The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-03-23 00:00:00

CORONER'S COURt,

On Saturday the Coroner held the following inquests: —•
THE LATE FIRE.—Oa the bodies of Anne Needham, aged
17, and Margaret Carr, aged 30, the poor creatures who
let their lives in the fire in Tempest Hey. The evidence
given on the investigation, consisted of the facts connected
with the unfortunate accident as published in our paper,
and the jury found a verdict to that effect, but how the fire
originated there was no evidence to show.

On the body of John White, a child twenty months old,
that di,:d in consequence of injuries received by a quantity
of boiling water falling on, and scalding the child so severely,
tbat death was the roqtilt._

On the body of Elward Ryan, aged 40, said to be an
Irish barrister, and a native of Kilkenny. It appeared
that deceased had been for some time an inmate of
the asylum, Ashton street, and that about three weeks
ago he was standing with his back to the fire, when some
of his clothes ignited, and before he was relieved he was
considerably burnt. Everything that could be done was
resorted to, but. he died from the effects of the injuries he
had received. Verdict " accidental death."

FORTY VESSELS LOST.—During the last week no fewer
than forty ships have been reported lost at Lloyd's, Many
having foundered with all hands. Among them were the
barque Lord George Bentinck, Capt. Irving, in which the
captain, steward, and two seamen perished ; the remainder
of the crew, sixteen in number, suffered for ten days from
want of food and water when they were picked up. The
ship flungarian, Clpt. Baked which sailed from Liverpool
in Oct. last, for Philadelphia, with passengers, has riot
since been heard of. The Duke of Bedford, from Smyrna
for New York ; and the A. 8., Van Olinda, from Philadel-
phia, have also, it is believed, been lost with all hands.
THE LOSS OP THE STEAMSHIP MADRID.—AII official
enquiry was instituted on Friday, at Southampton, into
the loss of the steamship Madrid, which was wrecked
near the port of Vigo. Captain Robertson attended as
nautical assessor of the Board of Trade. The evidence
having been taken, the magistrates and nautical assessors
retired for a few minutes, and on returning into court,
announced the entire acquittal of Captain Br.dshaw.
Considering the existence 01 the rocks was not known,
and not marked in the Admiralty chart, Capt. Bradshaw
was exonerated from blame, and his certificate was there-
fore returned. But at the same time the court thought it
rrudent, as a general rule, to give a wider berth to
headlands of every description.

NOT SO FAR AWAY AS NAPLES.—The Paris papers have
been directed to discontinue a discussion on the civil war
in the Vendee, in the great Revolution occasioned by the
funeral sermon of the Bishop of Poitiers on the Mar-
chioness of de Larochejacquelein, who died a week or two
ago, and who, as every one knows, played a distinguished
part during that struggle. The Bishop of Poitiers seemed
to regard all those who tell in that war as martyrs to the
cause of religion and legitimacy. The Siecle made some
angry comments on the discourse ; it was replied to by
the Univers and Union; the Siecle rejoined ; and the
dispute soon waxed warm. The question was about to
entee into a new phase when the authorities stepped in,
and seperated the combatants.
THE ENCUMBERED ESTATES COURT.—A return to the
House of Lords shows that the number of abstracts of
title in the office of the late Chief Commissioner of the
Encumbered Estates Court in Ireland not investigated at
the time of his retirement amounted to 118, and the num-
ber of cases in which estates had been sold, but the pro-
cee,ls not distributed at the same date, to 148. On the
16th of December last the Encumbered Estates Commis-
sioners sent a letter to the Irish government stating their
inability to make any present arrangement for the despatch
of the arrears of business in the office of Baron Richards,
removed by Royal warrant. The commissioners further
complained that the Continuance Bill was aggravating the
great difficulty of their position.
SALE OP THE " LIMERICK OBSERVER" OFFICE.—After
an existelice of less than eleven months, and a progress
unprecedented amongst provincial journals, the plant of the
Limerick Observer was sold out by the Sheriff last 'Thurs-
day. Mr Bernal, an auctioneer, purchased the entire
plant for .£260, and on Saturday he re-sold it to Lieut.-
Colonel Dickson, whose letter to the electors of the
county of Limerick appeared in the columns of the paper
the same evening. The editor, under whose management
the Observer rose so rapidly, and took such a prominent
phee, is nu we believe totally disconnected with it, but
the name of the propietor has not yet been changed in the
imprint. It is said that Colonel Dickson's object in
making this purchase is to raise the standard of indepen-
dent opposition, he being inclined to support the national
Irish party, if the opportunity should be afforded him of,
representing his native county in Parliament.—Freemans
Journal.

