The Sun.
London, England, 1853-05-10 00:00:00

LONDON, TUESDAY, MAY 10, 1853.

There was no portion of the Financial State-
ment which occasioned more general satisfaction
than that for the extension of the Legacy Duties
to real estates. The industrious middle classes
had long remarked with indignation the exemp-
tion afforded to the lords of the soil from the
onerous burden to which they themselves had
been, and their successors in due course would be,
subjected. It was not that a tax on successions
was regarded as a wise or judicious impost, that
it was believed to be an eligible mode of collect-
ing any portion of the national revenue. Far
from it ! It was, on the contrary, considered
the very worst species of direct taxation—one
that should, on the first suitable opportunity, be
totally abolished, when a fitting 'substitute
could be provided. But the chief cause of
complaint was the undue favouritism exhibited
towards the favoured class the territorial
aristocracy. If a merchant, a manufacturer,
or a tradesman died, the fruits of his in-
dustry
could not be distributed among his sur-
viving relations without the liquidation of heavy
and vexatious demands. Before his property
could be made applicable to the payment of his
debts, or the support of his family, an enormously
expensive stamp should be impressed on the pro-
bate of his will, or the letters of Administration
granted by the Court of Prerogative. Many
vexatious forms were required, which, although
they did not materially increase the public re-
venue, filled the coffers of the numerous harpies
who, GouLF,-like, fattened on mortality. It is from
such sources that the leviathan sinecurist draws the
income of his patent place, and that his worthy
brethren draw princely incomes for services which
they do not render. At last, after considerable
delay, expense, and annoyances, when the assets
of the deceased are about to be distributed, a new
claim is insisted on. A legacy duty is demanded,
and 1,3, 5, or even 10 per cent. must be paid
over to the Government before the legatee can
receive a single shilling of the bequest to which
he was entitled, which, from these various draw-
backs, becomes perceptibly reduced before pay-
ment.

From all these things the great landowner was
exempted. The will under which he derived his
title required no proof ; it was quietly locked up
among his muniments of title without any expense
either for costs or fees, or stamp duties, being in-
curred in reference thereto. Should it at any
time be questioned or disputed, it was submitted,
like any deed or instrument, to the consideration
of an upright and learned Judge, and a jury of 12
gentlemen. Nor was there any change on the succes-
sion. The heir-at-law remained a man—or devisee
quietly stepped into the shoes, and occupied the
position or his predecessor without the outlay of a
single shilling.
This was felt, and justly felt to be a grievance—
one too that was materially aggravated by the
fact, that the exemption was not extended to all
kinds of landed property, but only to freehold
lands ; the limited interests, leaseholds for long
terms of years, &c., being liable to the change, so
that the smaller fry were caught while the larger
easily burst through the meshes of the net. A
deep and burning sense of injustice was thus oc-
casioned, that induced persons to look not so
much to the policy and expediency of the impost
itself as to its fairer and more equitable assess-
ment, so that it should comprehend all classes in
society, and every description of property, real or
personal, freehold or leasehold.
To the tax itself we confess that we entertain
a very decided objection. It is a tax upon capi-
tal, levied, too, at a time when the person coming
into possession has many other heavy claims to
liquidate—when, perhaps, the unexpected death
of his relative might render pecuniary assistance
exceedingly desirable, and when the inexperience
of the legatee renders him an easy prey to the de-
signing arts of those who flock around him with offers
of loans and advances of money in any form that may
be most acceptable to the intended dupe. Unless
the property be in the funds or easily convertible,
he must avail himself of these offers, and incurs
debts for the purpose of liquidating the testa-
mentary expenses and legacy duties that must,
unless he be very prudent indeed, materially crip-
ple his resources for the best years of his life, and
which may probably lead to a connection with
onev-lenders, and induce a habit of borrowing
very prejudicial to his future interests. Those
who have had experience of the eifte's of the
system so prevalent in Ireland, where a consid-
erable portion
of the laud is held for lives re-
newableand, many cases, subject
for ever,
to a heavy fine at the fall of each life, well
know the fatal effects of the necessity of
charging the lands to liquidate the fine—the
habits of improvidence which it engendered in-
ducing a visit to the money lender for the most
trivial causes. The first application was ex neces-

sitate, but it created a dangerous facility, that led
to subsequent transactions, and eventuallybrought
many 'respectable families to misery and desti-
tution. _ _ .

