The Sun.
London, England, 1852-04-01 00:00:00

THURSDAY

TAXES ON NEWSPAPERS, AND -THEIR
, - INJUSTICE. , , _, - - i .
_ (From the Expositor) . ~.. 0 TA e
TI BURMEBE *WAR. •
Newspapers--the pioneers of knowledge, the public-I- w -
-1--r.e'ffilVr'in received ditpinehre in taistitipea.;en or the
Overland Mail, which nft Bombay on the 4 h of March.
instrucees iu poliecal tii3tters, the medium through
write?) useful, ',melodic, end literary inf., irmation is eon- 1
he teneenne- is the letter of a cortespondent :
veyed to the pot-lic, the heralds of the rews of the day; I T
etewlly need wil to an classes, fr ‘in the noble to rile 1 `Sitice the dispatch of my last letter preparations have
beta Inside for prosecuting welt the utup,st promptitude
uteermuic—have been by every Guestemeut, whether
Butz:nab. It tyis been witety determined to force the
and vigour the war which now seems inevitable with
Tory. (Iris rvaqve, or Whig (Proiec,iouist not yet
tried) treated not. may
proprietors are now in possession ,f a privilege not Burmese to- terms before the betting in of' the monsoon,
utifirty, ow uoitr-My. Beth-tied
and by the time this reaches England a fl tine of more
epjoyed by the press, with all.. its -allowed superior
advantage to mankind. We think we hear our readers than a dozen war-steamers, with 6,000 troops on board,
say, can this be possiele? We say it is possible, and we will be in the Burmese waters for the purpose.
will state the grievance in as small a compass as the im- 41 It will be remembered that Lord Dalhousie had not
portance.of the subject merits.. ' reached. Calcutta when the dispatches regarding Cora-
-1,. is pretty well known to those conversant with the mode_ Lambert's first-affair with the stockades arrived;
subject (and to those who learn it for thefiret time from •they were consequently forwarded to him by express,
this staternc-nt, We appeal to join the band already and the steamer Fire Queenkept in readiness to
formed to get rid of these unjust taxes on knowledge) convey_ his farther instructions concerning Barmese al.-
fairs to the.Conarnodere in. the Irrawaddy—the Bengal
that the newspaper proprietor pays-on the article ;se
such steps as
produces no less than three direct and distinct taxes: the Government in the meantime taking only
paper pays a direct tea per pound before it receives the- were necessary for putting the frontier -provinces in a
impression of the type; sheet is
a tax of Id. par • paid -to' posture of defence. a •' - -
the Conimindeners of Inland Revenue for the privilege " The Fire Queen left the Sandbeada with the
of hutting a blet of red on the corner of their paper in tee i GovernoreGene
'coral's dispatches on the 28th of J
er oetitiery,
and reached the mmodore off the Rangoon Rivn
shape of a distinctive) die stamp; and they are again
called on to pay Is. 61 in the shape of duty for every the 30th. The cenamodore immediately intimated to
advertise=ment that appears in their. paper. The first the Rangoon authorities that he should escend the river
tax on paper is najurious, as not allowing papers and in his frigate next morning as the bearer of a fresh
communication from the Governor-General. Notwith-
periodicals to be published at a cheaper rate, or at ell .
standin
events preventing the proprietors of the cheaper g this intimation, the first s'tocktide he passed the
class following daopened a heavy fire on the Fox, which
of publications from paying men of talent as
killed one of her crew. The frigate returned the fire,
they should be paid, consequently not producing so'
healthy end wholesome a pennyworth of knowledge as but without stopping her courte, silencing the enemy's
the public would obtain supposing this cbuoxious im- guns, and setting the stockade, on fire. The next,
post to be abolished. The only argument, it it can be stockade took warning by the fate of its neighbour ; it
so called, in favour of the stamp duty of Id. on each opened a fire also, for the honour of the thing, but took
newspaper is, that for this odious tax the Government care to
.fire wide of the frigate; and the commodore
convey newspapers to all parts of England gratis. This therefore passed by it without notice. Two other of the
is true, to a certain extent; but why tax the inhabitants stockades opened a fire on the steamer Tenasserirc,
of large towns for the sake of those who wish the ad- which followed the Fox a few hours after, and of which
vantage of the post? It is well known that the large . they did not appear to be in equal dread. She returned
towns throughout England, aye, and small ones as well, the fire of the first stockade with a few rounds of shot
are not supplied through the post with the morning and shell, and with eight or ten rockets ; the latter
papers.* They are sent by railway, and paid as parcels set the work on fire, and it continued burning for about
to the railway companies by either the London or six
country newspaper agent. This is not confined to the " hours.
