The Sun.
London, England, 1839-04-25 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 1939,

land as from London itself. As many letters come
from a distance as go to a distance, and being sent
from all distances and received at all distances
within the bounds of the empire, it is clear
that the advantage of the universal penny
postage must in respect of distances be equal to the
inhabitants of every part of the empire. There
may be persons the sum of whose correspondence
may not extend beyond a dozen miles, and there
may be others whose correspondence is all with very
distant places, but such cases must be very rate,
and the great majority of the community, with an
universal penny postage, will he quite on an equality
with reference to distance as to receiving and send-
ing letters.
The complete answer, however, to such objec-
tions is to be found in the fact that the cost of
conveying a single letter, when many are conveyed,
is so small as scarcely to be appreciable. Letters,
it is stated in the third Report of the Select Com-
mittee on Postage, could, it is undeniable, be sent
from London to Edinburgh by an ordinary coach
parcel, at a cost of somewhat less than one-tenth of
one penny each. It results from the calculation of
the actual number of letters now sent to Edin-
burgh by the mail that the cost of transit is not
above one thirty-sixth of a penny. That is the
calculation on the supposition of employing the
ordinary mail coaches, but as railroads came into use
as passengersand heavy goods pay the chief expense
of transit, the cost of conveying each letter will
dwindle down to an infinitely small proportion of a
penny. - We learn from the evidence of Mr.
DILLON, and the fact deserves special notice, as
tending to equalize the advantages and disad-
vantages of densely and thinly peopled districts,
that the expense of transit diminishes in the pro-
gress of society. In his evidence he said—
" There are many analogous cases in which the mere
transit of goods adds little or nothing to their price or
value in the market ; a book published in London is sold
at the same price in London, Dublin, and Edinburgh ;
articles of wearing apparel, in the large cities, where
the means of transport are many and cheap, are sold
at the same prices in all the different parts of the king-
dom. To show how little the cost of transit some-
times enters into the price of goods, I may mention
to the Committee, in the way of illustration, that we
buy goods in Manchester ; they are conveyed to Lon-
don; we sell them in London very often to dealers resident
in Manchester, who again carry them back to the place
whence they came, and, after the cost of two transits, they
will have bought them of us cheaper than they themselves
could buy them in Manchester. In this instance, the cost
of transit, as an element of price, has become absolutely
destroyed by the force of capital and other arrangements.
I mention this as showing that in an advanced state of com-
merce, and where the facilities of intercourse are very great
and constantly increasing, the mere cost of transit enters
very little into the price of the article."
The actual cost of transmitting letters being
very small, the chief expense of the Post-office con-
sists in the establishments for collecting and distri-
buting the letters. "It is not a matter of in-
ference," says the Report, " but a matter of fact,
that the expense to the Post-office is practically
the same, whether a letter goes from London to
Barnet, or from London to Edinburgh. The
difference is not expressible in the smallest coin we
have.' " To resist the proposed plan on the jea-
lous and envious grounds we have alluded to is,
therefore, extremely unjust. The cost of trans-
mitting letters being so exceedingly small, y and
the cost of collecting and delivering them
being also insignificant, wherever there are
many' to be delivered, and the cost will be
much lessened by Mr. HILL'S plan, it follows that
all the charge above a very small one is a tax
levied on the written interchange of thought. Go-
vernments have taxed light, and should they again
be involved in expensive wars may tax spoken
words, but such a tax would scarcely be more one-
rous or more mischievous than the tax on letters.
At present it is calculated that the tax is 236 per
cent. on the cost, and she tax increases in propor-
tion as facilities of transit, and the number of
letters transmitted, increase. Now all the
charge above a sum necessary to cover the
actual expense of the Post-office being a
tax, it follows that it should be levied
not according to the distance the letter is carried,
but according to the ability of the person who is to
pay it. To levy a tax of that kind on a poor la-
bourer, for example, who comes from Cork to Lon-
don for employment, and on a rich Irish landowner,
who comes to spend his income in luxury in Lon-
don, is most unequal and unjust ; the latter will not
feel it, to- the former it is an actual prohibition of
correspondence. It is right that individuals should
pay for carrying their letters, but to tax correspon-
d'uce seems to answer none of the conditions which
ADAM Sarin' says a• tax should fulfil. It is
neither proportionate to the payer's means,
' nor does it fall on him when lie is
most willing to part with his money ; but in the case
of the poor, who seldom write except on extraor-
dinary emergencies, it takes money from them
when they are least able to spare it. On the man
of business it is a heavy burden, on the man of
pleasure and wealth it falls lightly, and he can
avoid it when he will. This would be the case
though franking were not tolerated, but when we
add franking, all the advantages of which belong
to the opulent, we must conclude that the tax on
letters is one of the least just that has yet been
devised. As it weighs so heavily on the poorer
classes, cutting them off, when at a distance, from
habitual communication with their friends, it is not
surprising that they have recourse, like their
betters, to various methods of evading the tax, some
of which were thus described by Mr. PRENTICE of
Manchester :