The same may be said of the copyhold system,
where the " heriots" and payment of pecuniary
fines, amounting in some cases to one or two years
of the improved value of the holding, on the ad-
mission of each new tenant, led to such numerous
and well-founded complaints, that a legislative
remedy became essential. Mr. GLADsroNE's propo-
sition will transform all the freeholds of the country
into a species of copyhold, where a fine, varying from
one half-year to four years of the improved yearly
value, must be paid on each succession. We see
the evil, but we also see that it is inevitable.
There is but one alternative. Either the legacy
duty on personalties must be abolished, or it
must be extended to real estate. No option—
no choice remains ; although there are burdens
exclusively affecting land that should fairly and
justly be extended to every kind of property,
that injustice cannot, as we have already stated,
consecrate another of a still more flagrant cha-
racter. The Chancellor of the Exchequer cannot
afford to relinquish a source of revenue so pro-
ductive without obtaining a fitting substitute,
and, therefore, he must necessarily enlarge the
basis of the impost, and apply it to all descrip-
tions of property, real and personal.
But the extension required a considerable modi-
fication of the existing law. Under that now in
operation, it was only legacies that were charge-
able ; one who succeeded under a settlement of
any kind, even to personalty, was not liable for
any payments on account thereof. It was only
when money, goods, or chattels belonged abso-
lutely to the deceased, and passed under his will,
or, if intestate, to his next of kin, that the tax-
gatherer made any demand. It was, in fact,
optional with the owner to exempt his property
from the operation of the legacy duty, by placing
it in settlement by a deed inter vivos, taking him-
self an interest for life, and settling the rever-
sion as he thought proper. A very small pro-
portion of personal property was, however,
thus exonerated; first, because men did not choose
to make irrevocable arrangement with regard to
their property ; and, secondly, because the ex-
pense of the deed, though far less than the
legacy duties that would be thereby avoided, fell
on the owner during his lifetime, and not on his
successors after his death. But in real estates
settlements constitute the rule, and not the
exception. And if the successor could be
exonerated by the same means which would
at present free personal property from the
charge, we venture to assert that the exten-
sion would not prove very profitable to the Ex-
chequer, or worth the trouble and ill feeling it
would engender. It, therefore, became essential
to alter the entire law, so as to make it a charge
not merely on legacies, but on snecessions of every
kind, taking place upon, or in consequence of, the
death of any person—under whatever title, whe-
ther existing or future, such succession may be
derived. Thisi course Mr. GLADSTONE has Adopted.
It is an important change, and one that will re-
quire mature and attentive consideration before it
can receive the Legislative sanction.

Another delightful squabble took place last
evening in the House of Commons, as they say at
the law-courts, 'in re the Irish Representatives.
Upon this occasion the originator of the distur-
bance was not, however, the Member for New
Ross, but the Member for Cambridgeshire. The
proceedings may be briefly described :—Mr. E.
BALL was solemn and declamatory, Captain W.
MAGAN surprised and indignant, Lord J. RUSSELL
calm and decisive, Mr. W. HAYTER disdainful and ,
repudiative. The subject of dispute was as to
whether overtures had or had not been made
to Irish Members on behalf of the present
Ministers when in Opposition—overtures not
made individually, but collectively, to the whole
body of Irish Representatives—overtures to the
effect that if they, the Members for Ireland,
would aid the Whigs and Peelites in throwing
out Lard DERBY'S Government, the sister island
should be guarded yet longer from the extension
of the Income Tax to its population. A rather
serious charge, it must be allowed, lyliatever may
be thought to the contrary by the Boii. and
Gallant Gentleman the Member for ,Portar-
lington. An accusation, moreover, so remark-
able of its kind that we do seriously th;lik,
notwithstanding all that funereal solemnity witli
which Mr. E. BALL, last night, unintentionally
convulsed the House into laughter, that the Hon.
Representative of Cambridgeshire was justified in
bringing it once more under the direct scrutiny of
the Legislature. He did so, let it be remem-
bered, under no idle rumour, under no shadowy
insinuation, under no merely distorted conjec-
ture. The accusation had resolved itself into so
many words from the lips of the Honourable
and Gallant Representative of Westmeath. It re-
quired some explicit and early explanation. It was
reasonable, therefore, to bring it as soon as possible
more immediately under the notice of Parliament,
though scarcely reasonable, we opine, to do so in
a manner calculated, from its exaggerated severity,
to excite the risibility of those who were listening
to Mr. E. BALL'S statement. However the matter
was introduced yesterday—it is satisfactory at least
to think that it was introduced. For it elicited
from the Right Hon. Gentleman, the Member
for Wells, as well as from the Noble Lord the
Member for the City of London, the most clear, the
most distinct, and the most straightforward declara-
tion, that no such overtures had ever been made to
the Irish Members by the leaders or subordinates of
the present Administration. It is but right that
while these insinuations are flying about uninter-
ruptedly, thosemost interested in their suppression
or dissipation should be afforded an opportunity
of declaring them at once to be gross and unjusti-
fiable misrepresentations. For having afforded
Ministers this opportunity, we do conceive, con-
sequently, as we have ventured to remark already,
that some good service was done last evening, in
spite of his most ludicrous solemnity, by the Hon.
Gentleman the Representative for Cambridgeshire.
After the stormy contention of yesterday, let us
hope that the political atmosphere may have been
cleared by these rhetorical thunder-claps, and that
at any rate for some little time to come the nation
may be spared any repetition of these unseemly
debates in the Imperial Legislature.

