The Sun.
London, England, 1853-04-21 00:00:00

LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, APRIL 21, 1853.

NAVAL INTELLIGENCE.

MALTA, Aram 12.
Since my last nothing has transpired of any particular
importance. The fleet is still in port, but the Admiral
expects to receive orders by the mail, to-morrow due, to
put to sea.
On Saturday next, a little steam-fleet, under com-
mand of Captain Drummond, of the Retribution, is to
put to sea, to look for a rock, supposed to exist 90 miles
due east of the island. This supposed danger is a bug-
bear that has frightened every Commander-in-Chief who
arrives here. It has been sought after time and again,
dragged for, and, indeed, has occupied so much time in
the search as to make it all but certain that the danger
is ideal. Copeland, Graves, Brock, and Spratt, in their
surveys have never been near, but have endeavoured to
find it ; private expeditions with the same view have
been made, but because a Greek pilot says he has stood
on it, a vast sum of money is to be expended in a search
which will in all probability prove Uselem.

PORTSMOUTH, APRIL 20.

The Conflict steam-sloop proceeded out of harbour
this morning to try her engines by the measured mile in
Stoke's-bay, which answered admirably. She came into
harbour at noon, and to-morrow will take in coals and
ballast ready for service.
The Sidon steam-frigate, Captain Cann, was towed out
of the basin to Spithead to-day, for the purpose, it is
said, of exercising her seamen while a new shaft is being
made for her.
The Mercury cutter, Lieutenant Freeland, sailed last
evening to resume her station, cruising about the Channel
Islands.

PLYMOUTH, APRIL 20.
Her Majesty's screw steam-block-ship Sanspareil, Cap-
tain S. Dacres, left the Sound yesterday afternoon for a
cruise in the Channel, to try her machinery.
The brig Wizard was placed in dock yesterday,to have
her defects made good.
A court-martial assembled yesterday on board the Im-
pregnable, Captain Lowe, to try John Reed, able sea-
man, John Boate, Walter Williams, and John Wisher,
ordinary seamen, belonging to the Sanspareil, 71, Cap-
tain Dacres, for desertion, John Reed on the 24th of
March, and the other three on the 23d of March, 1853.
The court was composed of 11 post captains, of which
Amar Lowry Corry, Rear-Admiral of the Blue, was pre-
sident. The prisoners pleaded guilty to the charge, and
the Court adjudged them to be respectively imprisoned
in the Devon county gaol for the space of six calendar
montlis.
A letter from the Linnet, 8, Commander Henry Need,
dated at sea, March 20, says :—" Last Friday week we
were ordered from Sierra Leone, by the Governor, to a
place called Mondingo, distant about 30 miles, to liberate
three men who had gone there to work as coopers, but
had been detained by the King as slaves. We left our
ship at Sierra Leone, having embarked in the boats, and
proceeded, at 4 o'clock in the morning, to Mondingo, in
tow of the Teazer steamer. Having arrived, we landed
at eight, and a portion of us proceeded, with the com-
mander, to the residence of the King, which is situated
in the middle of the town. On our arrival at the joss-
house our commander read a letter from the Governor
of Sierra Leone, during which time a chief came out and
made a singular noise, which we did not understand,
when a great number of men appeared in front of us,
under arms, ready to attack us. In consequence of what
took place we returned to the boats, and, with the
Teazer, threw w some shot and shell upon the town,
which appeared to have some effect. We again landed
with a stronger force, and with our muskets loaded with
ball cartridge, and having ascended a cliff nearly 60 feet
high, proceeded on our errand, and succeeded in releas-
ing two of the men, and capturing a chief."
A brig rigged paddle-wheel man-of-war was observed
off the Start this morning, at 2 o'clock, going down
Channel under steam only, and showing a white light on
her main-topgallantmast-head.
A bark-rigged paddle-wheel merchant-steamer, all
black, was seen at 5 o'clock this morning, three leagues
south of the Bolt, going up Channel, crowded with
canvas, and having the wind from RN.W.

SHEERNESS, APRIL 19.

