cottage
of a man named William Gorey, weighed about 26 cwt. An
information was laid against Gorey for having, on the 6th of
December, been concerned in " unshipping or otherwise deal-
ing with certain prohibited, restricted, or uncustomed goods, to
wit, 2,685 lbs of tobacco, and 52 lbs weight of stalk tobacco,
contrary to section 232 of the Customs' Consolidation Act,
1853, whereby he had forfeited the sum of 41,589 ss, being
treble the value of the said goods." Gorey bad for many years
been the confidential servant of Mr. Ray, a miller in the same
village. It is believed that only the lesser portion of the goods
smuggled has been secured, between seven and eight tons having
been landed at the same time. The village of Woodmill is
somewhat conveniently situated for smuggling purposes, being
connected by the river Itchen with Southampton Water, and an
ordinary boat passing to and fro would not at any time be likely to
attract much attention. On Saturday the case was heard before
the county magistrates, in the Town Hall, at Southampton.
Mr. Beverly attended as solicitor to the Board of Customs ;
and Mr. George Pocock on behalf of Gorey. William Gough,
an officer of customs at Southampton, stated that he went to
the residence of the defendant, and made a search. Gorey, on
being charged with concealing tobacco, said that to his sorrow
he had done so, and immediately offered to show Gough where
it was. Gough went into a bedroom, where he found a bale
of stalk tobacco, which Gorey told him had been put there to
dry. Gorey then took the officer to a partition behind which
were discovered thirty-two bales. 'Fhe officer found on Gorey's
premises altogether fifty-one bales of tobacco in tin cases,
besides• one of shag tobacco, and the bale of stalk. Gorey

denied any knowledge of the persons from whom he had received
the tobacco. Ile said he took it into his house on the Ist
inst., at the request of some persons who said the roads were
so bad they could not travel with it, and that ho was sorry for
having done so. The tobacco was landed from a boat, and
ho had seen a waggon and two carts go on laden with the
same kind of goods. Mr. William Walker, landing waiter,
stated that he had examined and weighed the bales, which he
found to contain in all 2,6341b5. of Virginian leaf tobacco, the
value of which, together with the stalk, was £529 155., which
sum being trebled made up the amount of the penalty to which
the defendant had rendered himself liable. This being the

case against Gorey, Mr. P,

cock directed the magistrates'

attention to the respectable character which lie had borne, and
contended that the act was not committed for the purpose of
defrauding the customs. but was merely a thoughtless com-
pliance, in sheer good nature, with the request which had been
made to him. The magistrates, after a short deliberation,
decided upon inflicting the full penalty—viz., 41,589 ss.
and said they saw no reason for mitigating it in the slightest
degree. This is the first case at Southampton in which so
heavy a penalty has been inflicted.

HOW FAR WE SHOULD DISCUSS THE

INCOME TAX.

Wilting on this subject, one of our London cotemporaries
observes :—" The capricious and arbitrary assessment of the
tax ought of course to be remedied, for they are discreditable
to government and oppressive and irritating to individuals.
But, as the country evidently feels disposed to discuss the
subject, it is most desirable that the discussion should go much
further than that, and deeper even than the imputation of
inequality in the incidence of the tax, and inform the legislature
whether the intention of the act of 1853 is to bo carried out,
and the final cessation of the ith,ome tax to be kept steadily in
view by parliaMent. For this is exactly a question in which
popular opinion is, when fully and fairly expressed, irresistible;
and if the policy of gradual extinction, adopted in 1853, is to
be adhered to, as it must take somo years before that goal cin
be reached, the sooner the country makes up its mind the
better. And when the resolution is formed it must be per-
sisted in, despite all temptation to swerve from it.

CRIME AND THE CONDITION OF PAUPER

CHILDREN.

Alluding to this important question, the Daily News, of
yesterday, remarks :—Undoubtedly, one of the chief causes of
crime is the neglect of our pauper children, which amount to
no fewer than 200,000 human beings. Mr. Gladstone once
told the House of Commons that the reading of Blue Books
was far less common than it ought to be. He was right. We
do not believe that if any rational man would take the trouble
to read the reNrts of the School inspectors or the reports of the
Poor Law Board, he would hesitate for a moment to recognise
the condition of our pauper children as one of the chief causes
of crime, or to insist upon the necessary remedy being at once
applied. It will certainly be one of the chief duties of the
person who is to represent the Education department in the
House of Commons to take up this subje"ct. Both reason and
experience concur in the view that nothing can be done
towards reforming our pauper children unless they are sepa—
rated front the adult paupers in the workhouses, and placed in
separate establi,hments. So long as they remain in the
workhouses, they are contaminated with tho vilest moral
corruption; Shen they are separated from the adult paupers
they turn out as admirable members of society as any of their
fellow creatures in the upper ranks.

FINAL ARTIC SEARCH.—There is now little or no doubt
as to the intention of the Government to despatch final
expeditions in search of further traces of Sir J. Franklin.
They will probably consist of three parties, one overland,
another via Behring's Straits, and a third via Davis's
Straits. The Behring's Straits expedition will probably
be commanded either by Capt. Collinson (should he volun-
teer his services), or Captain Rochfort Maguire, an officer
of great energy and much active experience. The Baffin's
Bay expedition will, it is supposed, be offered to Captain
M'Clintock, but we have as yet heard no one mentioned
to command the overland party.—United Service Gazette.
FREE BLACKS IN CUBA —'the Madrid correspondent of
the Aforni,g Post writes—" There has latterly been much
discussion on the project of introducing, with the permission
of the government, some thousand free blacks into Cuba.
Although negro labourers are much wantei by the Cuban
planters, and their admission would, to the best of my
belief, be no infraction of the treaty with England, 1 I
think' the Spanish Government has not as yet given any
countenance to the project. The slave population in Cuba
is much less in proportion to the whites than in the slave
states of the United States, and the negroes are much
better treated ; but to increase the free black population in
Cuba would not be politic, and on that account the present
project is looked upon with well-founded alarm by many
Spania-ds."
ROCHDALE NEW CHARTER OF INCORPORATION.—The
first council elected under the charter recently granted for
Rochdale, met on Friday, and elected for their first mayor
Mr. Jacob Bright, brother to the hon. member for Man-
chester.

HUDSON'S BAY TERRITORY AND ITS CAPABILITIES.