The Sun.
London, England, 1852-03-25 00:00:00

MR. HUME, THE MALT TAX, AND THE
FARMERS.
The following letter from Mr. Hume will be gladly
read by all who take interest in the malt-tax petition.
London, March 20, 1852.
To Mr. Frederick Wase, farmer, Charsfield, Suffolk.
Sir,—l have received and prese.nted to the House of
Commons the petitions transmitted by you from twenty.
five parishes in the county of Suffolk, .prayieg " that
immediate measures may he adopted for the speedy and
entire remission ot the excise duty upon malt."
I have, on every occasion that the repeal of the excise
duty upon malt has been proposed in the House during
the last thirty years, voted for its repeal; and I shall, on
every opportunity, support the prayer of the petitioners
—being opposed to the tax as a bad bax, whether it be
considered as violating the rules of political economy
and of commercial policy, or as being injurious to the
morality and social happiness of the industrious classes
of the community.
This tax injures a great branch of native industry,
and limits the coesumption of its agricultural produce,
by raising the price of the wholesome beverage of beer,
an important necessary afire, to an extent that deprives
millions of the people of the enjoyment of it.
The Legislature has of late years after great opposi-
tion, freed bread and meat, the chief articles of food,.
from taxation, and by their free importation from other
countries has greatly improved the 'condition of the in-
dustrious classes. I desire, in like manner, to free malt
from taxation, and thereby to add the cheep beverage of
beer to the comforts of the people.
The malt-tax was imposed, end has been continued
by Parliamente, consisting chit fly of landlords, who
have had the power, if they had thought fit to exercise
it, of repesling the tax. There is now a Government in
power whose members have for the last six years been
loud in their advocacy of protection to native industry,
and especially of the welfare of the agricultural classes;
and it behoves the farmers to test the sincerity of Earl
Derby and his followers in their long-continued pre-
teelions, by demanding the repeal of the duty upon malt,
which is morn oppressive to the farmers and to all the
other industrious classes, than any ocher tax levied for
the public service.
. It is submitted that the farmers must now be con-
vinced, by the late debates in the House of Commons,
that there remains little chance of any they being re-
imposed on the importation of agricultural produce,
which could raise the price of their corn ant! cattle, the
two objects for which they have been contending, in any
appreciable degree; and it is to be hoped they will not
be any longer deluded by empty promises, or persuade
themselves that by any mere shifting of taxation from
the shoulders of ono perry to those ot another, any per-
manent relief can be afforded to the larsvar. The Pro-
. asieleeees-oeaanse does -riot promise :be farmers any re-
lief by a reduction of taxation; but, on the contrary,
ono of the present Secretaries of State has for the last
three years successfully opposed the reforms in the levy-
iog and expenditure of the county rates, which would
I've to the tarmers the proper constitutional control over
those rates, which in some counties are not in-
considerable.
I wish the farmers would consider themselves—as they
in reality are—as manufacturers of agricultural produce,
and believe that cheap food and 1)w taxes are as neces-
sary to enable them to compete with foreigners. and as
requisite to the comfort of their labourers, as these pro-
ducts of free trade hay, proved to the general manu-
facturing interest of the country.
The working-classes were for many years under the
delusion that the amount of their wages depeoded upon
the price of food; but that delusion had* passed away;
and the rate of wages is now found to depend upon the
supply and demand of labour, and not on the price of
food. Fsrnaers have been under a delusion of the same
kind with respect to the rent of their farms, which must
depend upon supply and demand, upon the number of
farms to be let, and the number of farmers desirous to
hire.

The price of produce, therefore, affects the permanent
interests of landlords more than those of tenants; and
farmers, as well as manufacturers, should advocate cheap
food, cheap drink, and economy and retrenchment in
every dtpartment of the state.
To obtain these benefits, the House of Commons must
be made a full and fair representation of the people at
large, and then the interests cf the farmers and all other
industrious classes will be duly considered and attended
to; for the House of Commons, as at present constituted,
does not fairly represent either the people or the pro-
perty of the country, and, therefore, reform of Par-
liament is one of the first objects which should occupy
the attention of all the industrious classes of the com-
munity.
With extension of the suffrage, protection ensured to
the voter by ballot, and a more Equal distribution of re-
presentatives to electors, the constitutional balance of
power will be established in the Commons' House of Par-
liament; and then, and not till then, may the agricultu-
ral as well as all other industrious classes, hope to have
full and equal justice done them.
I remain, your obedient servant,
JOSEPH HUN&