" There was peculiar propriety in Manchester moving for
this redaction of postage ; for this town was peculiarly Si •
:ttted. Probably not one in ten of the present residents
of Manchester, of 45 years of age, was a native of the place.
Li that coined, how many of its members were natives cf
Manchester? There were in the town from 30,000 to
40,000 Irish, and 3,000 or 4,000 Scotch ; and of the great
majority of these, it might be said that all intercourse with
their relations was cut off by this wicked and oppressive
tax.—( Hear, hear.) Ile had seen the devices of the
Scotch population here to maintain communication with
their friends in Scotland ; for a postage of Is. 01,-d. was a
great deduction from the wages of even a skilled wotk.
man. About 500 copies of his newspaper, after being read
in Manchester, were sent weekly to the southern counties of
Scotland. and the senders had all some agreed-on means of
communication, either by some peculiarity of the address,
some additional name, or some understood mark, .to
imply that John is ill, or Mary better, or Jane arrived.
The Post-office people never could detect all this, because
the marks were known only to the parties .sending and re-
ceiving the papers. Others bought newspapers, and sent
them off to their friends directly, without looking at them,
just to let them know, by the handwriting of the address,
that they had arrived in Manchester. Some of his Scotch
friends did not even incur the expense of fourpence ; for
they obtained an old London paper, just to show their
friends, by the writing of the address, that the sender was
well. Think 'of the absurdity and wickedness of a law
which c.,mpelled a man, instead of an affectionate epistle,
to send his aged mother a newspaper, in order that she
might have the pleasurs of seeing her own name in the
writing of her son upon tie back of it."
A tax which thus mocks or stifles the best affec-
tions of human nature—the strongest guarantees of
morality, cannot, in our opinion, be too soon got rid
of; and we do earnestly hope that the Ministers will
not lose this golden opportunity of gaining for
themselves a great reputation. If the want of a
few hundred thousand pounds' revenue should stand
in the way, deeply will they have to deplore every
act of extravagance, every possible means of saving,
the public funds which has been carelessly or wan-
tonly rejected, for such extravagance or neglect will
now deprive them of
heartfelt approbation of a grateful people.

The majority of country papers which have
fallen under our notice give just praise to the

just and enlightened critic is a great chEck au im-
propriety, and a great encouragement to political
rectitude.