The,Amphion, 34 guns, screw steam-frigate, Captain
Chas. G. E. Patey.—The crew of this frigate have been
paid advance to-day, and orders have been received for
her to proceed to Devonpoi t, there to await further
orders for her future destination. She has been in-
spected by Captain-Superintendent Charles Hope, Mr.
Jonathan Aylen, master-attendant, and Mr. Samuel
Read, master-shipwright, as to her complete fitment
previous to leaving port (under Admiralty regulations).
She will leave to-morrow morning.
The Horatio, 24 guns, screw steam guard-ship, Capt.
the Hon. S. T. Carnegie.--The sentence of the court-
martial, held yesterday, on Gibson, has not yet been
carriedinto effect. It is reported that, in consequence
of the defence set up by Gibson, the Admiralty will be
consulted previously to his receiving his four dozen
lashes. Gibson's defence, in substance was, that on
volunteering for the service at the rendezvous on Tower
Hill for volunteers for the Royal Navy, he represented
himself as being a sailmaker, and that he had sailed as
mate of a ship in the merchant-service, and there pro-
duced testimonials as to character from his former
employers, all of which gave him a most excellent cha-
racter ; that he was there informed he might depend on
getting a petty-officer's rating if he proved himself what
his testimonials stated him to be. He, on such a pro-
mise, was tempted to volunteer. He joined the Horatio
here, and, after doing duty as second sailmaker for some
time, he waited on the first-lieutenant of the Horatio.,
and stated what he was promised on volunteering. He
received an evasive answer, and was ordered to his duty.
This continued for a further space of time, when he
ascertained that another man, for whom he was doing
the duty, had obtained the rating promised him when he
volunteered. Upon fully ascertaining this fact, he again
appealed to the first-lieutenant, and asked him the favour
of being permitted to lay his case before Capt. the Hon.
S. T. Carnegie, in command of the Horatio, He (Gib-
son) stated that he received a very harsh reply from the
first-lieutenant, and was threatened by him, if he did so,
that he (the first-lieutenant) would do all in his power to
get him three dozen lashes. This reply so thoroughly set
him against the service, that from that time he deter-
mined to "run;" the first opportunity he had, and
having done so entirely from disappointment of
the pledge made to him when he volunteered, he
begged to throw himself on the mercy of the Court.
The master (Mr. Vincent Williams) of the Horatio pro-
secuted, Captain 'the Hon. S. T. Carnegie being a mem-
ber of the Court. Captain the Hon. Montagu Stopford,
of the Waterloo, presided.
The Royal Albert, 120 guns, screw steam-ship, is now
nearly ready for being launched at Woolwich. Orders
have been received here to prepare for the reception and
fitment of this ship, and all available power is to be put
on to get her iron work, masts, spars, sails, &c., ready

for hei:immediate equipment.
The Cuckoo, 2, paddle-wheel steam-vessel, in com-
mand, pro. tem., of Lieut. Grant (the fourth lieutenant
of the Waterloo), will leave here to-morrow for the river
ThaMes for duty—searching outward-bound ships for
deserters from the navy.
The Lizard, iron paddle-wheel steam-vessel, 'is also
ordered to prepare for similar service with the Cuckoo
in the river Thames.

The Driver, 6, paddlewheel steam-sloop, in present
command of Mr. C. Fox, master, has been sending up
topgallant-masts, reeving running gear, and getting
ready for departure. She proceeds on similar service to
the Cuckoo and Lixard. Her destination will be to the

different principal merchant outports.
The Cyclops, 6, paddlewheel steam-frigate, in com-
mand, pro tem., of the first lieutenant of the Horatio.—
Two of the engineers serving on board this frigate have,
in consequence of some misunderstanding between them
and the aforesaid lieutenant in command, pro tern., de-
manded and obtained their discharge from her Majesty's
service.

WOOLWICH, APRIL 20.
APPOINTMENTS.,

Clerk in Charge—Charles C. ICI, to the Columbia,
steam-vessel, on the North America and the West Indies

station

Masters'-Assistants—B. C. Hitchcock, to the Duke
of Wellington, 131, screw steam-ship, at Portsmouth;
S. N. Browne, to the Star, 8, brig, at Chatham.
Rear-Admiral Houston Stewart, C. 8., will hoist his
flag (blue) at the mizen on board the Fisgard, flag-ship,
at Woolwich, on his appointment to be Admiral-Super-
intendent at Malta, vice Rear-Admiral. Harvey, whose
period of superintendence there has expired. Commodore
Henry Eden, Superintendent at Woolwich Dockyard,
will hoist his pendant on board the Black Eagle, steam-
vessel, temporarily, until Rear-Admiral Stewart leaven
for Malta.

easy feeling that prevails throughout the fleet, and the
causes which have engendered, and is still producing,
the worst effects, and which, if not allayed, will denude
the fleet of our best seamen, and drive from England
thousands of her most loyal and devoted subjects. We
have done our duty, and upon Sir James Graham and
his colleagues be the consequence of futile orders, delay,
or indifference.