An important decisicn has been pronounced by the
Supreme Court of the United States in the case of Dred
Scott, a negro, who claimed his freedom on the ground
that he had resided two years, by the act of his owner, in
a State where slavery was prohibited by its constitution,
and afterwards in a territory from which it was prohibited
by the Missouri Compromise. The Supreme Court denies
the validity of his claim, and decides the following
points ;—First, That Scott being a negro is not a citizen,
inasmuch as men of the African race, whether slave or
free, are not citizens of the United States. He cannot,
therefore, sue in the courts of the United States. Second,
The ordinance of 1787 had no independent constitutional
force or legal effect subsequently to the adoption of the
constitution, and could not operate of itself to confer free.
dom or citizenship within the Northwest Territory upon
negroes, not citizens by the constitution. Third, The act
of 1820. commonly called the Missouri Compromise, in so
far as it undertook to exclude negro slavery from, and
give freedom and citizenship to negroes, in the northern
part of the Louisiana cession, was a legislative act exceed
ing the powers of Congress, and void mid of no legal
effeet to that end. 1

THE LIVERPOOL FINANCIAL REFORM.
ASSOCIATION.

At the weekly meeting of the Council on Tuesday.
Richard Shiel, Esq., one of the Vice Presidents in the
chair, the propriety of issuing an address to the electors
of the United Kingdom, reminding them of the greet
questions of social, governmental, and fiscal reform,
which seem so generally placed in abeyance, or rendered
subordinate to one of persinal confidence in Lord
Palmerston on a single point of foreign policy, was
discussed and deferred for further consideration. It was
observed that, after all, the result of the popular excite-
ment may be the return to the next Parliament of such a
decided majority in favour of progress that his lordship
will be compelled either to abanlon his old predelic-
tions, and advance, or to make way for some other
leader, who is not similarly imbued with ideas of policy
dating front the days of Sidmouth ani Castlereagh.
Earl Granville's singular explanation of the course taken
by Government with regard to Mr. Locke King's motion,
in his reply to Lord Derby on Monday, was referred to
as justifying the inference that Lord Palinerston
was the only member of the Cabinet opposed
to that motion, when taken in conjunction
with his lordship's own speech against it.
The following is an extract.from a note addressed to the
Secretary by Samuel Morley, Esq., Vice-President of the
Administrative Reform Association:—" I hope you will
adopt some method of bringing your great object before
the constituencies. The only election cry at present
appears to be, ' Stand by Lord Palmerston !' Imagine
the result, to great social questions, of a House of Com-
mons chosen on that cry alone?"
PROPOSED CONFERENCE.—A letter was read from Mr.
Julius Partridge, secretary to the Birmingham Income
Tax Reform Association, inclosing a copy of a resolution
passed on the 10th inst., to the effect that a " deputation
f'om the Committee will attend any such general meeting
as that contemplated by the Liverpool Financial Reform
Association, to discuss the property and income tax
question,' that Birmingham is the best place for such
meeting, and that it ought to be held in the Town Hall.
Mr. Partridge mentioned the names of influential gentle.
men likely to co-operate, anticipated the best effects from
such a gathering, and said that if a People's Party could be
formed it would soon become all-powerful. It was
resolved that the committee of the Birmingham Income
Tax Reform Association be thanked for the promised co-
operation, and informed that what the council contemplate,
in the first instance, is a conference of the friends of finan-
cial reform, to organise a more extensive plan of opera-
tions—not a public meeting, and that, in their opinion,
such conference had better
,be deferred until the turmoil
of the general election is over.