On arriving off the newly-erected fortifications which
morning papers; the weekly papers are conveyed to now occupy the site of te late tow of Rangoon, the
country towns in the same parcel on Saturday morning commodore sent an officer and interpreter to the Go-
in most cases. If not, they send them by mid-day vernor with Lord Dalbousie's letter. The terms offered
trains. So, to say the least, this is as unequal, come• in this communication base occasioned general surprise
quently an unfair, tax. and some censure, on the ground that their extreme
Of the third tax, to which we particularly wish to moderation would prevent British subjects whose goods
address ourselves, we can only hope our observations have been confiscated and destroyed from obtaining any
may have the same effect on the minds of our readers compensation; and would also, by being attributed by
that we have long felt, and with us consider this as one the Burmese to weakness, render an ultimate settlement
of the most Ililiair, unjust, and um qual taxes that ever more difficult
entered into the mind of man to impose in a civilized " Their substance was, that if the Burmese Governor
would apologise for his insult to our flag, and pay the
country. Unfair to tax any man who simply announces
in a newspaper he either wanly to purchase a house, or 900/. previously demanded as-compensation .for losses
to sell an acre of land; yet the announcement may ap- inflicted on two of the many British subjects who
pear on bills posted on the walls, or exhibited on have been pillaged at Rangoon, the Burmese ships
boards by the roadside. Unjust to the poor ser- should be restored, and the blockade raised, and
vant who makes public in three lines that she an agent from the Indian Government sent
wants a situation, and charges no more to the peer down. The reply was returned in the most insult-
who requires a mansion, pleasure grounds, arid ten ing manner imaginable, by a dirty labourer in an
thousand acres of ground. Unequal in the case of a squally dirty fishing canoe. The Burmese Governor
poor decayed widow, who, in a very few lines, relates took no notice whatever of Lord Dalhousie's first two
her tale of woe ; for which the Government amerce
demands. He refused to negotiate at all with the com-
her in the shape of Is. 6d., and charge the wealthy modore, but said that he would talk over the subject
public companies, who occupy a column in seeking ad- with any other agent the Indian Government sent down;
venturers in the Californian or Australian gold specu-
and he is said to have remarked that the blockade did
lation, no more. Let this pass, bad as it is. But what not inconvenience them at all. In answer to a letter the
hl do we find the Government allow? as we have
commodore had sent him at the same time from himself',
shown the newspaper proprietor is taxedH ,
in which he expressed his surprise at hiving been fired
ywe have the
extraordinary anomaly of the Government allowing at by the stockade while on his passage up the river (of
these railway carriages to be converted into newspapers, which the Viceroy had been previously advertised) in
and the walls of the stations into the mediums of pub- a diplomatic capacity, as the bearer of an answer trom
the Governmatieneral to a letter from the King of Ave,
Hefty, as far as advertising is concerned, without paying
the Burmese Governor replied that he had given orders
one farthing in the shape of advertisement duty to the
to the stockades to fire into any vessel daring to pass
revenue. Quite apart from the monstrous injustice of
them without permission. The comma rejoined,
this system, that allows railway proprietors to possess
the advantage of making known the wants and wishes of that he would utterly destroy by fire any stockade that
advertisers free, while the newspaper proprietor is taxed tired at his frigate on her passage down the river. This
to the tune of, ls. 61 for every such advertisement, to his
threat had its effect, and the commodore returned
enchorage off the mouth of the river without molestation.
look at the shortsightedness and stupidity of allowing
" this system to continue, in a financial and revenue point The appearance of the banks of the river at Ran-
of view. Every advertisement exhibited at a railway goon is described as entirely changed. Not a vestige
station, or in a railway carriage, is really taken from remains of the late town. Of the materials of its brick
some newspaper, consequently is an injury to the news-
and stone houses three large masonry torts have been
erected with ' most singular rapidity ;' they appear, it
paper proprietor, who pees paper and stamp duty, and
is also a loss of Is. 6cl. to the revenue which would be is said, ' very strong, and evidently mount some heavy
'
saved to the Government it inserted in a newspaper, in-
guns. The jungle and village near the great Dragon
stead of being allowed to appear in a railway carriage, Pagoda have been entirely cleared away, and the build
ing enclosed with a strong stockade. Other stockades '
or exhibited at a station. To those who have had ez-
a
perieece in advertising—whether as booksellers, ge- are everywhere being erected along the banks of the
neral advertisers, secretaries to public companies, or ad-
river. The main wharf of the old town has been turned
t
vertising agents—this fact will be patent, that a given tote a battery of formidable appearance, but is said to
sum of money is settled as the amount to be spent on admit of being enfiladed. The new works altogether
mount 100 guns, and an officer of the Fox writes to one
advertising—of course modified by circumstances,
of the Calcutta papers that ' Rangoon would now cost a
as the sale of the book, progress of the company,
few the number of their mess before it was taken.'