In the first place, their lordships, ana especially Rear-
Admiral Berkeley, would do well to pay a little atten-
tion to the following from our Portstuouth correspon-
dent :

"PORTSISOOII, Wednesday.
" Sidon, 22, Captain Ceorge Goldsmith, went out of
harbour this morning, in tow of the Echo, steam-tug, and
brought up at Spithead. Reports are very rife that she
was taken to Spithead to prevent her men deserting. We
are painfully aware of facts, that, unless a statement be
speedily published to assure the able seamen of better pay
and better treatment, we shall not have a ship fit for active
service in case of emergency.
"Are the Lords of the Admiralty blind, or are they in
ignorance of the volcano' that may burst forth, when too
late to stay the fearful consequences ? Do they forget the
mutiny at the Nore i We tell their lordships, that what
may be accepted now as a boon, and an act of justice to A.
B.'s, will before long be treated with derision. We re-
gret to state that there are many sea lawyers pouring
subtle poison into the too open ears of the British sailor.
We pray of them to be wise in time. We have opportu-
nities enough of going amongst the men at their rendez-
vous ; we make it our business to do so ; we hear their
just complaints, and we know the fire that is smouldering
will burst out in a flame that will not easily be quenched.
--s.Ve speak advisably, but we speak initruthfulneis for
our country's sake.' "
Now, the Sidon is commanded by' one of the best
officers in the service, and we believe Vie men on board
receive the very best treatment, and-,yethe cannot be
trusted nearer the shore than SpitheaW where all leave
is stopped.
Secondly, we may give their lordships an extract from
a letter, written by a seaman of her Majesty's ship
Queen, 116, in Plymouth Sound—one of a class that a
certain Lord of the Admiralty most humanely awarded
the punishment of four dozen lashes for writing a letter
to a newspaper—" If he could only catch him." The
letter is published in the Plymouth Mail :
"Foretop, her Majesty's ship Queen, April 13,1853.
" Having- seen some good remarks in your paper, I have
taken the liberty of giving you a bit of ,a yarn from the
foretop of the Queen, the finest ship in the navy, or in the
world. It appears that the Lords of the Admiralty have
at last come to the conclusion, that if we are to heave
a-head in manning the navy, they must increase the pay ;
but Jack does not altogether look at money, but the treat-
ment. Here we have been guarding Plymouth Breakwater
for the last ten months, just in sight of our own chimneys,
where those live whom we hold most dear in this world ;
yet, with the exception of about once a month, a look at
them has had to satisfy us. Why, Mr. Editor, I have a
wife and two children, and have not been ashore often
enough for either of the young ones to know their own
father. But in addition to this, we have not been allowed
dieing orefolw. ourash
from
thet o f
what
eet
—aln
myself extent
wiveshei
them ourselves
the
to wa‘s vhhole wintert
fworiuht the
e to tuitee
haveaokne
to
been
w clothescompelledater . ash
Now this is
to
this
spliys becauseeaiied may
it snits
be
seen an'
sfm
witnessed it—that a man, and a good man too, was
punished severely because he put his dirty shirt over
the clean one to take it ashore 'to be washed. His
good-conduct badge was taken from him, though he had
m will;o
to work hard and keep himself from disgrace for five years
to obtain it. The writer of this has been to New
Orleans, and has been frequently. in actions with slavers,
and witnessed many curious sights, and the cruelties
v. Mich Englishmen are trying to abolish, but these
kind-hearted people should look into the dark corners
•:: the navy, even in the ships lying at the home ports. It
was not long since a marine named received 48
lashes, and after punishment was placed on the poop of a
three-decker from half-past seven in the morning until sun-
charge while sentry. Ido not mean to say that he did not
sot, for stealing two table spoons full of sugar under his
deserve punishment for the theft, small as was the value,
certainly not a halfpenny, but where is the slaveholder
who would inflict such a punishment for such a crime?
Much has been said of Stapleton's case ; but this poor devil
had no friend, and therefore was compelled to grin and
bear the double purolshment. Is this the way to man
the navy ? Again, look at our pound of bread and our
beef. Ask any man who has weathered Cape Horn or the
Cape of Good Hope if he has not felt the southerly wind
in the bread-bags. Next comes one pound, as they call it,
of beef. I call it bones ; for first comes the captain's
steward—he wants a nice bit; then comes the ward-
room, then the gun-room ; after these the warrants, and
a number of other ' one man's messes ;' after all poor
Jack, like the dogs, comes in for the bones. Perhaps
their lordships think because they see the amount of our
savings, that our provisions are sufficient. But, if so,
they are mistaken. The savings are easily accounted for.
Now, I served last on the South American station, where
the ships' company paid a penny a day each for flour.
Look at our breakfast, and recollect the sailor has to work
eight hours out of the night, as well as the day. After
these eight hours' work, he gets ono pint of cocoa and the
small pound of biscuit, which in a hot climate you may
blow from you like chaff before the wind. These are the
gievances we want remedied. Then, again, sir in making
appointments, the Admiralty should look-'ll-jilt° tho
logs of the ships in which captains held their last 'appoint-
ments, and keep such officers in employ as can rule
without so much arbitrary punishment, and send upon
half-pay those who are afloat, who are known as tyrants.
All the sailors want, is to be treated like men. Then
they will du their work as such, and stand to the flag to
the last ; but while they are treated worse than the dogs
that drag the hawker's carL from village to village, how
can the Admiralty expect any other than so many deser-
tions? Captain Griffiths says, that irons should only be
used on the man who is riotous from drunkenness ; but we
all know that they are used in some ships for the most
frivolous offences. A man named was put in irons be-
cause he had a cap on instead of a hat while washing decks.
These are the acts of tyranny we have to complain of.
Here is the Queen, a very fine ship no doubt, ordered to
complete her complement to 970, and in three weeks we
have entered three able seamen, and a few grave-diggers
and navvies, and to catch these a lieutenant, the master-at-
arms, and a boatswain's mate have been living ashore for
three weeks. Now, this is the way to spend John Bull's