EMIGRATION TO AUSTRALIA.—The departures from the
port of London for the Australian colonies during the
past week show an increase in tonnage, but not in num-
ber, and have again comprised vessels of all classes.
They consisted of seven to Port Philip, with an aggre-
gate burden of 8,938 tonnage ; two to Hobart Town,
with an aggregate burden of 523 tonnage ; one to Ade-
laide, of 426 tons ; one to Portland Bay, of 432 tons ;
and one to Swan River, of 704 tons. Their total capa-
city was consequently 6,023 tons. The shipments con-
tinue to be of the ordinary kind of manufactures and
merchandise, and the rates of freight present little varia-
tion.
AMSTERDAM AND ROTTERDAM PRODUCE MARKETS.—
The weekly reviews from these markets describe little
activity in business. Coffee was steady, with limited
operations. An increased demand had existed for re-
fined sugar, and prices showed a slight tendency to ad-
vance. Indigo was well supported, but the chief pur-
chases had been for England. No important change had
occurred in rice or spices, although the latter were gene-
rally firm. In tea the transactions had been more nu-
merous, owing to the gradual diminution in stock, and
for some descriptions higher prices had been paid. The
accounts from Hamburgh mention that coffee and sugar
were rather more firm, but that business had been
limited.
SALES OF BULLION.—A bill regulating the weights
used in sales of bullion has been introduced by the Go-
vernment with the view of legalising the employment of
decimal numbers. As the law stands the troy pound is
the unit, but the weights ordinarily used are those of
the troy ounce and its decimal parts, many of which are
not multiples of the troy pound. The question having,
consequently, arisen whether these decimal weights are
not liable to be seized as illegal, from not having been
stamped, and the sales made by them also declared void,
the proposed act is intended to remove such doubts, and
o silver,
that in all contracts in relation to gold,
r, and platina, and diamonds and other precious
atones, the troy ounce may
be taken to be the unit of
weight, and may be divided into its decimal parts, it
being likewise
providedte that models of such decimal
parts shall
act,
withinact, be made and verified under the direction of the

RouEN.—•Letters from Rouen state that the market
for manufactures was quiet, without material alteration
in prices. The weather lu id latterly interfered with the
usual course of business.

MONEY MARKET AND COMMERCIAL
INTELLIGENCE-(THIS DAY.)

CITY, TWO O'CLOCK.
The sales of cotton at Liverpool yesterday were
estimated at from 6,000 to 7,000 bales—of which
2,000 American were taken for export and on
speculation. The market closed very firmly, with
prices of all kinds quite as high as on Friday last.
The sales comprised 6,000 American, 400 Parnam
and Maranham, at 6d. to 7d. ; 200 Egyptian, at
6d. to 10d.; 500 Surat, at 30. to 4id.; and 30 Sea
Island, at ls. 10-id. to 2s. 9d. per lb. Railway
Shares were flat, except Caledonian and Lanca-
shire and Yorkshire.
The steamer America brings accounts three days
later from New York. The money market at the
latest date was quiet, but steady. Cotton was
dull. The shipments of specie, from the 16th to
the 23d ult., amounted to 303,174 dollars. This
steamer brings a good amount of specie-127,000
dollars—and the private letters are particularly
encouraging as to the soundness of the money mar-
ket, and the tendency towards greater ease.
From California 2,234,308 dollars in gold dust
had arrived at New York. The small-pox was
proving very fatal among the Indian population
along the coast, and it was thought at Oregon that
unless it was checked the whole of the Indians
would be exterminated by the malady.
The mercantile advices from San Francisco re-
port
increased activity in the provision market.
Flour was rather dearer. Freights at Stocton were
again very high. The mines were yielding re-
markably well. At Agua Fria and Mariposa con-
siderable amounts were obtained, and throughout
California the gold production seems large. The
long-vexed question of the right of holders of
quartz and building lots to hold them akainst
squatters had been decided by a verdict for the
Gold Hill Company.
From Peru it is stated that— .

