The Sun.
London, England, 1855-03-22 00:00:00

THE WINE DUTIES.

After hearing various observations from a deputation
who waited upon him on Tuesday, respecting the wine
duties, the Chancellor of the Exchequer said :—" If Mr.
Oliveira's anticipation of the result of the Vienna Con-
ferences be realised, it would then be a question to dis-
cuss the policy of reducing the wine duties ; but I coed
scarcely tell you that at this moment when the expen-
diture of the country emsidaubly exceeds the revenue.
it is not possible to reduce not only the wine duties, but
even otheeduties to which stronger objections might
he made. The wine duty is a duty upon a luxury,
upon an artiole not produced in England. It is
not, therefore, a protective duty. If a considera'le
reduction' m it were made, that would bring into peril
the duties on spirits and malt. The duty on spirits ex-
ceeds 10,000,0001., and we can hardly look forward to
any time, not far distant, when we shall be able to risk ,
so ler;re a revenue. The ma't duty is also exceedingly
productive, and if .wine were to come in it would cer-
Itainly dismiss both spirits and beer. I have great diffi-
culty in beliesing that any wine sold at a few pence a
b:-Atle would not displace spirits. For the present, at
all events,---this can scarcely be coesidered a • prektical
question. If Mr. Oliveira be right in his anticipations,
his motion may be a proper one to make in the House
of Conilona (though I ant arri.id there would be runny
compt.titcrs for any reduction that could be made), but,
I fear, it would require to be very sanguine indeed to, be
able to loek for any immediate reduction of taxation at
(I laugh.)