money.
" I hope, sir, you will make the best of this yarn, as
you see I am no scholar to write for newspapers, but I will
let you into more secrets next week, and tell you how the
navy is to be manned. I have beenlo years in the service,
but once I get my discharge again, I must go where thou-
sands of sterling fellows have gone before me, where I can
get better treatment."
Thirdly. Here is another warning, not only to the
Admiralty, but to Mr. Cardwell, who is about to peril
the best defence of the country by abrogating the
" manning clause" in our navigation laws which pro-
tects the labour of the British seaman. It is also from
the Plymouth Mail :

" It appears that commissions are to be open to'common
seamen, and that men are to be entered for ten years ;
there is likewise something about 6d. a day half-pay, but
how this is to be given, or for what purpose, I cannot tell.
But this I can tell, that if Sir James Graham thinks he is
going to gull us with such copper-gilt promises he is
,rritly mistaken. We have had promises enough already;
,T,t all the Board of Admiralty will be able to make us
swallow another. We may yet see that gentleman, or
those whom he may appoint, beating the streets for the
seaman he so despises to beat the Russians back into the
Black Sea ; and he may call in vain, for the seaman have
gone to raise an empire of their own in the South. Surely,
sir, we are children of another empire ; we cannot have a
part in the British empire. Only look at the articles of
war ! For every offence the sailor may be guilty of the
punishment is death or something worse ; and the last
sweeping article gives the captain the power to torture us as
he pleases, so long as it is the law and custom in such cases
used at sea. What will Sir James Graham say if the seamen
appoint a committee of their own, and revise the whole system
of naval law, knocking a few of the sudden deaths out of the
articles of war, and by adding a few more that will force
them to open comL-mai tial rooms to the reporters of the
press, so that the public may see how their servants are
treated. Sir, we can do all this, and we can show the
First Lord tithe Admiralty how to put it all into opera-
tion in a week. We are quite willing to fight our country's
battles for a fair remuneration and just treatment; we get
neither, and you may depend that we will not submit to
treatment worse than the American slave. ' Uncle Tom's
Cabin' would be thrown into the shade if the trials and
punishments on board of -one of her Majesty's ships were
sent to the press; but who cares for us, we are children of
another clime."
We repeat our Portsmouth correspondent's warning
to "be wise in time." There are now no "Fielden's
gangs" in the navy. " Gaol birds" are scarce. Our
fleet is manned with intelligent seamen, and it is not an
unusual sight now to witness on the lower deck of a
man-bf-war a profusion of newspapers and magazines.
The seamen of the present day have some idea of comfort
and good treatment, they know the value of liberty as
well as of pounds, shil!nags and pence ; and the Admi-
ralty may depend upon it that if something be not
speedily done they will have every ship in the fleet fol-
lowing the example of her Majesty's ship Vulcan, Com-
mander Von Donop, now at Portsmouth, the crew of
which, we hear, have signed a "round robin" demand-
ing their pay and having reference to their stoppage of
leave both in Australia and in England.—Morning
Herald.

NAVAL COURTS-MARTIAL—INCONSISTENCY OP NAVAL
LAw.—Two courts-martial have been held this week on
men for desertion. At Sheerness, one of the sailmakers'
crew of the Horrtio, named Gibson, was tried for de-
sertion, was found guilty, and was sentenced to receive
four dozen lasl-.2', the highest amount of corporal pun-
ishment that can be inflicted, and to be mulcted of all
his wages. At Devonport, on the following day, four
deserters from the Sanspareil, named Williams, Reid,
Rothers, and Bolt, were tried by Captains Seymour,
Nias, Mitchell, Lowe, Hutton, Ramsay, and King, and
were all found guilty, and each was sentenced to six
months' imprisonment.—lferald.

