The Sun.
London, England, 1853-04-26 00:00:00

NEWSPAPER SUPPL

tTZTTS.

The resolution to be proposed by tkeOhameellor__of--
the Exchequer under this head has beet the, subject, of
much unnecessary remark, since in its present shape it
is entirely nugatory,
The resolution is as follows :—" That so much of any
act as imposes any stamp duty upon any sheet or piece
of paper containing wholly advertisements, and which
shall be published with and as a supplement to any
newspaper chargeable with stamp-duty, shall be re•
pealed. '
Now, as there is not any such act, it is useless to
trouble the House of Commons with the resolution.
There was such an act—but it was repealed 17 years ago.
By the 6th George IV., cap, c. 119, supplements
were allowed to be issued on payment of half the stamp
charged on the newspaper, provided such supplements
contained only advertisements. At that time there was
not any restriction on the size of either the newspaper
or the supplement.
By the 6th and 7th William IV., c. 76, the above act of
the preceding reign was repealed. The stamp on news-
papers was reduced, and the size of a newspaper was
limited.
The following is a statement of the duties which were
then imposed, and now exist :
For every sheet or piece of paper whereon any news•
paper shall be printed, ld.
And where such sheet or piece of paper shall contain on
one side thereof a superficies, exclusive of the margin of
the letter-press, exceeding one thousand five hundred and
thirty inches, and not exceeding two thousand two hun-
dred and ninety-five inches, the additional duty of id.
And where the aline shall contain on one side thereof a
superficies, exclusive of the margin of the letter-press, ex-
ceeding two thousand two hundred and ninety-five inches,
the additional duty of id.
Provided always, that any sheet or piece of paper con-
taining on one side thereof a superficies, exclusive of the
margin of the letter-press, not exceeding seven hundred
and sixty-five inches, which shall be published with and
as a supplement to any newspaper chargeable with any of
the duties aforesaid, shall be chargeable only with the
duty of Ad.
By the alteration of the law in 1836 a supplement
became quite unconnected with advertisements. It
was merely another mode of extension. A stamp of
a penny was imposed upon every sheet of paper not
exceeding a certain size. A further stamp of a half-
penny was imposed upon any enlargement of the sheet
to the extent of one half, and of a penny if doubled ;
or a separate sheet, as a supplement, might be used with
a halfpenny stamp, if not exceeding half the size allowed
by law for a newspaper liable to a penny stamp.
Legally speaking, there is no such thing as " a double
supplement." A supplement of large size is taxable
only as a separate sheet of newspaper paper, and there-
fore pays a penny ; and there is no doubt but that, at
intervals exceeding 26 days, the Times might issue, if it
pleased, an advertising sheet without any stamp.
The resolution is, therefore, as much at variance with
the spirit of the Newspaper Act as it is inoperative as
regards the letter of the law. The effect of the necessary
withdrawal of this resolution will be important, as the
Chancellor of the Exchequer will not only save the sum
received from the present supplement stamp-40,000t.
per annum which he intended to give up —but will gain
a large increase of revenue by the additional supplement
stamps issued consequent upon the increase of adver-
tisements. The result of reducing the advertisement
duty to sixpence will then doubtless be an increase of
public income.—Daily News.

THE FR.

EMPIRE.

The municipal council of St. Malo has authorised
the mayor, in case the Emperor should visit that
town in the course of his tour in Britany, to take
proper measures to receive him in a distinguished
manner.
We read in the Patrie •

