The Sun.
London, England, 1863-03-03 00:00:00

HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.

THte ru7.—Morning, 12h. 56m.—Afternoon, lh. 16m.
`...0-MORltow.-Morning, lh. 40m.—Afternoon, lh. 59in.

THE WEDDING SUN.

ON TUESDAY, 10TH MARCH,

Will be published

AN EXTRAORDINARY EDITION ('F

The atilt,
SUPERBLY PRINTED IN COLOURS,
With Illustrations by the First Artists.

THE SUN OF TrIAT DAY,

Altogether unprecedented in Newspaper
Printing,

Will contain

MEMOIRS of the PRINCE and PRINCESS,
IN DANISH AS WELL AS IN ENGLISH.

WITH

A Full Account of the Marriage Ceremony.

(Terms for Advertisements, One Shilling rer Line.)

Price of the Wedding Sun, 6d.; Stamped, 7d.
Orders received by all Newsagents, and at THE Sr:l
Office, 112, Strand, W.C.

merits of the case put forward by the native manu- ii
I
facturer might be inquired into.
Sir E. GROGAN was likewise in favour of a select
committee, while Mr. R. W. CRAWFORD op- ,
posed it.
Mr. CHILDERS was of opinion that, under exist-
ing circumstances, any measure that proposed a re-
daction of the duly on tobacco ought to be duly
considered by the House.
Mr. HORSFALL wished the subject to be post-
poned until after the financial statement of the
Chancellor of the Exchequer had been brought before
the house.
Mr. CARDWELL said that the object of the bill
was to adapt the tobacco duties to the principles
which had been advantageously applied to other
articles of consumption, and so diminish the exten-
sive system of smuggling at present in operation.
Sir HUGH CAIRNS thought that there would be
considerable difficulty in collecting the duties in
inland towns under the proposed alteration,
Mr. NEWDEGATE thought that the bill ought to
be referred to a select committee.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said that
he would fix the committee for Thursday, or Friday,
in order to introduce certain provisions which he
thought would tend to meet the wishes of, and be
advantageous to, the trade, provided that the house
would agree to read the bill a second time.
Mr. ATRTON then withdrew his amendment.
The House then went into committee on the Cor-
rupt Practices at Elections Bill.
Mr. CAVE moved the omission of 'clause 2, which
i proposed to disfranchise solicitors, agents, and mes-
sengers.
After some discussion the house divided, when
the motion was carried by 110 to 103.
The Government being defeated by the majority
of seven, clause 5 was therefore struck out. After
some discussion on clause 8, the chairman reported
progress, and the Births and Deaths Registration
(Ireland), as amended, was considered.
Sir R. PEEL obtained leave to bring in a bill for
the registration of assurances in Ireland, and Mr.
'MAGUIRE to introduce a bill to amend the practice
and procedure of the Court of Admiralty in Ireland.
Other business was disposed of, and the House ad-
journed at one o'clock.

The prolonged debate on reducing the duty on a
portion of manufactured tobacco was finally resumed
last evening with increased zeal, if not bitterness.
There is evidently a screw loose somewhere, and a
dread of the immediate consequence to those who now

appear to reap substantial profit from the impost as

it stands—while the Chancellor of the Exchequer;
on the other hand, seems " well up" in the know-

ledge of the underhand goings on of the gentlemen
smugglers. Profit, no matter how, and increased
revenue, by a reduction of the duty, are at daggers
drawn for the mastery. For our own part, we
cannot but wish success to the revenue, for the
more we get by duty-paid tobacco, blowing its
noxious vapour on the polluted air, the less duty
will be required on the increased consumption of
tea, exhaling its grateful fragrance on the blessful
breeze. Besides, the consumption of the one is
voluntary, while the other has become an article of
almost universal necessity. No doubt, the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer would prefer income arising
from free-will than from compulsive enactment.
But in any case revenue he must have, and the more
the better, because of less trouble to himself and
satisfaction to the consumer.

Sir MORTON PETO discusses this matter in his
usual clear statesmanlike manner in the volume on
taxation lately published. He enters into the com-
parative amounts produced by moderate and exces-
sive duties, and decidedly advocates the former on
the articles of tea and sugar, but leaves tobacco to
be dealt with eimply as what will bring most to
the revenue. It is a luxury of questionable use,
certainly not one of necessity; and, its indulgence
being altogether a matter of taste, makes it one of
indifference to the better half of the population, toe
often doomed to bear the pestilent effluvia " from
night till morn, from morn till smoking eve."

But our business is not so much with the vice as

with its virtue in bringing money into the exche-
quer ; and as the Roman Emperor said of an objet•
tionable tax, "this money does not smell," and
pocketed the coin ; yet the tobacco does smell, but
not quite strong enough for the Chancellor's olfac-
tory nerves while snuffing the balance awanting in
the exchequer coffers. So money he must have in
despite of all the dust and smoke so freely volun-
teered by the patriotic representatives of the dis-
interested few, whose eloquence is dumb save when
duty touches the pocket.

Morally speaking, it is a bad sign when a nation
must meet its necessities by ministering to the vices
of its people. But Mr. GLADSTONE'S poverty, and
not his will, consents to do what his own better
judgment would reprobate if his duty to
raise the wind did not stimulate his in-

geuuity. Would that he were ES ingenious
as eloquent. Then, indeed, there were hope in
Israel and balm—not in Gilead—but in the Income-
tax, which is a prodigy of iniquity worthy of the
prince of darkness. But, however repugnant to
reason as a whole, will he compound the odium by
remitting one half this year, and absolve his own
conscience and relieve ours by crying " quits" the
next ! Let him consent to that and he may keep
his place for a further term, leaving the condemned
to their fate. Let him tax property, and welcome,
for that has its duties as well as its rights. The
millions of dormant propel ty guarded and protected
by the patriotism of the people has a duty to per-
form to those who protect it, and the immense ac-
cumulation of wealth seeking investment in devious
ways to shun the tax-collector would, if brought to
book, make a very respectable item in the ways and
means of the national balance-sheet. Even his own
succession duty now begins to do honour to his vir-
tuous determination to be just, regardless of pres-
sure from any and every quarter. The wonder is
how often men in power overlook the present op-
portunity of doing good in their vain anticipation
of future celebrity, no matter at whose expense.
But though there be little cause of opposition to
getting as much as possible from a worthless weed,
there are grave objections to pressing too hard upon
tea and sugar, especially in keeping on the war tax
long after the necessity is past and gone. True, our
apprehension of impending danger has of late ra-
ther startled the national mind; but there is always
somehow or other a good reason for spending money
and too little care taken in its disbursement, as our
dockyards and other wasteful departments too truly
testify. With respect to the dockyards, suppose
the House of Commons refuse to allow the building
of the proposed five ships in wooden frames, wha
will the shipwrights have to do ? Surely they
cannot be kept in idleness, neither can they all be
employed beneficially on the iron ships, for however
clever and handy the men may be in their own
proper vocation, they cannot reasonably be expected
to become expert all of a sudden on a new principle.
No doubt they will soon turn their knowledge to
good account, for the difference will be chiefly in
the material and not in the construction of the craft.
Even if the new ships be given to private establish-
ments, the future repair of our ships must be done
in the Royal Dockyards, and the sooner the people
are versed in their new vocation the better. •

WILLIAM I. and his Ministers have just received
a lesson, which it is to be hoped for the sake of the
peace of Europe they will profit by. The Prue-
and in spite of the
sian Deputies have stood firm,