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THE BUDGET.

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.
. (From the Morning Herald.)

The burst bubble is the Budget of All the
Talents ; and it is a monstrous compound of im-
pudence, conceit, financial fallacy, and ignorance
of the, sense and spirit of the country. If ever the
sense and spirit of the country unequivocally and
deliberately condemned any measure, and the
spirit of the country determined that its condem-
nation should be carried into effect, it is that which
taxes equally the fixed and precarious income.
Forsooth ! at the bidding of Mr. Gladstone, the
nation is, nolens volens, to continue with the mill-
stone round its neck for ten years longer, at least ;
and that same Mr. Gladstone is the disciple of
him, who in originally proposing this iniquitous
tax, - told us that it was only temporary, but
secretly assured his correspondent at Elbing that
it was meant to be permanent! The sophistical
tortuosities 61 Mr. Gladstone; however, will not
avail him. The victims of Schedules D will not
groan on for ten years longer under a yoke their
fathers were unable to bear.

But not only is this to be endured, but its bless-
ings are to be extended to 'those who continue to
earn only 1001. a year ! Here is a vast class of
persons suddenly subjected to the yoke of cruel and
unjust taxation, when they are notoriously wearing
out their lives in the effort merely to keep their
heads above water ! And, again, the tax is to be
extended to Irel?nd.

Why_ is all t'iis to be done 2 Why are the-deli-
berate convictions of t' te nation to be coolly set at
defiance ? We believe in our consciences that Mr.
Gladstone is firmly bent on making the income tax
permanent, if it were in his power, just as his
Machiavellian master was before him ; and that,
were such an absurdity possible as that he should
be Finance Minister at the end of ten years, he
would again, in a five hours' speech, demonstrate,
after his fashion of demonstration, that the tax had
effected so much good that he would advise the
country to make it permanent ! The whole budget
is based upon thimble-rigging and spoliation. It
is a series of compromises and competing imposi-
tions and relaxations of taxes, for the purpose of
neutralising opposition and buying support. But
of all the audacious manoeuvres with this object,
commend us to the barefaced removal of the
supplemental stamp on newspapers—as one of our
Tuesday's contemporaries properly designated
it—" a huge gift to the Times !" Mr. Cobden saw
this at a glance, and sarcastically asked Mr. Glad-
stone, who gave no answer, whether " he was not
aware that the Times was the only paper that
issued supplements filled with advertisements ?"
And see the result ! The Times comes out as a
thick-and-thin supporter of the budget which gives
the lie to the arguings and statements of the Times
itself for the last seven years as to the injustice of
taxing fixed and precarious incomes. And this
buying and selling of political support is a sample
of the public morality by which the Government—
now doomed—is actuated.

We shall of course return to this subject till the
Ministry and their budget have followed the twin
fates of rejection and expulsion ; but in the mean-
time once again repeat, that this enormous experi-
ment on the forbearance of the country will insure
consequences not at present dreamed of by its glib
and unctuous performer.

(Daily News.)
On the general wisdom of Mr. Gladstone's Cus-
x)m scheme there can scarcely be two opinions.

Ours has already been given... To lead off the
statement, we have an alphabetical list of 116 arti-
cles now charged with duty, and hereafter proposed
to be admitted free. This rescue of more than a
hundred things from the claws of the Custom-
house officer will cost only 52,5941. a year ; whilst
in the list we have a number of articles the free

.--
import of which will be highly beneficial in vari-

ous ways.
After Customs we have its brother impost the
Excise, under which is given in formal shape the
change to be affected in licenses. These changes
will affect all dealers in coffee, tobacco, and snuf—
in other words, all grocers, chandlers'-shop-keepers
and cigar shops. The new duties are to be levied
upon the principle of letting off the humble shop-
keeper more lightly than his wealthier rival.
Hereafter a 101. housekeeper is to have a licence to
sell coffee, tea, cocoa, chocolate, and pepper, for
11s. Gd. a year, but for every pound additional
rent he is to pay ls. additional license duty. Thus
the chandler's shop in a back street in Whitecbapel

or Bow may have to pay ono pound a year for
license to sell tea in pennyworths, whilst the great
dealers in King William-street or the Strand pay-
ing their 2001. or 3001. a year rent, will have to
pay 101. or 15/. a year for leave to carry on their
larger and more lucrative trades. The same prin-

ciple of heavier license fee for larger trades is ap-

plied to dealers in tobacco, manufacturers of tO-
bacco, maltsters, brewers, and soapmakers—for
whilst the duty is taken off soap the makers of that
help to cleanliness are to take out licenses as here-
tofore.