Amongst all intelligent men who are not abso-
lutely blinded by factious Rodenism, there is, as far
as we can learn, but one opinion as to the pro-
priety of the course he adopted. It excites asto-
nishment in political circles that Sir ROBERT
PEEL, and the rest of the high prerogative States-
men, should have countenanced Lord RODEN'S
proceeding. Since the time of the Commonwealth
it has not been customary to submit the, exercise of
the prerogative to an investigation by a Committee of
either House. The Lords have already summoned
Colonel SHAw KENNEDY, and vill of course require
him to produce the orders under which he acted.
They must also, we presume, examine Lord Mott-
PETIT, if his capacity of a representative of the
people do not protect him, Mr. DRUMMOND, and
all the other servants of the Crown, all the gaolers
who have been ordered to release prisoners, and all
the Judges who sentenced them to punishment. If
the principle of Lord RonEN's proceedings be
followed up, we do not see where it will stop.
Lord ABERDEEN is highly displeased with
some parts of our foreign policy ; why should
he not get a Committee, call the Under Se-
cretary of State for Foreign Affairs before
it, order home Ambassadors and Agents, require
them to produce their instructions, and so establish a
case against Lord PALMERSTON? Why should not
Earl STANHOPE, too, have a Committee to inquire
into the conduct of the Home Secretary touching
the administration of the Poor-law ? Encouraged
by such good examples, Lord COLVILLE or Lord
HARDWICKE may move for a similar Committee
to inquire into the Navy, and require Admiral
STOPPORD and Commodore DOUGLAS to
explain to them why the former. has not
taken possession of the Dardanelles, and
why the latter did not sink Admiral BAUDIN'S
ship for taking the pilot out of the Express
packet ? When Sir R. PEEL shall be reinstated in
office, should that time ever arrive, and a formidable
Radical-Whig opposition exist in the House of
Commons, he may find that his subserviency to the
poor factious spite and stupid bigotry of the most
stupid and bigoted of the Orangemen, will
supply his opponents with a most dangerous
precedent. There is already a strong disposition
in Parliament to govern the Executive by means of
Committees, and that will not be weakened by the
countenance given by Sir ROBERT PEEL to Lord
RoDEN's Committee. If it had been appointed to
investigate the causes of the unhappy condition of
Ireland, and had summoned over some of Lord
LottTpN's displaced tenants, some of the Catholic
Priests, some of the Ribbonmen, if they can be
found, and the convicts who were liberated, to tell
their tale, and so hear both sides, there might have
been some wisdom in the proceeding ; but a Com-
mittee 'to investigate the conduct of Government,
formed wholly of opponents, is a most unusual and
preposterous proceeding, and, in times when party
contentions run high, will be found for the Tories a
most dangerous precedent. We presume the in-
quiries will not be continued.

The zeal of the friends of humanity is untiring.
In another part of our Paper appears an account of
the proceedings of the Anti-Slavery Delegates and
friends to the cause, held on the 18th instant, and
of the formation of a Society to procure the uni-
versal extinction of Slavery and the Slave Trade.
Since some doubts have been thrown on the utility
of their former exertions—for there are not wanting
those who assert that the abolition of the Slave
Trade by England, and her attempts to stop it
when carried on by other countries, have much en-
hanced the sufferings and number of the persons
carried off from Africa—it is incumbent on the
friends of humanity to follow up their object, and
endeavour, if possible, to procure the universal abo-
lition of Slavery. The names of the gentlemen
appointed to conduct the affairs of the Society are
a guarantee that nothing will be left undone which
zeal, guided by discretion, can accomplish to ensure
success.

We call the attention of our readers to a report
in another part of the Paper, of some statements
made yesterday at the Mansion-house. It appears
from these that the coalowners are making every
exertion to diminish the supply of coals from New-
castle, in order to defeat the LORD MAYOR in his
attempt to put down one of the most selfish and
wicked combinationsthateverdisgraced a ce-mmunity.
We are glad to see them reduced to such ex-
tremities. They have had recourse to open threats
and anonymous abuse in vain, and they now try to
bring his Lordship to what they, call reason, by
stinting the supplies. They will also be defeated in
this. Parties in different parts of the country
are making preparations to supply London
with inland coal, and Lord LONDONDERRY
and the monopolists in the North are un-
wittingly giving them every encouragement. Ac-
cording to Mr. BRADFIELD the best Newcastle
coals now cost 365. Gd., in consequence of this
combination ; while inland coals, of nearly as good
quality, will, in a short time, he had at 20s. Gd.
It is amusing to see what pleas Members of Par-
liament put forward in defence of the monopoly and
against any reduction of a tax on laud-borne coals.
Mr. Alderman TIIoMPSON, who is returned by coal
monopolists, said, no man who had any idea of jus-
tice could think of a repeal of the clause in question,
because sums of money had been borrowed by the
City of London on the tax. So that, however op-
pressive and unjust a tax may be, it must remain,
because some parties have speculated on its conti-
nuance.

