The Sun.
London, England, 1863-04-17 00:00:00

The Weafe'v—Sun Office, April 17, 1863.

to sell beer at the reduced license ! From granting
a guinea license to bier dealers for selling any
smaller quantity than two dozen bottles or 41 i
g dlons! From subjecting carriers, travelling under
four miles an hour and conveying passengers, to
one-half the duty now paid by stage carriages : and
from abolishing henceforth the exemption from
duty of excursion trains, commuting the pre
sent payment upon railway trains of 5 per cent.
with exemptions into a payment of 31 per cent.
without exemptions ! Not taking into account his
parenthetical proposition, as one may call it, for
abolishing the exemptions from duty in favour of
charitable legacies in Ireland, with certain reserva-
tions, and for assimilating the law in Ireland in that
respect to the law in this country, Mr. GLAD-
STONE estimates, as we have said, the
dropping in of some £58,000 additional into
the Exchequer from the working of these various
sources of income. So that adding that to the
£75,000 drawn from the application of the income
tax to charities and charitable corporation-, as
i Chancellor of the Exchequer he finds himself
agreeably empowered to deal with a surplus not of
£3 741,000, but with a surplus enhanced by an
additional £133,000 to a total of £3,874,000.
Diminishing this by the abolition of the small
charges on commerce to the tune of £143,000; by
, the abatement of the income tax on minor incomes
to the extent of £300,000; by the reduction of the
tea duty by no less an amout t than £1,300,000;
and by the reduction of 2d. in the pound on the
general rate of income tax, involving a loss of fully
£1,600,000. Mr. GLADSTONE, through the operation
of his present Budget, proposes to remit £3,343,000
out of his estimated surplus, in the aggregate, of
£3,874,000. Showing still an undisturbed little
balance, even then, to the extent of £531,000. By
II that residue he holds, however, with exemplary
tenacity. A million and a half from the beloved
income tax he is ready to forego. He consents to yield
up more than a million and a quarter in the shape
of tea duties. Concessions of a minor kind he is
peepared to make in sundry other directions with-
out any apparent qualm. Bat when all thus
has been said and done, eloquently said and
magnanimously done by Mr. GLADSTONE, there is
an odd half million still remaining in the " right"
balance, and to that he clings to the last pertina-
ciously. Nor will the nation begrudge that super-
fluous £531,000 to the calculations of its Financier
—associated as the thought of it will be with the
grateful reflection that henceforth the Income-tax
will be sevenpence instead of ninepence in the pound
sterling, and the tea duty one shilling instead of
one shilling and fivepence.

THERMOMETER.
Highest since Noon yesterday- ............... 60
Lowest during the night .................... 42
This day at N00n.... .................... 57
Wind—N.-W. ; moderate, with tine weather.

HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.
Tale DAT.—Morning, lh. 28m.—Afternoon, Ih. Om.
To-moßstow.-Monting. 211. 10m.—Afternoon, 2h. 98m,

An important deputation waited on Earl RUSSELL
yesterday, consisting of the shippers and merchants

concerned in the Mexican trade, and the owner,

ship-broker, and underwriter interested in the
steamships Peterhoff and Sea Queen. The im-
portance of the interview was greatly increased by
the announcement of a singular fact. It appears
that Mr. ADAMS, the Minister of the United States

at this Court, has been granting permission for a

ship to proceed to Matamoros. This vessel, which

has received a special license to proceed safe from

interruption by American cruisers, is to carry sup

plies of arms and ammunition to the Me-Ticalls to

assist them in their war against France. The depu-
tation declared that in consequence of an attempt to

tflect a policy of assurance that day at LLOYD'S
the certificate from Mr. ADAMS to Admiral
DUPONT had come to their knowledge.
In the course of the letter, Mr. ADAMS
states that he most cheerfully grants the
rEquest of those who ask for his permission. He

avers that " it is not the intention of the United
States to interfere in any way with an honest

neutral trade, and it is deeply to be regretted the.