The post-horse, servant, and carriage taxes come
next. When the horse and carriage duties were
imposed the whole fast communication of the
country was conducted by stage coaches and post
horses. At the same period it was part of the
essential state of every nobleman and lauded squire
to drive at least four horses with outriders. In
towns every family that kept a carriage had at least
two horses. A few years ago, any attempt at a
close carriage drawn by one horse was looked upon
as something lamentably mean and contemptible.
To drive up to a house of fashion in a hackney
coach was au insult. What a change has occurred.
The railways have abolished posting on the main
lines of road. For instance, on the Midland race-
courses, where, twenty years ago, scores of car-
, riages with four horses in hand, or with postilions
in private liveries, were to be seen, now only one
or two specimens of bygone equipage recal what
used to be the custom in such matters.

The vices of the present system, with which Mr.
Gladstone proposes to deal, are two-fold. First,
the taxes are cumulative ; and, secondly, they are

defeated at every turn by exemptions. -The cu mu
lative scale was originally adopted on the principle
of a sumptuary law. It was thought fair to the
poor to tax carriages used by the rich, for the pub-
lic did not then understand that such taxes, after
all, fall chiefly on the class from whom men
servants are selected-by whom carriages are
built-and horses are bred, and fed, and shod. Ac-
cording to the present system, the more carriages a
man keeps the higher the tax he pays on each, thus
rising, by regular. steps, from 11. 4s. for one ser-
vant, to 3/. 16s. for each of twelve servants. From
6/. for one four-wheeled carriage, to 91. Is. 6d. for
each of nine carriages. And from 11. Bs. for one
horse, to 31. Os. 9d. each for those who indulge
themselves in nine. The result of this taxation,
on the principle of confiscation, is seen in the de-
cline of the number of tax-payers for private car-
riages. In carriages, the latest and most flagrant
exemption is in favour of every two-wheeled vehicle
which.does not originally cost more than 211. On
this exemption the revenue is daily defrauded by
men in all ranks of society. The plan of cheating
the tax-gatherer is simple enough. The Hon. Tom
Noddy pays 201. for the trap and 201. more for the
whip. Every country coachmaker can give a long
string of such cases. Turning from two wheels to
four wheels, we there find that the Legislature
found some virtue in wheels less than thirty inches
in height, drawn by ponies under thirteen hands
high. The result is, that in all directions we meet
with elegant untaxed George the Fourth phaetons
escaping duty, drawn by a useless class of animal,
which no farmer can afford to breed, or to use
when blemished. The tax on horses has also its
string of exemptions. Fifteen per cent. of the
number of horses paying are rated at 1/. is.,
instead of 11. Bs. 9d., because not exceeding
thirteen hands. Ponies not exceeding twelve
hands pay no tax ; and, harnessed to low
carriages, afford exemptions to persons well
able to pay. A butcher pays 10s. Gd. only for a
second horse ; but the country surgeon, who has
at least quite as much need of a second horse, is
net exempt. Draught horses used in trade, and
mules, pay 10s. 6d.. each, but horses used for agri-
culture, amounting to upwards of 300,000, pay
nothing.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer commences
well by simplifying all these taxes, abolishing a
mass of exemptions, and doing away with the sys-
tem of punishing a man by extra taxation for em-
ploying several servants, or keeping several horses
and carriages. For men-servants, in any number,
11. Is. each is to be paid by the employer if over
21 years of age, and 10s. 6d. if under 21. For
horses 11. Is. each, whatever the number, and
10s. 6d. for ponies. Four-wheeled carriages,
drawn by two horses, 31. 10s. ; with one horse,
2/. 10s. Two-wheeled carriages, 15s. 'Horses
used in trade-in carrier's carts, &c.-as at pre-
sent, 10s. Gd. each. It is scarcely wise to make
the difference between carriages drawn by one and
two horses. It will lead to constant evasions and
disputes, and be unfair to residents in hilly counties

[PRICE SD.

