The Sun.
London, England, 1830-04-12 00:00:00

DUTIES UPON SUGARS.

We have seen a calculation which exhibits in the
most satisfactory view to our minds the injustice of
continuing the fixed duties of 275. per cwt. on planta-
tion sugar fur consumption without regard to the
value or quality.

The variation of the currency has depreciated pro-
perty generally, whether land or commodities, to
the extent of twenty-five per cent.
Thus in 1827 brown muscovados were purchased
by the consumer at the price of 635. per cwt., and
in 1830 the same quality is purchased at 475. per
cwt., being a fall in price of 2.5 k per cent.
In 1827 the planter, however, received upon the
sale of brown muscovados, at 635., after paying duty,
365. per cwt. ; and in 1830 receives, at 475., after
paying duty, 20s. per cwt., being a depreciation to
him of 441 per cent.
From the amount so received by the planter he
'-pays in this country, freight 55., dock and other
charges 35., leaving the nett proceeds in 1827, 28s.
per cwt.; in 1830, 12s. per cwt.; being a difference
of .57i per cent. on his property.
The conclusion is incontrovertible. The change
of currency has established, in due proportion to'
every other article, a difference of price on sugar
equal to 25 per cent. to the consumer, while in the
accomplishment of that change the planter, being
subject to the depreciation as well on the fixed duty
as on his own property, submits to a loss of 57k per cr.
With respect also to the class of consumers no one
can deny the oppressive operation of that duty on
the labouring community, whose means forbid the
use of the finer qualities of sugar.
The planter sells brown muscovados at 205., upon
which the Government levies a duty of 135 per
cent.; the finest qualities (consumed by the more
affluent classes) are sold by the.planter from 28s. to
365., and are subjected only to a duty of 93 per cent.
We are fully aware of the difficulty, if not impos-
sibility, of affording immediate relief in this particu-
lar—a relief which would be felt equally by the
merchant and the consumer—but we would suggest
an alteration, which common justice seems to de-
mand, that the duty should be rated ad valorem, and
not fixed without reference to the market price of
the article.—Morning Paper.

THE MURDER AT CHARD.

THE EXECUTION OF RUSSELL RESPITED.
SATURDAY, APRIL 10.—Ever since the condem-
nation of Russell for the murder of Joan Turner at
Chard, in consequence of the solemn asseverations
of the prisoner of his innocence and ignorance of the
crime, the greatest anxiety has prevailed here. The
trial lasted twenty-three hours, and sixty-three wit-
nesses were examined on the part of the prosecution.
Perhaps there seldom has been a trial resting so en-
tirely on so long a chain of circumstantial evidence.
The links of this chain are of such a nature, that not
one unconnected will amount to any thing. The great
point is the prisoner having told a boy of the name
of Gillet that a cock-eyed girl had been murdered,
at a time when the murder was not generally known.
The evidence on this point is of a very curious na-
ture. Gillet swore that the prisoner told him of the
murder at, he should think, five minutes before or
after eight o'clock on the Tuesday morning; he had
no watch—he had seen no clock, nor could he, from
the 'noise of the machinery in the room, hear any
bell rung. Another person swore that Gillet had
told him of it at five minutes before eight, and he
fixed the time from having seen the workpeople go
to breakfast. A third person stated that the last
witness had repeated to him twenty minutes be-
fore eight, and fixed the time fur the same reason.
Now, it was proved that a bell rung at eight, and
then 3.50 people of the factory went to breakfast,
and another bell rung at twenty minutes after eight,
when 100 people went to breakfast. A person of
the name of Bird said he told the prisoner of the
murder lit twenty minutes after eight, therefore per-
haps a reasonable doubt might arise whether Gillet
and the other two persons (their attention not being
particularly called to the circumstance at the mo-
ment) might not have been under a mistake as to
Russell having told them before the first set of per-
sons went to breakfast; and whether the fact might
not have been, that he told Gillet about the time of
the second set going; and if so, it would be very
near the period stated by Bird as the time he gave
him the information. Another strong fact in the
prisoner's favour is, that no blood was found upon
any of his woollen clothes, nor did it appear that
they had been washed. On the morning following
the conviction, the High Sheriff repaired to the gaol,
and had an interview with the prisoner, who again,
in the most solemn manner, with the Bible in his
hand, asserted his complete innocence; he also was
anxious to receive the sacrament, i❑ order to declare
at the altar that he was not guilty of the crime of
which he had been convicted ; lie added, that he
had led a very sinful life, but he thought his suffer-
ing wrongfully for a crime he had not perpetrated
would be received as an atonement for them.
He slept soundly during the night for nine hours.
It was evident yesterday, from the consultations
with the different counsel and with the learned
Judge, and from other circumstances, that great
doubts existed in their minds as to the legal prouf
of the prisoner's guilt, and reports were abroad that
the execution would be respited. In the evening,
Mr. Ede, whose exertions and talents the prisoner
had the benefit of on his trial, who appears to take
the deepest interest in the business, left Taunton
for Chard, in order to view the residence of the
prisoner and the adjoining premises. About nine
o'clock at night a respite was sent up to Ilchester,
to which place the prisoner had been conveyed iii
the course of that day. He 'slept well last. night,
and at seven o'clock this morning, before the arrival
of a respite had been communicated to him, he said
that he was to die in three hours, and that he should
die for a crime of the commission of which he had
no knowledge. He was then told that in the course
of the night a respite had arrived, but it appeared
not to have the least effect upon him, and did not
make the least alteration in his conduct. Every
inquiry is being made, but for proper reasons we
cannot learn what has yet transpired, though there
is little doubt something has occurred.
The minds of all classes are in great agitation, arid
we have seldom seen such anxiety prevailing. A si-
milar murder was committed at Chard some years
since, which never could be discovered, and on the
present occasion a Committee was formed to inquire
and sift into every circumstance, for the purpose of
discovering the murderer, and this led to the appre-
hension of the prisoner a second time, he having
been before discharged by the Coroner.
SATURDAY NIGHT, EIGHT O'CLOCK.—A person
has just arrived from Chard, with information that
two persons had been taken into custody, in conse-
quence of something that has fallen from Russell.
The statement is, that one held her feet, another
her arms, and that the third cut her throat. A day
or two may throw some further light on this myste-
rious affair. Every hour seems to increase .the
anxiety felt here, and which it is impossible for any
person to describe.

The Leeds Petition for Retrenchment and
Parliamentary Reform was sent off to London last Satur-
day, after receiving thirteen thousand eight hundred and
fifty signatures. We are not aware that a petition so
numerously signed was ever sent from this town on any
similar subject. It received the names of a great number
of the principal bankers, merchants, manufacturers, pro-
fessional men, and tradesmen of the town, whose numbers
and respectability are a most striking prof of the progress
that has been made by the eause of Parliamentary Refoi m
in the public mind during the last few years. Indeed,
our conviction is, that a decided majority of the inhabit-
ants of this district, not only in numbers but in intelli-
gence, are now desirous of seeing a Reform in the House
of Commons; and though they are divided in opinion as
to the extent to which it should be carried, they have had
the good sense to combine their efforts for the overthrow
of corruption and the advancement of the common object.
owing to Lord Alwrox's having left London before the
petition arrived, it will not be presented to the House of
Commons till after the Easter recess.—Leeds Mercury.