PRIZE ESSAYS.—W. Brown, Esq., M.P., who had been
consulted as to the propriety of offering premiums for
essays wrote to say, that he did not see any advantage to be
derived from such a course. The fonoveing is an extract
from his letter :—" I am favourable to direct taxation as
far as it can be carried ; but it is no use attempting to push
it further than the country will stand. The great body of
the people and their representatives prefer indirect taxation,
although it costs them more, and embarrasses our trade.
This they do not see, and they fancy they can avoid it.
These are my convictions, and I think it will only be
throwing away money to advertise for essays. The Press
teems with tolunteer Chancellors of the Exchequer. The
government have every conceivable plan laid before them
for consideration. They, I think, prefer direct taxation,
but they have to consider what they can eirry.''
PRACTICABILITY OF DIRFCT TAXATION.--.-A letter was
read from Charles Tennant, Eeq., of London, urging on the
Council that it is not sufficient to promulgate just and
sound principles of taxation ; and that it is their duty to
show how those principles are to be carried out in practice,
by submitting a comprehensive and complete scheme of
taxation, according to their principles ; so complete in all
details as to invite the most careful and critical examination,
both theoretical and practical." Mr. Tennant thinks that
this may be done, and ought to be done ; and he states that
he himself has done it (in a work about to be published),
whether successfully or not he leaves others to judge. He
says But, however well done, many objections and
much opposition are to be expected ; for, the whole revenue
er •1" “uka
drawn directly from a very few sources, the whole might
easily find its way into the Exchequer at a cost c rtainly
not exceeding three pence in the pound. When this comes
to be known, and the consequences seen by the swarms who
live on per eentage, and chealage of public moneys, cries
may be e±pected to be heard throughout the land of
confiscation,' breach of faith,' fraud," robbery,' &c.,
&c. But, then, if the ground have been well and wisely
taken, these cries will be harmless, and the Liverpool
Reformers may stand unmoved, in firm reliance on the
sound good sense of honourable, intelligent, and
impartial men, Now the ground which I desire to
see the Liverpool merchants take is this. I wish
them to be able to say, ' We have published our
principlee, and we have shown how they may
be applied in practice, for the good of the State,
ipl es and the
benefit of all classes. We havereferred to princ and
to acknowledged rules, and maxims, only to support and
confirm what we would bring into practice. We have
shown that, in the way we propose, the whole of the
present revenue of the kingdom, or more it' required,
might be raised with more ease and less burthed to the
people than under the present system ; and that every
taxpayer in the kingdom would, in effect, pay less then
than he pays now. We have shown that the trade, corn—
merce, and manufactures of this country, and labour in
every branch of productive industry, would then be per
fectly free from any tax, direct or indirect. We have
shown how to cut down and root up the baneful growth of
corruption, fraud, and perjury, which in high and low
places is spreading demoralisation over the length and
breadth of the land. We have shown how to make
smuggling impossible—how to make adulterations
unprofitable—how to make the Prime Minister, the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer. and every other officer of state,
down to the humblest public servant, do his duty—or how
to make him accountable for any - forms of corruption
malversatiou, or other neglect of duty, which, under the
present complicated system, are known to abound, but
which, being discovered, go unpunished, and therefore
unchecked. We have shown how this nation may set an
example which must, sooner or later, be followed by all
other civilized nations of the world, for the benefit of the
whole human race, We have done all this, and much
mare, and now we have changed places with our opponents,
and if we be wrong, we call upon them to show wherein
we are wrong.' " This is the sort of appeal which I wish
to see the Liverpool merchants making to the country.
On this ground I am persuaded they can never be shaken,
and must ultimately succeed, if they only hold fast together,
and be of one mind." The writer proffered to lay the
M.S., or a proof, of his forthcoming work before the
council, and in the meanwhile submitted ten pieties
relating to the following points :-1. The estimated yearly
value of all the lands in the United Kingdom, free from
all deductions ; 2. The same of all houses, and other
buildings, excluding places of worship, of the annual value
of 403 ; 3. The same of all manors, chase, warrens,
lordships, and fisheries ; 4. The same of all tithes ; 5. The
same of all woods, underwoods, and coppices ; 6. The
same of all dividends in the funds, down to 20s ; 7.
The same of all railway shares, debentures, and stock ;
8. The same of all canal divideir's ; 9. The
same of all dividends payable by all other public
companies ; and 10, the present population of the United
Kingdonnand the number of persons aged 14 and upwards.
It was agreed that Mr. Tennant be thanked for his com-
munication ; informed that the Council will be glad to
see a proof of his work, and reminded that it is precisely
the want of such information as he specifies, all in the
possession of government, or readily obtainable by it
through parliament, which constitutes the difficulty of
presenting such a complete and comprehensive scale as he
suggests, and also justifies the Council in saying that
whilst it is their province to promulgate just and sound
principles of taxation, thus bringing public opinion to
bear upon government and parliament, it is the duty of
our rulers, who have all the necessary information at their
command, and are employed and paid for no other purpose
but that of doing the business of the State, to work out
such principles ig detail.
FINANCIAL ABUSES.—Mr. Henry Ayres, of the Banker's
Circular, wrote to tender his co-operation in any financial
improvements which he thinks practicable, but stated
that he could not see his way to"thy scheme of direct
taxation, in the present state of society, and the distribu-
tion of the money power, which will ever control the
instrument of taxation." As to financial abuses, and
the appointment of a standing finance committee'
of the House of Commons, Mr. Ayres says he
is wholly with the council ; and ho observes
that nothing can be more absurd than the present
system of entrusting to a complete novice in accounts,
the dispensation of £120,000,000 per annum one year, and
to another, equally unqualified, the next. Mr. Henry
Lloyd Morgan, of London, public accountant, forwarded
two tabulated exposures of the disesrpancies between the
items of "civil expenditure" for the last two years as
given in the "finance accounts," and in the returns fur-
nished on the motion of Mr. W. Williams. He says of
them :—" No one who takes the trouble to examine these
discrepancies can entertain a doubt of the * • • • manner
in *Nett Government accounts are concocted; and some