who have to pay turnpikes too, while in towns one
horse will do the work. We doubt also the policy
of imposing a premium on ponies by halving the
tax on them. Dogs come in here, and about them
one word may be said. Henceforth every dog,
except greyhounds (about which there never
could be a mistake of character), is to be charged
at 12s. This will be, therefore, a practical
increase of taxation. The shepherd, who wants
Towler for real work, is to pay an extra impost
for his dog, and so also with the dowager Lady
Tom Noddy; and the spinster Miss Spinks, for their
respective King Chark-.', Fidos, poodles, and
pugs, to say nothinc, of al the black-and-tan won-
derful Billys, who kill their forty rats in thirty
minutes. On all these the tax will be raised to an
even 125., and instead of losing thb 10,0001. a year
that he talks about under this heading, Mr. Glad-
stone will make money by the change, if his collec-
tors are not negligent. After dogs, the Chancellor
of the Exchequer deals with the heraldic wares,
putting the respective taxes of 2/. 12s. 9d., 6s,
4d., and 13s. 2d. respectively, as the rates at which
the gentle vanity of or and argent, pules and azure,
in all their various ingenuities of shield or ensign,
quarterings and elaborations, may be alone legally
" called, used or worn by any person."
The long list winds up with the weightiest of its
contents—land tax redemption and the stamp
duties. Under the latter we have the concession
to Lord Robert Grosvenor and the attorneys—a
seeming rather than a real concession, to. life
assurers—the new and good plan for using penny
Pege
upon3leads
asrn the
payment
ntonofly money—andn
proposition that a cheque may be legally drawn
aeedful and
another valu-
able
legal receipt
at any place distant more than fifteen miles from
the place where such cheque is made payable to
stamps
bearer on demand, provided the cheque bears
a penny label stamp. Heretofore such documents
were illegal, unless stamped as bills ;—hereafter a
man may in the country write and date cheques
payable to bearer by his town banker, if ho first
affixes a penny Queen's-head stamp on the paper
used—writing across it.
Mr. Gladstone tells us he shall lose 155,0001. a
year by this reform of receipt stamps. Instead of
this, it would be a safe wager that he gains money,
instead of losing it, by the change. The reduction
of stamp tax on policies of life assurance is more
nominal than real. On small policies—that is,
policies up to 500/.—the charge is to be 6d. for
every 501. insured. At present the lowest stamp
is half-a-crown. So that if a man now insures a
hundred pounds on his life he pays—say premium
31. 35., and duty 2s. 6d. ; making 3/. ss. 6d. By
Mr. Gladstone's plan he pays exactly two shillings
less, or 3/. 3s. 6d. This is all the relief he would
get, for on life policies the tax is paid only once.
On the whole, however, the part of the new scheme
which relates to assessed taxes, like that which
deals with Customs, is good. The Chancellor of
the Exchequer calculates to lose 87,0001. on ser-
vants, and 95,0001. on private carriages. We
doubt if he will lose a single penny in the course
of two years. The difficulty of .the right hon.
gentleman will be the Income and Property Tax.
Upon that his opponents found all their hopes.

(From th ^ Morning Advertiser.
We yesterday stated, that the Budget of the
Coalition Cabinet would be strenuously opposed in
some of its more important parts. We especially
mentioned two grounds on which the income tax
will be assailed, and adverted to the probability of
such a combination of parties being formed as
would place Ministers in a minority.
The information which has reached us seems also
to have found its way to Downing-street ; for the
Ministerial organ yesterday announces, in the
plainest possible terms, that in the event of Go-
vernment being defeated on the Budget, a dissolu-
tion will immediately follow. " The rejection,"
says the Ministerial journal, in concluding its arti-
cle, "of any considerable part of the scheme -w ill
necessarily frustrate the whole. If, however, such
an event should unfortunately occur, there is a
Court of Appeal, and the constituencies will not
fail to understand the gratitude due to those who
may stand between the country and financial pros-
perity."
This is bold enough, certainly. A more unmis-
takeable menace could not be held over the heads
of those members who may have resolved to act an
honest and independent part in the coming divi-
sions on the Budget. But, as if that were not suf-
ficient, a meeting, we are told, of the Liberal party
is to be held at Chesham-plaeo when the leader of
the House of Cominons will len those who think
proper to be present, that, in the event of the
Gladstone Budget suffering in any of its more im-
portant parts, the inevitable result will be a disso-
lution of Parliament. The noble lord who is, on
Saturday next, to hold this threat in terrorem
over the heads of the Liberal party, has written a
work on the Constitution of this country. Will
his lordship be kind enough to inform us, whether
to attempt, by menaces of this nature, to deter
members from voting in accordance with their con-
victions of right, be in consonance with constitu-
tional principles ?
But we trust that no representative of the people
will he diverted from his purpose by any such
threats. .The man who is so will find in the end,
not only that he has acted dishonestly, and sacri-
ficed his independence, but that he has pursued an
impolitic course. We must have a dissolution, un-
der any circumstances, soon. It is impossible that
a second session can pass away without au appeal
to the country. And those members who, under
the pressure of Ministerial Raenaces, may act in op-
position to their convictions, will, they may rely
on it, find that they will hava a very unpleasant
reckoning to make with their constituents when
they have to re-appear on the hustings.
But it is, besides, a most reprehensible thing on
the part of Ministers to put the question thus,—
Either the whole Budget, or a dissolution ? For
what purpose does the House of Commons assemble
and deliberate ? Is it not one of its chief functions