"A new company is about being founded at Havre
for carrying on the whale fithey under the title of the
' Whaling Company." Prospectuses have been pub-
lished, in which the name of Prince Napoleon is men-
tioned as honouring the undertaking with his patron-
age. This announcement, which is published by the Inde-
pendance of Brussels, among other journals, can only be
the result of an error. We are authorised to - declare
that Prince Napoleon is, and intends to be, completely
unconnected with this company, as well as all other in-
dustrial undertakings which have not solely great pa-
triotic interests as their object."
The Indefatigable corvette has just arrived at
Brest from the Isle de la Reunion, touching at the
Cape and Goree. She left the French colony in a
very satisfactory state.
The Journal des Debats gave some time ago a
notice of a work by M. Dollfus, in favour of a re-
duction of the duties on foreign cotton-thread,
contending that whilst a reduction would have the
effect of enabling the public to purchase cotton
goods at a cheaper rate, it would not operate inju-
riously on the interests of the manufacturers.
Several of the cotton-spinners in different parts of
France, among whose names we notice those 01
MM. Kcechlin, Cox, Barbet, and Odin, have put
forth an answer to M. Dollfus, denying the correct-
ness of the calculations on which he founds his ar-
guments and assertions that the reduction of the
duties demanded by him would not be ruinous to
them and to their workmen. The Constitutionnel
of yesterday devotes nearly the whole of its first
page to anotice of this answer, to which it gives its
cordial adhesion. We extract as follows the con-
cluding portion of the article :
" How is it, says M. Dollfus, that, in the countries
which surround us, particularly in Switzerland and Ger-
many, spinning establishments prosper with duties of
from 6to 7 per cent, only ? The spinning trade, what-
ever M. Dollfus may say, is far from being very flourish-
ing. Facts prove this. If the Zollverein and Austria
produce 43 millions of kilogrammes of cotton thread,
they import 40 millions, that is to say, nearly the half of
what they consume. The Zollverein of itself receives
26 millions of kilogrammes, or nearly one kilogramme
per inhabitant. It is besides known that very energetic
complaints have arisen from all parts in the Zollverein
against the insufficiency of the protection afforded to the
spinning trade, and there is also reason to believe that
they will soon be attended to. At the time of the esta-
blishment of the Zollverein' foreign cotton thread was
admitted on payment of a duty of 2 kreutzers a pound ;
10 years ago the duty was raised to 3 kreutzers. All the
spinners now demand that it should be increased to 4
kreutzers at least, and M. Dollfus himself publishes
a letter from a manufacturer, in which he declares
that he caanot stand. against foreign competition,
except on that condition. It remains to be seen
whether, if this second increase of duty be once
granted, it will not soon lead to a third. Light
duties were at first imposed on foreign cotton thread at
the same time that woven goods were subjected to heavy
protective duties, because the native spinning trade was
not in a position to supply the wants of the weavino-
trade which existed on a large scale. As, however, the
Zollverein increased in industrial power, it aspired to
appropriate to itself the spinning as well as the weaving
trade, and far from diminishing the duties on foreign
thread, it on the contrary increased them in order by de-
grees to get possession of the whole trade in cotton. It
is necessary for us to state what it is that supports the
existence of the spinning trade in Switzerland and Ger-
many. It is the absence of local charges, and more par-
ticularly the low price of labour. Incontestable docu-
ments prove that the wages paid to the workmen em-
ployed in spinning mills in Switzerland and in Germany
are not more than half or three-fifths of what it is in
France. Is it wished that our spinners should bring
down wages to the same rate as in those countries, or
reduce their workmen, with the charges which weigh on
them, to the same condition as the Swiss and German
workmen ? The tariff proposed by M. Dollfus would,
in fact, place them in this alternative ; either to reduce
the wages by one half, or to close their establishments
and throw their workmen into the streets."

- - - -
There is nothing else of interest in the original
columns of the Paris journals of yesterday.
In Government Securities there was not much
business transacted at the Bourse yesterday, and
the prices of stock varied but little from Satur-
day's quotations. The Three per Cents., for cash,
improved 30c., and the Four-and-a- Half per Cents.
had declined 10c. at the conclusion of business. An
advance of sf. took place in Bank Shares. The
final quotations, for cash, were:—Three per Cents.,
80f. 35c.; Four-and-a-Half per Cents., ditto, 103 f.
40c. Bank Stock, 2735 f. Business in the Railway
Share Market was again more active than was the
case with Rentes, with a general firmness in prices,
shares in some of the principal lines having ad-
vanced from 2f. to 2f. 50c. each at the close of
business.