Returns, showing the amount of Post-horse
duty paid at different periods, have been laid upon
the table of the House of Commons. The first
return, which was moved for by ?Ir. GILLON, states
the amount of duty paid in each of the three months
respectively ended the sth of January 1838 and
sth of January 1839. For the former period this
amount was 70,883/. 18s. 9d. ; for the latter,
67,5331. 3s. 9d., by which it appears that a very
considerable decrease in this branch of revenue has
taken place.
The next return, wh►ch was made on the motion
of Sir ROBERT INGLIS, exhibits the annual pro-
duce of the Post-horse Duties for the years 1835
and 1836. The aggregate amount for the year
ending Ist February 1836, was 228,4801.; that
for the year ending Ist February 1837 was
231,040/. This account is divided into six-
teen different portions, each portion containing s
district more or less extensive. There appears to
have been little variation in the productiveness of
the duty in anv of them, if we except No. 4, which
comprehends Lancashire, Cheshire, with the City
of Chester, Derbyshire, Staffordshire, wit!► the
City of Lichfield, and the whole of Tamworth. In
this district the duty increased from 16,700/. to
20,720/.

for that period produced 222,069/. ss. 9d., and for
the year following—namely, from the sth January
1838, to the sth January 1839, 237,4521. 7s. sd.

Then follows an account, differing in nothing
from the last, except that it omits all the localities,
and gives the amount of duty paid each quarter,
separating the English portion ftom the Scottish.

There are two or three other accounts in this Re-
turn, from which it appears that there has been a
falling off in the amount of the duty in the London
district during the six months ending the sth of
January 1839, as compared with the same period
of the year preceding. On the line of the Bir-
mingham Railroad, too, the decrease during the
same comparative periods has been 1,9631.; and,
dividing EiOand into three parts, viz.—Eastern,
South Eastern, and Western, the decrease in each
is considerable.

The conclusion of Monday's debate in the
French Chamber of Deputies, with its renewal on
Tuesday up to the departure of the mails for
London, will be found in another part of The Sun.
Among the most remarkable speeches delivered
was one by M. PASSY, the President of the Cham-
ber, who declared that since his election to that
dignity he had informed the KING that too much
time had been wasted in useless negociations, and
that a Cabinet, including M. Tr-runs, ought
forthwith to be appointed. His MAJESTY ac-
ceded ; but the affair came to nothing in con-
sequence of the refusal of SOULT to give
the Foreign department to M. THIERS.
The Marshal offered M. THIERS the department
of Finance, or the Interior, which the friends of
M. THIERS prevailed upon him to refuse, and, in
the opinion of M. PASSY, very properly too. He
thought that M. THIERS had a right to the Port-
folio of Foreign Affairs, and he would not consult
his own honour, and the welfare of France, in ac-
cepting any other. This speech, from the new
convert to the Court policy, elicited marks of ge-
neral surprise throughout the Chamber. The
friends of the Ministry of the 14th of April, looked
as if they had been duped in voting for M. PASSY,
who now boldly assumed his old position, as one of
the Leaders of the Coalition. The Marquis of
DALMATIA, in the name of his father, Marshal
SOULT, assumed all the responsibility of the rejec-
tion of the claims of M. THIERS. The KING was
not to blame, as he had allowed the Marshal to
exercise his own discretion.

