Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-11-23 00:00:00

6,551,622 2 11

726 166 13 10
79 4 11

s. d .
-- 19,590,833 3 4
AR‘IY (I'AGE 35.)
'Effective services . . 12,598,028 10 3
Non-effective do. . . 1.977.420 13 11
Commistiarist ... 5,605,151 11 7
Disembodiment of

militia
Loss by accountants
Balance of vote fur
militia, unappro-
priated

88,853 6 9
1,120 9 5

882 493 19 6

21,233,079 11 5

GRONANCE (PAGE 65)
Effective services .. 11,803,603 16 11
Non-effective d 0... 188.493 2 10
Lossby accountants 1 688 3 7

11,093,781 3 4

£.52,817,696 18 1
Here there is a 'ifferenca between two statements of no
less than £3,356,309 31. 6d; or, more properly, two official
statements give the expenditure as £47461,187 14i 7d.,
whilst a third, published a year la'er, but professedly for
exactly the tame period, gives the expenditure for the same
services as £52,817,696 18s. ld. Mr. Morgan also furnished
detailed tables extras ed from ,he return No. 300, in sub-
stantiation of the foregoing summary ; and, speculating on
the way in which this great:variance is to be accounted for,
said—" No do Ibt an explanation will be ready cut and
dried—the magnitude of the servicee—the in ricacy of the
accounts ! !—the diffical y of getting vouchers ! ! cue., &c.
But under a proper system no discrepancy could exist. If
every acceuet were ruled off on a day specified, whether
at the end of each month, of each quarter, or of each year,
the statistics would all correspond ; and until this is done
throughout the kingdom on the same day, we shell be
subject to these suspicious discrepancies. There can be
no sufficient reeson "why the recommendation of the tetect
committee, that the accounts should be ruled off monthly,
should not be acted on forthwith. The great point is to
insist on these periodical balances of recetp: and expendi-
ture. Whatever is pad or received on the Ist of January
should not be included in the acceuets of the 31st of
December of the precedir g year. When once this reform
is forced upon the Government, all other improvements
will follow as a matter of course; but until then we shill
have nothing but confusion. The present system warrants
the very gravest suspicions of fraud and embezzlement, so
frequen•ly hinted at by all parties who examine Govern-
ment accounts. At present it is impossible to ascertain
whether i; is confined to thousands, as shown in the Duchy
of Lancaster report, or whether it extends to millions."
With respect to the discrepancy of upwards of five midions,
Mr. Morgan observed that the authorities seemed to ima-
gine that nobody would compare me statement with
another, and that he was quite at a loss to know where the
money came from, supposing it to have bean really expended
on army, navy, and ordnance, unless it were from some
juggling with Exchequer bil!s, the accounts respecting
which are made out in such a manner as to defy any
effective check." Ile expressed his conviction that a rigid
scrutiny into the sale of stores, peculation of various kinds.
embezzlement, and mismanagement ( f the Crown lauds,
which show an annual loss of ten millions, and tegel
the necessity of immediate parliamentary inquiry
respecting the aforesaid discrepancy of five mil-
lions, and said that, with a propersys!em of book-
keeping, " there would be no difficulty in render-
ing the accounts wi hin two or three months afer
the close of the financial year; but the idea cf keeping
them back until all remembrance of the circumetaticas
under wYch payments wc.re me :(3 has completely died out
must prevent any efficient audit. To keep back any
accounts for upwards of eighteen months would be ludicrous
if the consequences were not so motions "
A. vote of thanks to Mr. Mo gan for his contuunc7.-
tions, and fir the valuable assistance which he ha:
rendered to the Council on various occasions, was proposed
and carried unanimously.

R:-.PR.EdINTATION BASED ON REVENUE.

A letter was read from H Clinton,a Royston,
Herts., calling the attention of the Cou oil to his pamphlet,
entitled, " H )w to do without Customs and E (cise, by
basing the parliamentary representation of all classes and
interests, home and colonial, on contributions from all
parts of the empire;" and volunteerirga further exposi-
tion of his viewQ, ether at a personal inte, view or otherwise.
The proposition of Colonel Clinton is to give parliamentary
representation to the British Islands and to the Colonies,
including India, on the following p:an : —Every person
contributing a certain sum, to be annually tined by
parliament, say, £50,000, to the imperial treasury, to be
a member of the House of Commons for twelve months ;
or any number of persons contributing the same sum
collect vely, to be entitled to appoint a member for the
same pert d ; two members for double the sum, and so
on, somewhat on the principle ofJo.nt Stock Coml anies—
so many shares, so many. votes. It was deemed highly
desirable that the Colonies should be lepresented in par-
liament by their ablest men, who would thus be in a
condition to prevent the blunders constantly occurring in
imperial leg elation regarding the colonies ; but a scheme
for sup.reeding compulsory taxation by voluntary contri-
butions for the privilege of member hip or representation
was decided to be wholly chimerical ; and even if it were
practicable, liable to the gravest possible objections. In
the first place, it p 'weeds on the manifestly erroneous
supposition thst the life. liberty, and means, of living of
the poor men are not as vAluable to him as those of the
mill,onaire ; in the second, its obvious result would be to
throw nearly all the whole representative influence of the
empire into the hands m4neyocracy, already far too

powerful for the general welfare ; since that and other
classes only find their account in buying seats, whilst
the great bulk of the community, judging from the apathy
generally exhibited with regArd to the possession and
exercise of the electorial privilege, would willingly lose it,
prurided the lose brought with it exempion from the con-
tributions to the revenue. The secretary was directed to
thank Colonel Clinton for his communication, and to
inform him that the Council deemed his plan almost
impracticable, and respectfully declined the proposed
interview.