&c. It is useless to say the money spent on railway
" On receiving the Rangoon Viceroy's answer to their
advertising is extra. We appeal to the classes of ad-
vertisers we have named in support of our assertion. last overtures, the Supreme Government are said to have
Why then, we ask the Government, is this, that the decided that all further negotiation was out of the
newspaper proprietor is to pay Is. 6d. for every ad question. The Governor-General immediately ordered
vertistment that appears in his columns, while the a force consisting of her Majesty's 18th, the 40th Native
railway proprietors pay not a single farthing in Infantry, with another native corps and a company of
the shape of duty for advertising at their stations European Artillery, to prepare for instant embarkation,
and some steamers and transports were hired for
and in their carriages? We especially commend
veying these troops to Burmah.
con-
these last remarks on the injury to the revenue
" Madras was ordered to send her Majesty's 51st,
to the consideration of every Chancellor of the
two Native Regiments, and three companies of Euro-
Exchequer, while this obnoxious impost con-
tinues. But we b lieve and hope the present peen Artillery; the whole force, about 6 000 strong,
a
Chancellor of the Exchequer will take a moro enlarged will be under the command of General Godwin, who was
view of the subject, and abolish the duty on advertise- 'ictively engaged in the former Burmese war. Major
meats, paper. and stamps, at once. But, if he cannot Hugh Frazer goes as chief engineer. Orders were at
spare the trifling sum produced by the advertisement the same time sent by the Governor-General to the
duty, we urge on him the justice of dealing fairly by all Bombay Government to equip and dispatch without
ldi-
parties, and not allow the highly-taxed proprietor orbay all the war steamers they could spare, mooned with
newspaper to be longer subject to the advertisement duty, their full war complement, and ready for immediate ao-
, while the railway directors are allowed to continue ti"' The squadron was on its way to touch at Fort
tcharging the public for advertisements that pay no duty, 'it. George. and convey the Madras force thence to
This request is so tsar and just, as we believe, that we Burmah. The Bombay Government immediately de-
are anxious to hear what the advocates of railway me- tided on sending six steam-frigates—the Fereze, the
nopoly have to say in reply. Moozuffer, the sesostris, the Berenice, the Medusa,
and the Zenobia—the Semaramiv, now in China, to
juin, if required, in the river. The first four (three
of them as large as the Atlantic steamships) were
fully equipped and started from Bombay in four days
after the order had been received; the Zenobia, which
was hourly expected with the English mail of the 20th
of January, not having yet arrived, the Queen has
aeen sent off instead, and the Zenobia is only wait-
ing for the arrival of a detachment of artillery from
Nuggur to follow the other five. The squadron is to
embark the Madras force about the 12th of March,
and Rangoon will probably be in our hands about 10
or 15 days after.
" The general improvement that has taken place since
the last Burmese war in our military and naval re-
sources and appliances, and especially our improved posi-
tion as regards Burmah in particular, has been rendered
very apparent in the late preparations. In 1825 the
troops that were dispatched from Calcutta to Arracan
were no less than three months in reaching their destina-
tion; on the present occasion one steamship (the Pre-
cursor) took in a single trip an equal number of troops
trom Calcutta to Arracan in about seventy hours. Steam
las in this instance reduced months to days; but this is
not all; close to Arracan is the Aeng Pass, now held by
a strong detachment of our troops, and from this pass it
is not forty miles to a point on the Irawaddy twice as
near to Ave as to Rangoon, and which it took in the last
war more than a year's campaign to reach from the let-
ter basis of operations. The rising importance of Bom-
bay as the head-quarters of the Indian navy, and princi-
pal steam-port in the eastern seas, is not less remat kable.
In the last Burmese war it took nearly a month to pre-
pare a small sloop-of-war (the Hastings) for commission.
Now an order reaches us one day for all the steam-fri-
gates we can spare; three hours afterwards everything
is arranged; next morning they are reported in such a
state of progress that they are in squadron-orders to be
off in three days; and in three days they are off.