the frauds which t ave been practised so extensively

in this country have contributed so much to throw

it under suspicion." Such language is a disgrace
to a man holding such a responsible position as

Mr. ADAMS. He does not deem it necessary to

explain why it is so much more honest to facilitate
the transit of arms that are to to employed against

a country that is considered in friendly relations
with his own, than to import supplies to thb Confe-
derates. When he goes farther and attempts to

invalidate the conduct and transactions of English

shipowners, he forgets that to apply such strong
epithets to others may induce some to retort the charge
upon himself. It is not consistent with straight-

forward conduct, nor in accordance with the rules
of fair play, to make one set of instructions for
public notice, and then covertly foll)w on a very
different track. Because the Federal Government,
at any cost, are resolved to exterminate the Confe-
&Tates, all nations that do not follow in their /rake
and carry out their views are to be considered false
and faithless, and their subjects liable to every kind

of annoyance, insult, and spoliation. On the other
hand, as they wish to carry out a particular lino of

action in Mexico, all things are changed in that
locality—a new code is to be drawn ❑p, and a
different policy brought to bear on all engaged in
traffic for that country. Mr. CRAWFORD called

attention to this circumstance in the strongest
masner, and it is to be hoped that Lord RUSSELL
will pay due attention to this serious state-
ment, and act with something of his old

energy in dealing with this complicated question.
Mr. CRAWFORD also called Lord RUSSELL'S atten-

lion to the wrongs sustained by the captain and

officers of the Peterhof, who are detained in New
York and not allowed to communicate with the
British Consul or the agents of the owners and
merchants. Lord RUSSELL expressed his surprise
at this intimation, remarking that they were not
criminals, or subject to criminal law. The imme-
diate object of the deputation was to secure an
assurance of protection from her MAJESTY'S Ge-
l! vcrnment for the steamship
Sea Queen, which is
now
lying at Falmouth detained by the owners, who
await this decision. It was suggested as extremely
probab.le that the Federal agents here would send
fictitious letters to compromise the ship, and that
there would be a repetition of the same arbitrary
i conduct which had taken place on board of the
t Ewe Aa Rwn k had
ar awkward
lAdela. Lord RUSSELL said he did not anticipate the \
1 i renewal
o n beh a l f o
of f stuheeh
shippers,
acts,h ip pe r
winceic p
ll‘ali
nr
ed h • S
issued fresh instructions to the Federal officers,
through the Secretary of the Navy, Mr.
HARDING,
position in which they were placed ; their engage-
, ments were binding, their goods were on board, but
the owners refused to allow the ship to proceed while
everything was so uncertain, and she was subject
to seizure. Lord RUSSELL promised to consider
the question, and while he is contemplating the
difficulties of the case he may have leisure and op•
portunity to reflect upon the inconsistency of the
conduct of his friends the Federals. At the outset
of this protracted struggle he gave them every ad-
vantage, and allowed them every opportunity of
saying that the English Government was on their
aide. Now they have adopted every means of
displaying-i 1-will and exercising their power in an
illegal manner Ovir our vessels, theraif dishonouring
the subjects of our SOVEREIGN and violating the
laws of nations in the most flagrant manner. Ii can
be but for a very little while longer that such
things can to calmly borne. Unless a total change
is made in the entire course of action pursued by

THE SUN, LON DON, FRIDAY EVEN-INa, APRIL 17, 1863.

LATEST INTELLIGENCE.

(REUTLU'S TELEGRAMS.)

AMERICA.
(Per Bohemia.)

NEW YORK, APRIL 4, EVENING.
Gen. Grant has placed a battery of 84-pounders
beyond the levee in a position to reach Vicksburg
easily, and is about to open the bombardment.
Fil zburgh Lee's cavalry, 2,500 strong, are reported
to be at Culpepper, Virginia.
Governor Todd, of Ohio, has been arrested by
order of the grand jury of Fairfield, County Ohio,
on a charge of kidnapping Dr. OldF, who was arbi-
trarily arrested, and imprisoned in Fort Lafayette.
The Governor was admitted to bail.
The draft is expected to be enforced at the end of