" Gen. Echenique was gaining great reputation by
his prudent government at Lima ; many excellent de-
crees relatingito the affairs of distant provinces had been
passed, which were entirely forgotten by his predeces-
sors. The recent treaty entered into between Peru and
Brazil for the navigation of the river Amazon, would, it
was anticipated, be productive of great benefits to the
former country ; and the Government intend getting the
consent of the Council of State to their spending
$lOO,OOO in steamers, to navigate periodically the rivers
Ucayali and Huayaga, and also another $lOO,OOO in en-
couraging and assisting emigration to those parts."
In the President's Message to the Congress of
New Granada, it is mentioned that—
" The boundary between Costa Rica and this republic
is under consideration by the Ministers of both nations,
at Washington, and should the just claims of New
Granada not be admitted, steps will be taken to enforce
them. The most friendly relations continue between the

United States and this Country, and the difficulty with
England relative to the settlement of the Mackintosh
claim, it is hoped, will be speedily arranged.
" The financial state of the nation next engages the
President's attention. The public debt amounts to the
enormous sum of $377,000,000 reals, or $47,125,000
currency, whilst 28,000,000 reals ($3,500,000) are re-
quired for the expenses of the incoming year, and
10,000,060 reals ($1,250,000) to complete that of the
current year, which, with 8,000,000 reals ($1,100,000) to
pay the negotiated debts and the expenses of the army,
makes a total deficit of 18,000,000 reals, or $2,250,000,
whilst the credit for the incoming year only amounts to
20,000,000 reals, or $2,500,000.
" This important question has engaged the considera-
tion of the President and his Ministers, and he has
examined it in every possible bearing, to devise a
method of meeting it without burdening the industry or
resources of the country."

The result is a recommendation by the Presideni
that public lands should be set apart for the ore.
ditors.

In English Stocks for present transfer, there has
been rather more doing, but prices have not risen
in consequence of the further advance made by
Ministers towards the passing of their Budget.
Consols have been quoted 100 a toI for Money, and
100 for Account. The New Three-and-a-
Quarter per Cents. have been at 103 to ±, and the
Three per Cents at 9974 to 100/. South Sea Stock
was worth 114, and the Old Annuities have been
at 99g. The March Exchequer Bills have been at
par, and East India Bonds are heavy at 27
premium ; the requirement of money is pretty
well exemplified by these low rates for floating se-
curities, and a very important question, at the
present moment, is whether the Chancellor of the
Exchequer will be enabled next month to get out
the fresh issue of bills upon as low terms as those
last renewed.
In Foreign Stocks there has been very little
doing. Mexican are dull, at 27i : Peruvian De-
ferred steady, at 68 ; and Brazilian New 4i per
Cents. are well supported at loai. The Red
Greek Bonds have been done at 91 ; Sardinian are
worth 98 ; and French have been at 103 62k, with
the Exchange at 25 to 25 10 ; Spanish 3 per Cent:.
have been marked 24. Dutch 4 per Cents. were
at 961.
In the Railway Market there has been a rather
decided movement in Caledonian shares, the traffic
returns, it is reported, being again satisfactory.
Great Northern shares also are 1/. higher. French
shares were not so high as they closed yesterday,
though still in fair demand. The Royal Danish
have been done at 2/ premium.
The Gold Mine shares, though quiet, are firm.
Bra7,ilian St. John del Rey have advanced 10s.
Unite Mexican are flat.
d
The Land Companies' shares are further improv-
ing as regards Peel River and Australian Agricul-
tural.
The shares of the established Australian banks,
and also of the Oriental Bank, are rising.