We cannot but regret that a man so deservedly
eminent as Marshal SouLT should be thus made
the scape-goat of a peddling, intriguing despot, who
is ready to sacrifice him to his petty political enmi-
ties. Lofty and generous minds are often slow to
comprehend the base purposes to which the selfish
cunning of inferior natures would devote their
noblest feelings, and therefore we are not so surprised
as sorry to see Sovvr made the cat's-paw of
Louis Pll IL IPPE. But perhaps the speech of
M. ODILLON BARROT, though overlooking this
circumstance altogether, will at last open the eyes
of the Marshal to the obloquy to which his pre-
tensions expose him. That inflexible Deputy
pointed out to the Chamber that the time was no
more when a name could govern France. SOULT
could not pretend to more influence in that assem-
bly than the DUKE Of WELLINGTON did in
an English House of Commons, and they
all knew the inefficiency of the illustrious
Duke when he attempted to govern England by re•
collections rather than popular ideas. Even WEL-
LINGTON was nothing when opposed to the popular
will ; and yet his name was associated with more
glorious reminiscences than those of the illustrious
Marshal. The Chamber applauded these senti-
ments to the very echo—an . intimation which
SOULT, dupe as he is of the Court, cannot pot-.
sibly misunderstand.
The National publishes an article respecting the
Papers presented to Parliament relative to Mexico,
and the evacution by France of the Island of
Martin Garcia. As might be expected, that
Journal is indignant that France did not persist in
retaining her conquests in the Gulf, which she had
as good a right to as England has to the Falkland
Islands, and the Islands of Busliire and Karrack.
Did the French then
.buy and pay for Martin
Garcia as we did for Karrack ? If so, the world
has yet to learn the particulars of the bargain.
Subjoined are extracts from the Paris Journals,
bringing the latest news from the Spanish frontier :

" Our accounts from the Spanish frontiers disclose the
political views of Don Carlos, in nominating the Arch-
bishop of Cuba President of the Council of State. All
the property of the Liberals who have emigrated from the
B.Asque provinces is to be restored to them; all the rigours
exercised towards persons of constitutional opinions are to
be softened; everything, in fact, is to lead towards a sys-
tem of conciliation, with a view of putting an end to thy:
war. Prioners arc to be respected, and exchanged ac-
cording to the stipulations of the Eliot treaty; and, in
fine, a quasi liberal and progressive policy is henceforth to
be followed by the C7arlist Government. The Archbishop
and Maroto are desirous of showing that Dan Carlo,
is not very averse to calling to his councils at a future
day the author of the Estetuto Real, Martinez do la Rosa ;
the moderate Carlists being of opinion that the Estatato
is only a regulation adapted to circumstance; ; restoring
the usages of the Cartes por .Estarnento, which Maroto
thinks should in future be regularly convoked, an opinion
in which, it is stated, Espartero concurs."—lllemorial
Bordelais.

We find a upon under the head of Saragossa, 17th in-
stant, in the Phare of Bayonne, that operations have no'
been entirely suspended between the armies of Van Haien
and Cabrera, and that a movement had taken place in the
direction of Aliaja, where an engagement was said to have
been fought.
Besides the reported intentions of Alaroto to blockade
Bilbao, the letters from the Spanish Frontier of the ISt],
speak of a vast plan of operations concerted between
Cabrera and Maroto, which is stated to be, to make the
Royal armies of Aragon and Navarre advance simultane-
ously into the interior of the kingdom. It is not doubted
that the enthusiasm of the provinces, and especially ol
Andalusia, woull second, as in 1936, this plan, which is to
be carried into effect by the great military force of the
Royal party.
The embarrassed and powerless situation into which the
Christino Government is falling more and more—the still
threatening disturbances at Madrid, Saragossa, and Va-
lencia—the avowed desire of the provinces to separat.
themselves from the central authority, and to govern them-
selves by military local juntas—the extreme penury of the
treasury--the struggle between the Ministerial phantom
at Madrid at.d the Parliamentary party, which, with thtr
name, assumes an attitude very hostile to the present state
of things—all these circumstances, and many others.
which it would be too tedious to enumerate, are extremely
limn/able, as it seems, to the plans entertained by the two
Royalist Generals. However, our private correspondence
from the Royal head-quarters does not yet give us any
positive information on the subject.—Gazette de France.