" A month hence there will be, in all likelihood, a
fleet of at least eight large and five smaller class war-
steamers assembled in the Burmese waters, ' probably'
says the Bombay Times, ' the largest collection of that
formidable class of ships ever brought together for the
purpose of actual warfare.' If required, we could also
rend hence the Ajadha, of 1,500 tons and 500-horse
power, and the Acbar, another powerful steam-frigate
(though in that case we should probably have to depend
on the Peninsular Company for the conveyance of our
mid-monthly mails), and two other first class steam-
frigates of 800 horse power each are now on the stocks
at Bombay. On the Ganges and Indus we have alto
flotillas of river steamers and flats sufficient (if it were
considered worth while to use them) to convey the whole
Burmah field force from Rangoon to Ava in five or six
days (the distance is about 500 miles). The force
amounting t 0.6,000 men) that is about to start is cense.
derably larger than any that Sir A. Campbell had at
his disposal at any time of the last war; and, if neces-
sary, it might be trebled from Bombay and Madras.
" I learn from private letters that the Governor-
General is still in hopes of avoiding anything more than
4 a demonstration,' and that he expects the presence in
their waters of a force so large and so rapidly collected
will frighten the Burmese into an immediate acquies-
cence in his terms, and thereby save the expense a
__
de-
lay of a campaign. With any other nation' sutler
result would, under the circumstances, be alines_
eard
tain ; but the history of the last war—the l
pecuvi„rr: of
irrational obstinacy with which, after
two
e'd to re-
signal and incessant defeats, they still contianucampbell
'fuse the terms offered them until General 9 express-
was within forty miles of their capital-7a'
8_ with any
ing a desire to negotiate, yet never droeinegago , i
ling stockades
other object than to gain time force
Circumstance
of
and collecting troops, coupled with n°
the present case, ren-
their having courted a collision inha t
they should be in-
ners it extremely improbablet
themere demonstration
duced to submit to our terms bet Bassein mouth .
" I omitted mentioning that aof
'il brig Serpent hail destroyed
the Irrawaddy her Majesty e
eneu a fire el
t her, and
some stockades which had op
ed for a cruise iu that
that the Commodore bad
start
direction.
Mor
" Sir C. Campbell's force has returned to its canton-
menu( at Peshawur, leaving the mund frontier in a
more disturbed mad excited state _ c hen he found it.
e From the, China papers it will be seen that the pro-
gress of the rebels is at length decided and unquestion-
able. Tien-teh's proclamations are now openly shown
in Canton, and bulletins of imeginary victories gained
by the Imperial troops are no longer put forth by the
Canton authorities. The Governor-General (Seu) 4,f
the Canton province is besieged by the r bets 111 One of
his own townie and toe remnant of the Imperial frees
have lately been signally defeated. The only hope of
the Meintehoo dynasty hes in the chance of dissension
arising among the rebel leaden, an event by no means
improbable.
-aSir S. Gray, the aged Commander-in Chief of the
Bombay army, has bad a stroke of paralysis, and returns
to England by tn-daY's mail; his illness was not unex-
pouted. Ile had come out to a tropical climate in his

INDIA,

W e may state, in illustration of our assertion, that one
agent, who supplies the morning papers per railway trains,
informs us that of over 2,300 copies of the Times he dis-
patches daily over 2,000 by early railway trains. He
further complains that on the late editions of The Sun,
though every copy has already paid the Id. stamp, he yet
has to pay a fee of id. on each copy at the Post-office. Such
monstrous injustice is hardly credible. He states that by far
the larger proportion of The Sun consists of the late edi-

tion, that paper having acquired celebrity all over the king-
dom for bringing down tho Parliamentary news of the same
evening to the latest moment. Thus the reading-rooms and
commercial chambers in the distant towns are furnished
with Tne Sun, containing
the greater part of the debate
many hours before the morning papers ot the next day.

[ADVERTISEMENT.]—The Royal Exhibition Small
Glass for the waistcoat pocket, at S. and B. Solomons, Opti-
cians, Albemarle-street, Piccadilly, opposite the York
Hotel.
valuable, newly invented very small powerful
w
ocket glass, the size of a walnut, by which
aapiseer 3
s
waistcoat-pocket
be seen and known 1 miles distant. They
answer every purpose on the race-course, at the Opera-houses ;
country scenery and ships are clearly seen at twelve to four-
teen miles, They are invaluable for shooting, deer stalking,
yachting, to spbrtamen, gentlemen, game keepers, and tourists.