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
Fru,—ln your article of thi3 evening you deprecate
the advica I deemed it my duty to offer with regard to
furher cconotny in oar Naval Evil-aces. Yet I cannot
believe we materially differ, since you desire to see our
naval force made thoroughly efficient.
There is a source 01 national weakness even more
dangerous than " the ignorant impatience of taxation,"
and that is patience of official waste on the part of these
who have the opportunit es of resisting it. It is an in-

dieptitable fact itieit when mercheats want to get a par-
ticular sort of ship built in order to perform a given
service, they can generally get it for their money, whilst
the very opposite is more near the truth in the case of
the public acting through the Admiralty. Indeed, if
it were not for the alterations constantly going
on in the bows and sterns of vessels—in cut-
ting down some ships, and in lengthening others,
there would hardly be an excuse for keeping up large
establishments at our seaports, and, perhaps, this is
partly the secret of' many of the changes ships undergo.
Whilst many men are on the books in time of peace, if
they did not find an excuse for something to do, reduc-
tions would commence,
a thing which all sorts of officials
instinctively hold in horror.
The fact is, we ought to build by contract. This has
been done in some instances with good effect, and ought
to be done iu mere, if not in all, White, Betsey, Green,
and Camper, would soon shame our empirical bUilders
into a substitution of exact science for rule of thumb.
No doubt, we have our Chatfielda (Chatfield, I believe,
designed the Thetis—a beautiful vessel); but owing to
the fatal mistake committed in abolidhing the school of
naval architecture which was fouod'd many years
since, it is only of late that advances have been made on
a better system.
The long and short of the matter is this—a sum of
nearly 1,500,0001. is required for ship-building during
this year. I maintain that we ought to have for this sum
a greater number of efficient ships than, judging from
the experience of the past, we are likely to obtain.
One million a year judiciously expended during the past
thirty-seven years would have placed our navy on such
a footing that, with a better system of maiming the
navy, we might at this moment fold our arms and defy
the world. Unfortunately, our widest measures have
been conceived in a panic, and, consequently, many
things have been forgotten which ought to have been
considered. For example, the reserve of steamers
founded by the Government of Sir Robert Peel were,
if lam rightly informed, by a late official, built too
small for their engines; and the result was, that the
vessels turned out to be unsuited to the purposes for
which they were required, and it became necessary to
get more. Then, war steamers did not answer, except
as trot :pships.
Of Keyham you say nothing. That case is absolutely
unanswerable. It is neither more nor less than an abso-
lute waste of a million of money, because a quarter of a
million would have made Millbay perfect for the same
purpose, and far better situated. In the debate, I was
told that Keyham was a better place for the steam docks,
because Keyham is less exposed, inasmuch as Keyham
is up Haraoaze. This is evidently erroneous. Keyham
is more exposed. Keyham is exposed to attack by a
force operating from the land side, and which would not
enter the port at all, but disembark in Wt.itsand bay,
the distance being but a few miles, and the route unde-
fended. Millbay, on the other hand, would be further
from attack, except seaward, and, as to that danger,
it would be an almost impossible enterprise for a fiet to
attempt to pass the batteries on Drake's Island, and
other places. Besides, Millbay lies contiguous to the
Victualling-yard and arine-barracks, and would, there-
fore, have offered peculiar advantages. However, it is,
perhaps, now too late to rectify that mistake; and my
only wonder is why, if it be so urgently necessary to
have steam docks, which no doubt it is, so small a sum
as 40,0001. is taken this year-352,0001. being the fur-
ther cost. But if we are to avoid web mistakes in future,
it will he a,cribable in the main to the readiness of the
Press in affording opportunities for the discussion of the
views,entertaiued be different persons.
You do not,approve of what I said with respect to the
pay of sailors. When I spoke of sailors—able seamen
—serving for 11. asweek to find themselves, it was not
intended to be supposed that blue jackets were to scram-
ble for a chance of cooking their provisions, and that
every man should have his own store. My remark, es
to what could be done, was merely intended as the
basis of au estimate. No difficulty is blind in yachts
—even where sailors actually "find themselves." The
limit is the gist of my argument. I meant to convey
that, if able seamen can be obtained at 1/. per week
tee " find themselves,'' mixed crews of able seamen,
becond-rates, and youngsters, to the extent of 40,000,
might be obtained for 2,000,0001. a year, and I. believe
that proposition is a true one.
As to invoking the Press," as well as using Hansard,
I can only say that when I think I see my way to a
saviug-of public enortey, and a mode of improving the
of a great national arm, I shall certeiny not
thffi cYesitiedntetoaveil my self of it, feeling a.sured that, though
an assault upon the strongholds of peosne..
ty and wash
way easily be made the ()evasion of c ieita jokes, the
subject is by no means a juke to the public.
I air, Sir, &e
Loudon, March 24, 1852.

J. J: TRELAWNY.

' DEATH OF THE HON. FRED. WEST......We regret
to announce the death of this venerable gentleman, at his
seat, Culham Court, Belkshire. The Hon. Fred. West was
brother to the last Earl Delawarr, and was for many years
in Parliament for Denbighshire, and about the Court of
George 111. and IV._ By this demise the families of Dela'
warr, Chesterfield, Radnor Fox Lane, Northwicb,
ton, Biddulph; Bulkeley, &c., will be placed in mourning.
the
'The largest sailing vessel which ever floated on
Sudeten
Clyde is now lying at the Broomielaw. The H.
C.
and is in-
Middle-
measures 1,444 tons, Custom-house measurement,
Australia,d
tended as a regular trader between Glasgow
under the command of Captain Patterscj
late
of
168 feet:
—length,
pinery. Her principal dimensions are ,___„, .4. New
breadth, 32' feet; depth, 29i feet. She wM tior *v
ow
and
the Mont-
tAtageWl tkud litunched in. Juno, 1801.