NEW member might feel disposed to unravel the mystery
respecting the different system adopted last year, for, in,
all previous years, the finance accounts have agreed with
Mr. Williams' return." In the contrasted accounts for
1854-5, all the items differ but the totals agree; in those
for 1655-6 the items differ and the totals also, being,
according to the finance accounts £14,450,029, according
to Mr. W.'s return £13,375,297—a difference of .e 1.074,732,
which Mr. Morgan attributes to " confust,n of figures, or
suppression of facts." As a specimen of official cookery,
it rriay not be amiss to give the two accounts for 1854-5,
which:staud thus :

Fro. Ice Il7r. Wiliams'
Accounts. Return.
Collecti,n and NI nratetnent
Public Works and 13uiLlings
Sa'aries, &c., of Public D;partmeuts 1 483 640 .. 987.3 it
Justice .... 1 654,401 .. 2.427,655

Education, Science, and Art

Diplomatic
Colonial, Consular, ant Foreign
Sup,annuations and Cha,ities
Special and Temporary Objects.
Miscellaneous Permanent Charges
Do. Temporary Do.
Civil List ..
Annuities and Pensions
Interest on Loan% Secret Service, &c..

Civil Contingencies
Building' Churc•hes....
Advances Rep tyable from Votes .

_l3Junties for PrornAing Fisheries
AinOition of .

655-,707 ..

148 981 ..
310,130 ..
210.618 ..
437,165 ..

400 :310 ..
34;04: ..
1E5,934
144.0.4

672 168

3 0 .
1,101 830 .

325 690
171,914
241.695
:404 750
71',75s
60 991
337,110
541 265

4'12,2,10,577

;5,5i4
23:78

12,250,577

Various other communications were read, and amongst
them a letter from Mrs. Finch, acknowledging the address
of condolement from the co:incil on the death of her late
husband.

TEM NATUri:AL DEBT.—Reference was made to an
article in the Bankers' Circular, from which it would
appe•tr that there are 269,736 national creditors or fund-
holders, of whoni about 90.000 draw dividends under
40,000 under £lO, about 90,000 under £5O, about 49,500
from to £2,000. and only 210 above ..2,000. Taking
the annual interest of the Nati9nal Debt at £27,000,000, the
Circular calculates that 269,500 pf the 269,736 • creditors
receive --e10,300,000 at most, lea7ting the remaining
£17,000,000 to be divided amongst 236 fl"24ividuals only. --A