to correct what may be erroneous in the Ministeria
measures? If the Legislature is not to be at libel ty
to amend what it believes to be faulty in the policy
of Government, without being subjected to the
threat of a dissolution by its organs, it had better
abdicate its functions at once. The Ministerial
menace is based on the assumption that the House
of Commons has nothing to do but to endorse,
sanction, and give effect to the measures of the
Cabinet. We do not so read the constitution of
England. The people do not so comprehend it.
This blind and servile submission to the wishes of
Ministers would be quite in keeping with the state
of affairs in: a neighbouring country ; but it is as
foreign to the views of Englishmen, as it is at vari-
ance with all constitutional principles. It may be
right to remind the Coalition Cabinet that matters
have not yet come to the Lame pass in this country
as they have done in Fri.nce. No Louis Napoleon
sits on the throne of these realms. As yet we
have not seen once in the House of Commons—
and trust we never shall—what we see daily in the
Corps Logislatif, namely, decisions on great public
questions after this fashion :—For the Government
bill, 234 ; against it, 0. So long as we are blessed
with representative institutions, we shall never
witness such wonderful unanimity as this.
The leader of the House of Commons is the last
man in that assembly who-ought to lend himself to
any attempts -to tamper with the conscientious
convictions and independence of members. He has
already placed himself in a position, in connection
with this income tax, which, to every honourable
mind, must be deemed the reverse of enviable.
Immediately after the formation of the Aberdeen
Administration, he assigned as the reason why there
could be no Reform Bill this session, that the time
which would be required to revise the income tax
would be .so great as to render it impossible for
Ministers to do both things. And now we find
that, though under the pretext that the revision of
the income tax would consume so much of the time
of the Cabinet as to preclude the possibility of
bringing in and carrying through a measure of
Parliamentary Reform, we are in reality to have
no revision of the tax at all. So far, indeed, from
its being revised, we are to have it renewed for the
long period of seven years, not only with all its
present obnoxious features, but with the addition
of some new elements of injustice. How the
noble lord will reconcile what he said in an-
nouncing the Ministerial policy of the session,
relative . to the revision of the incomed tax, with
willo, is more than
l a
Idlrs thoante t phreo iro sueus t
rtyo
think of the
whole‘iVVell aeta IMI
atflre:alilGr., there can be no doubt. The people
will not hesitate to characterise it in its
terms. They
of
downwriligl plainly
downright
and
demphaticallyishonesty—a regular iloerai propertli
le it
al
juggle.o
one,
we presume, objects to the Budget as a
whole. And, assuredly, it never entered the mind
of any member of
discern Parliament to propose its entire
rejection. We can
in it, many excellent things
and none would
more regret than ourselves
to see its rejection
thatat
by
.the house. But surely the
approval of muchinshoaulmdeaapsuprreovdeooefs not
necessarily require all.
What we want is to preserve the good, and purge
away the bad. We seek not to destroy the Budget,

country.
Mr. Gladstone has done a great injustice to a
large class of the community the least able to bear
it, in perpetuating the existing equality between
precarious and fixed incomes. But that will only
be one of the objections which will be urged against
the income-tax as it is now to be proposed to the
house. The very long term to which he proposes
extending it, is one to which the country has an
insuperable objection. When in 1842 the obnoxious
impost was first proposed, we were told that it was
only intended to last for three years. Under one
pretext or other it has been renewed time after
time—sometimes only a_ year at once—until the

present hour. And now Mr. Gladstone comes for-
ward and proposes to renew it for another term of
seven years,—so that we are not only to have the
tax for certain during that long period, but to have
it in its present unjust and unequal form. Besides,
even were the country, in the excess of its patience
and generosity, to acquiesce in the renewal of the
tax, as it now stands, for a term of seven years,
what guarantee, what security have we that the
tax will then cease ? None whatever. It is just
as likely that the Chancellor of the Exchequer of
1860, will be as fertile in finding reasons for the
renewal of the income tax then as the Right Hon.
Gentleman who now fills that office.

We do, therefore, trust that the independent
members of the House of Commons will resolutely
resist the proposal of Mr. Gladstone to renew the
tax for so long a period as seven years. The right
hon. gentleman carries his boldness a trifle too far
when he makes such a proposition to the house.
If the house assent to it, they- will act in defiance
of the wishes and betray the interests.of their con-
stituents. But we hope better things. We are
confident the event will show that there is enough
of honesty, of consistency, and of independence in
the ?resent house to defeat any motion fox_z_ seven
years' renewal of the t. ..a dkliat an alandilit)nt.-_
in.. favour of a twv-or Host, Alirskyealle
newal, will be Carnes