TILE ASSOCIATION AND TIIE PRESS
An able editorial article, from the Morning Sear of
Wednesday, November 4, explanatory of the objects of
the association, approving of them, and encouraging it to
perseverance,
was read The following are extracts :
•-The Liverpool Financial Reform Association act wisely in
keeping the question of the National Taxes before the
public. Their representations meet with little attention
just now, when the public mind is excited with daily tales
of blood, and dezzled with the bril.iant glare of victory ;
but, in the nature of things. these feelings are only tem-
porary. Another tale will be heard when the bill is
presented, and the public learn at that cost those
luxuries have been procured. The poeple must take the
matter into their own hands, if they want a reform of the
immemorial practice; and we rejoice to find that the
Liverpool Association has taken the first step in his
reform, and has engaged to keep the popular attention
ite Wily direc.ed to the one point of the national expendi-
ture, and the best means of providing for it. We fear
they must often din their doctrines into unwilling ears ;
but they appear to be made of the right stuff for reformers
—men who will proclaim their doctrines whether the
people hear or whether they forbear ; and we cannot doubt
that a persistence so eredi able to themselves must, in
the end, carry its point * * * The great object of
the association is the substitution of direct for in iirect
taxation." [The editor comments on the costliness of the
present system, observing that, under it, the people pay
much more than they would have to pay under a better.]
"Weknow well enough that, in the present state of ignorance
on financial questions, it would be a hopeless task to
' induce the population to pay, in the form of direct taxation,
even the half of what they now thoughtlessly pay in
indirec burdens. But we know, too, that this ignorance
will not last for ever; we believe that clearer ideas are
becoming generally diffused on these matters; and we
cannot doubt that when the question is seen in its true
light, the people will prefer to pay their nation rent as
they do their house rent ; that is to say, in one sum, and
with a full perception of wile,. it is they are paying how
far it is suited to the exigencies of their case, and what is
the velue they get for their money. If the system were
once comprehended, we should then have no fear of seeing
the objects of the Liverpool Financial Reform Association
realised in the abolition of the customs and excise depart-
ments, with all their costly establishments, and the
institution a an equitable system cf direct taxation, with
a perfect freedom of internal and external trade. We need
not say, however, that much must be done, many vigorous
efforts made, many obstinate prejudices rooted out, and
much useful truth diffused, before we can hope to arrive
at this consummation.'

The thenks of the Council were voted to the Morning
Star for this notice of their labour, as also to the conductors
of the Liverpool Mercury, the Daily Post, the NORIIIERN
DAILY TIME 3, and Belfast Mercantile Journal, for the
insertion of i:s reports, and similar assistance.

EXITAORDINA.RY CHARGE OF ORUELTY.

At the Court of Q te n'e Bench, on Thursday, Mr.
Power apphid for permis i n for Mrs. Kempo to exhibit
urticles o f the peace against her husband for cruel y.
From the articles exhiloi;ed it appeared that the applicant
had been mar, i d ebout ni: e years :o William Kemp-,
ito monger, of Woodbridge, Suffolk. For upwards of
two yens. last passed, he had trea'ed ber with streat
cruelty, frequently threatening to lay violent hands on
her and hake oway her life. In July and August last, and
on several ether occesic ns when in bed she had been awake
by fco l'ng3 of sofft.crtfon. Oa one occasion she vas
awoke by findirg her husband's hand covering her mouth,
and with lis other p easing her none to stop her breath.
In 1855, while in bed, er husband attempted to strangle
heel by violets ly pulling the strings of her nightcap, an]
he Ihreaeered ti otherwise smother and injure her. On
the nigh' of the 25111 of October last she went to bed
with her husband, and in the emu, if the night she was
awoke from her sleep by finding her husband violently
grespin; her aim with one hand and the other on top of her
head, forcing her head on her chest so as to stop her breath.
She struggled to get away from him and took refuge with
the servant for the remainder of the night, where she
remained watching, being in fear of her life. When she
complained to him in the morning, he threatened
gets:we her. On the 29th October, after commu lotting
with her frienth, she applied to a magistrate, at Wood-
bridge for protection, who advisil her to leave her husband
and go to her paren's, who resided at Hoilelgh, about seven-
teen nib s ftom Woodbridge. On h's promising not to hurt
her she returned to his house, and on her doing so, he seized
her violently by the arm, and bending her finger back so as to
• give her great pain, he tore her wedding ring from her
finger, ar d refused to return i'. The same night he sent •
the only domestic servant in the house away, and she was
1-ft alone with him for the night. He, however, went
out, and returned about two o'clock in the morning, and
ie the meantime she went and. lay down in an adjoining
rr otn. Whilst there after tier husband's return, being
afraid to sleep, she overheard him talking to himself, as
be was in the habit of doing, siying he would take her
gold watch from her and then murder her. Beirg afraid
of her life, she sat up all night, and on the (alto ving
day she went again to her friends, who agreed to support
her if he would allow her £lO a-year, but he refused to
give more than 23. 63 per week, and the cons,quence was
that are was obltol to return to her husband. On the
Ist November last, she again applied to the magistrate
for protection by having her husband bound over to keep
the pe ce, but he refus d to comply with her request,
telling her aa- she must leave her husband and return to
her perents. She coneleded by stating that she believed
the magietrate had be, n improperly inflaeoced to refuse
her applica'ion; and being in bodily fear of her life she
applied to the court for protection. Lord Campbell : It
was to be regretted the magistrate did not grant the ap-
plicant the protection she asked, which would probably
have rendered it unneccs ary for he; to apply to this
C urt. We think her entitled to the protection asked.
We do not think the magistrate acted from improper mo-
tives, hut he had certainly act d wrong on the statement
mede in refeslng the application. Mr. Browne : I have to
ask for the issue of an attachment. Lord Campbell :
Certainly, The attachment wis then ,ordered to be
issued.