,WGRKSOP.—A very complimentsry address to his
Grace the Duke of Newcastle; on his retirement aeon
office, is now in course of signature in this town. The
&Acme is promoted, principally by his Grace's trades-
mere —Derbyshire Courier.
A meeting of the Cabinet Ministers was held at alaree
o'clock yesterday aftre noon at the Foreign-office, Dawn-
itsg-street. It was attended by Viscount Palmerston.
the Lord Chan: ells Earl Granville, the Marquis cf
Lansdowne, the Duke of Argy feud Pan satire, the Earl
of Clarendon, Sir C. Wocd, the Right Hon. R. Vernon
Smith Sir \Vin. Moleswortli, and Viscount Canning.
1)e patches were received at the Colonial-office yes-
terday from tl o Governors of the West India Islands:
Toe Emil and Countess of Durham have left, the Cla-
rendon Hotel, for the French capital, until after the
close of the Easter holidays.
The Duke of 'Rutland will entertain a select party at
8e1.,:r Castle, during the approaching Croxton
Park
race =.
Viscount Burghley, M.P., Colonel of the Nortbasnp-
tonshire Militia, which has been doing garrison duty in
Dublin, we hear is on the eve of embarking with his
cores-for service at Malta.
The Patriotic Fund has now reached the sum of one
millien sterling.
The population of Geelong, in Australia, in 1541, was
451 ; in 1354 it was 20,000.
We Understatd that the Chancellor of the Exchequer
has de lined the honour of being appointed president of
the Associated Societies of the University of Edinburgh;
—Edinburgh, Courant.
Sir Robert Peel, Bee., has entered upon his duties as
the " civil" member of the Board of Admiralty, vice the
Hon. W. Cowper, appointed to the Home Office as ono
of the under secretaries.
The scheme for laying a tax upon paper in. France has
been ab-onloned, in consequence of the great outcry
against the projept.
Accrrding to a letter from Odessa, General Annan-
kcff, the governor of Odessa, has been summoned ts)
Kisehereff, to take part m tee councils of war being
held there, presided over by Count Adlerburca
The Malta Mail announces that 25 steamers were
expected to be sent to Genoa for the conveyance of the
PiedinoWese contingent to the Crimea.
GENOA, March H.—General La Marmora's mission
concrenel, it is understood, a separate treaty between
Pielmont and the Sublime Porte, by which all diplo- '
matic difficulties are set aside. The expedition will set
out on the 12th of April.
CALEDONIAN RAILWAY.—The report of the directors
recommends the preferential dividend at the rate of 4
per cent., and the dividend on the ordinary stock at the,
rate of 3 per cent. per annum.
Intelligence has been received from Australia by Mr.
Gould, the ornithologist, of the murder, at Percy
Is4land, of his collector, Mr. Strange, making the third
party, employed by that gentlethan in pursuit of birds,
&c., who has been speared by the natives.
Mr. Charles Dickens has consented to visit Ashford
to read his " Christmas Carol," on Tuesday next, for
the benefit of the South-Eastern Railway Mechanics'
Institution. Captain Barlow, the general manager of
I the railway, will preside.
A chorister at the Greek chapel at Marseilles, named
Mareello, has just been condemned by the Correctional
Tribunal of that city to three months' imprisonment,
40f. fine, and five years surveillance of the police, for
having on different occasions, and in public places, em-
ployed insulting language respecting the Emperor of the
French, the Sultan, and the English army.
GENEROUS GIFT OF PRINCE ALBERT TO THE PORTS--
MOUTH "SAILORS' 11030.”—We duly noticed in Tues-
day's 'Fun, the great interest manifested by the
Prince on his Royal Highness's visit on Monday to
this noble institution. To show how favourably the
Prince thought of the management and benefits to be de-
rived by the British sailor, his royal highness has pre-
sented the institution with the munificent sum of 5001.,
-a cheque for which Las already been given for 3001., and
the remaining 2001. will be handed over us soon as the
additional building shall be ready in Hanover-street., ad-
joining. This generous act will ever be appreciated by
the honest tars of old England.
LAUNCH OF HER MAJESTT'S SCREW TROOP-SHIP
TRANSIT.- -The Transit, iron screw-ship, of 2,600 tens,
purchased by the Admiralty of sMessrs. Mare aed Co.,
was launced from Blackwall on Tuesday last, and is
now lying in the river, preparatory to being taken to
Messrs. Seaward's, who are to fit the screw machi-
nery cf 450-horse power s=ized at Napier's, at
Glasgow, because it was constructed for the Em-
peror of Russie. This ship is one of the finest ever
turned off the stocks. She is an improved Prince, and,
with her poop and forecastle, presents one of the most
sightly and formidable vessels that has floated on the
Thames. She was most skilfully launched from a very
awkward position at B3W Creek, and was brought up
within ono-half her own length from the slip and within
about 30 fuel of the opposite bank. It is calculated
that sho will be ready for service in about eight weeks.
IMPROVZMENT IN &rano STEAM MACHIEBRY.—A very
simple but effectual plan has recently been introduced by
Mr. Penn, the eminent engine-maker, for preventing
that constant and excessive wear and tear of the bearings
on the shafts of screw steamers which has hitherto been
found so great a practical difficulty and so continually
recurring a source of expense.• He introduces between
the bearing and the shaft thin slips of wood, which have
the remarkable property of entirely suspcndng that in-
cessant waste of material which, after a certain pressure
on the square inch has been attained, is constantly in
progress. The simple expedient has been adopted in the
recent repairs of the Himala a and will probably be ap-
plied, if found successful in her case, to all screw steam-
ers. While the surfa'e of the bearing is preserved from
waste, singularly enough the slips of wood show no in-
dication of being rubbed away or heated.
THE STOCKTON AFFILIATION CASE.—JONES v. SIN-
GLETON. —This case came on for hearing before the
St mkton bench of magistrates last week. Mr. Sten-
veason, of Darlington, attended on behalf of Miss Jones,
and Mr. D )(Ids, solicitor, of Stockton, on behalf of Mr.
Singleton (who, it will be remembered, is a Roman Ca-
tholic
priest in Stockton). The case, it will be recol-
lected, had already been twice heard before the magis-
trates, when the application had been refused. Oa the
first occasion, when it was befcre. the magistrates at
Stockton, on the 13th and 14th of September het, we
reported the case fully, and the .of
of the case are
necessarily of that nature as not to warrant a repeti-
tion of them on the present' occasion. As we have
already intimated, the evidence was, on the present
occasion, in a great measure the same as that adduced at
the previous inquiries ; but on what Miss Jones princi-
pally relied was evidence by which she would be enabled
to contradict the statements made by Mrs. Proud, Mr.
Singleton's housekeeper. At the previous inquiries Mrs.
Proud positively swore that whilst Miss Jones was re-
siding at the house of Mr. Singleton she had never seen
her come out of Mr. Singleton's bedroom at 2 o'clock in
the morning; and being again put into the box she re-
peated that evidence, and swore that st e had never said
to any one, whilst Miss Jones was living at Mr. atingle-
ton's, that she (Airs. Proud) would not be long there in
consequence of what was going on, and that she had
seen Miss Jones coming out of Mr. Singleton's bed-
room at 2 o'clock in the morning. Mr. Steavenson then
called Mrs. Bulmeiand Mrs. Robinson, two highly re-
spectable persons, who positively swore that in July last
Mrs. Proud hal male the above statement to them.
Her testimony was also contradicted by a servant girl,
named Martha May, who was evidently the witness of
truth. A. plan of the premises was produced, which
showed that the sleeping apartments of Miss Jones and
Mr. Singleton adjoined'eael other, and were both en-
tered from the same corridor. Mr. Steavenson pressed
the bench to be allowed to produce the infant, in order
to prove its likeness to, Mr. Singleton, but the magis-
trates refused, and stated that they were satisfied on
that point. Other evidence was also adduced, but as
the act requires that sufficient corroborative evidence of
tsarh:.:ortaititintenio;earsr'sebe:seitatement be given to the satisfaction of
the justices, before they can make an order, and as they
were not satisfied that her evidence on the present (men-
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