BRITISH FUNDS AT ONE O'CLOCK THIS DAY
( From the Official List.)
Business done.
3 per Ces..t. Reduced Annuities • 99h 1C)8 99/
3 per Cent. Consols Annuities
New 34 per Cent. Annuities
Long Annuities, Expire sth Jan., 1860
Ditto 30 Years, Expire sth Jan., 1860
India Bonds, £lOOO
South Sea Stock
South Sea Old Annuities
Oonsols for Account
.3xchequer Bills I,ld.
u 000............... .........
Small A;9O
..
PRICE OF FOREIGN FUNDS AT ONE O'CLOCK
Greek Bonds, Red
Mexican 3 per fient.
Ditto for the Account 274
Peruvian Deferred 3 per Cent.
Russian Bonds, 5 per Cent.
Ditto 4i per Cent .
Sardinian Bonds, 5 per Cent. . .
Spanish 3 per Cent., New Deferred 24
Dividends on the above payible in London.
French Rentes, 4i per Cent........, 103 f 62Ac Ex. 25f 10c
Ditto 3 per Cent 32f Ex. 25f 100 25f
Dutch Exchange, 2h per Cent. 12 Gull. •••
Ditto 4 per Cent.-Certificate5................ 96i
HALF-PAST TWO.

.... 6 3-16
.... 27
.... 114 k
.... 99i
.... 100 i
Juno. March.
par

Consols.
AOO-i
Ditto May Account

THE LATE MARCHIONESS OF DALHOUSIE.—It appears
that her ladyship travelled by the long sea route, agree-
ably to the advice of her physicians, who thought that
the sea air would have a more beneficial effect on a worn-
out constitution than the overland route. The mortal
remains will arrive in London to-day, en route for inter-
ment in the family vault of the Ramsey family, in North
Britain. The marchioness, who was eldest daughter of
the Marquis of Tweeddale, and sister to the Duchess of
Wellington, had resided in India for upwards of six years.
The Marquis of Tweeddale, the Duke of Wellington, the
Earl of Gifford, and Lord Panmure will accompany the
remains to Scotland.
ACCIDENT IN COAL MINES.—A parliamentary paper,
which has just been issued, contains returns from the
Government inspectors of coal mines, of the number of
accidents which happened in these mines during the
years 1850, 1851, 1852, with other particulars relative
to the causes which produced the accidents, and the re-
sults of the judicial investigations, &c. It appears that
four districts were marked out, with an inspector ap-
pointed for each ; but several modifications having been
introduced, and the limits of the districts altered, each
insOctor has made a return of the district he inspected,
which has varied at different times. From the report of
Mr. Thel.c.enson, whose district comprised Staffordshire,
Lancashire. Worcestershire, Shropshire, Cheshire, and
North Wales, and subsequently South Wales, Glouces-
tershire, and Somersetshire, the number of accidents was
600, and the ileaths arising therefrom 757. From the
report of Mr. ]=Wris, inspector of coal-mines in Durham,
Northumberland, Cumberland, and Scotland (up to the
end of 1851), the number of deaths from accidents in the
mines was 470. In Scotland during 1852 the number of
lives lost in coal-pits was 61 ;in ironstone pits, 18.
From the report of Mr. Mackworth, inspector in Wales,
it appears that the deaths. in his district, the exact extent
of which is not specified in the return, were 304. In the
districts of Yorkshire and the Midland Counties the
number of deaths was 108 ; amlin Lancashire, Cheshire,
&c., during part of 1852, was. 221. The total loss,
therefore, caused by accidents in coal-mines between
November, 1850, and the 31st of December, 1852, was
1,939 lives.
ONE OF THE WATCHMEN.—A "feller' coming home
from California, had a monster rattlesnake in a
wicker cage, which he deposited with his other
plunder under his bed at Chagres. The room con-
tained fifty beds, half full of drunk awl sick
" fellers." During a temporary absence of the owner,
the snake got loose, and the owner coming in and find-
ing his critter gone, yelled out, " Everlasting misei:y ?
who's seen my watchman ?" Many heads popped up froi-n
the flea-inflicted, dirty beds, but nobody has seen
the missing article. " What was he, old feller,
you're inquirin' for ?" says a bald-headed man.
" Why, my watchman ; all my dust is under my I
bed here, and I left a guard with it, but he's
gone !" " Guard ! was lie a nigger or a white
feller ?" "No ! he was a California rattlesnake, nine
feet long, and fifty-two rattles on his tail. Have any of
your fellers seen the eternal critter crawlini 'round
here'?" They hadn't ; but all able to get out of bed and
mizzle did so, in a bunch.