Telescopes, possessing such extraordinary powers that some,
3Jupiter's moons, Saturn's Ring, and the double stars; with the
same ienetheleelowpeish an extra eye piece, will show distinctly
can be seen a person's countenance, 31,e miles
distant, and an object from 16 to 20 miles ; they supersede
every other kind for the waistcoat-pocket, and are of larger,
and all sizes, with increasing powers accordingly. Opera and
race-course glasses with wonderful powers; newly invented in-
placed before imperfect vision every ob immediately they are
jeet appears clear and
distinct, the most aged defective sight is brought to its youth-
fvuall,uanbaletuprarle,searvnig Spectacle Lensesdn
original state. The invisible Organic
Vibrator,
and all kinds •of acoustic instruments, for relief of
extreme deafness. !I
—9, Albermarle-street, Piccadilly, opposite
the York Hotel.

FesuioN —Those of our readers who possessed the
entree last season to the gorgeous and tasteful display of the
results of European and Indian manufacture at Messrs.
Howell and James, will be pleased to learn that extensive
preparations have been for some while in progress for a yet
greater evidence of the ample resources of this house to cull
and Ming together all that is new and recherche from each
quarter of the globe. Although the notion is borrowed from
the Matson d'Lisle during the late reign, where royalty was
wont to mix in unostentatious familiarity with the elite of
and refined judgment the ensemble in Regent-street is, from
Paris,tha i:ren is
cegseinnecrealiyadmitted that for elaborate elegance
made in manufacturing art, far superior.
The Exposition is to last for two days, those of to-morrow
and Saturday.—Morning Paper.

BLOWING-Ur OF A WRECK IN THE THAMES.—
cwornedcku
toefdt h
verye
oartil yN. o rTt hh
I.IT
eheet b
ol onw
Friday,in o
wasf the
whole body of the hull was shattered, and masses of wood
and beams were thrown into the air, mixed with quantities
of water made quite black by the dispersion of the coals.
When the agitation of the water had subsided, a large quan-
tity of white bait, which was destroyed by the explosion,
floated on the water. There were great numbers of spec-
tators. The Gravesend watermen picked up the fragments
of wood, and many boats went away completely loaded.
The shock of the explosion was felt distinctly on the hill
of Northfleet. The charge was something more than 600 lb.
The galvanic battery used was Smee's. Captain Rowland,
the principal harbour-master and superintendent of the
river, had the whole of the arrangements under his super-
' vision.
UNIVERSITY BOAT-RACE.—This event, appointed
for Saturday afternoon next, is looked forward to with much
anxiety by the lovers of aquatic sports, who may fairly anti-
cipate a very gallant race. Both crews are at Putney in
and
ht stone,
n na m n
active training, and in first-rate condition. They are nearly
equal in weight,
a each man
e o faveraging
would indeed be difficult to select a finer set of men. Both
sanguine
crews
at in revetry
he uin
same admirable trim as at present, it will be
g success, aboutnuld
h d e
to it
the
no easy matter to predict the probable result of the race.
Betting is even, and on each succeeding pall over the course
in
favour so
both crews so improve in pace, and are rowing so remarkably
st sameirdges time, making allowance for
are not disposed to start
a pnondnn g an dd
party. The distance to be con-
tested is from Putney-bridge to the church at Mortlake, and
wi
at in n t
d e ,
nthatf near
eithert he the
best i
u
the Messrs. Searle have chartered two of the fastest steam-
boats for the convenience of gentlemen desirous of accom-
panying the race. Others have been also put in requisition
for the occasion.
FORTIFICATIONS IN THE BRISTOL CHANNEL.—The
Board of Ordnance have determined upon erecting a battery
of guns in the neighbourhood of Penarth-head, near Cardiff,
and a party of the Royal Engineers have been engaged in
exami,ing and inspecting the head and the adjacent coast,
with the view of ascertaining and reporting upon the best
site for the construction of defences for the better pro, ection
of the Bristol Channel at that part. The battery at Pater
Fort, Miltord Haven, is likewise to be altered, at an expence
of nearly 2 0001., and it is said that additional defences in the
Haven are to be erected at a cost of 5,0001.
C n N
Tuesday,vt c s
The
and the old York, when cleaned
m
ships, were removed to the new establishment adjoining
the Stirling Castle, and about 70 fromThtheelt'ork convicts
p prison-
ships,
Stirling Castle is to
out, will be placed as a target for the Excellent.
Portsmouthb
Tfi ti tieEdPfoDaTnoechkigo:saupridi:oi..nship,