The Sun.
London, England, 1853-03-02 00:00:00

again. (Hear, and a laugh.) So that in that case there
had been five distinct instances of the payment of legacy
duty since 1836 ; and if it had not been left in each case
to persons so" near of kin to the several testators the
amount paid in duty, increasing as it did in each more
remote degree of consanguinity, must have been enor-
mous. He maintained that it was a gross injustice to
tax this species of property, while other kinds in the
neighbourhood, just as accessible to the touch of the tax-
gatherer, was left altogether unassailed. (Hear, hear.)
He could not understand anything more fatal to good
order, or to the confidence of the people in the Govern-
ment, than a belief out of doors that there was an inte-
rest in the governing power which led it to tax heavily
on one spot and lightly, or not at all, on another. The
Chancellor of the Exchequer had alluded to the question
of local taxation as being in some degree a balance and a
compensation for the tax under consideration ' • but there
was really nothing in that. It only reminded him that a
late Chancellor of the Exchequer, the right hon. gentleman
the member for Halifax (Sir C. Wood), under similar cir-
cumstances, fell back upon the stamp duty ; and now the
present Chancellor of the Exchequer fell back upon the
subject of local taxation. Neither of those arguments
had any force, because the legacy duty was imposed
•long before stamps or any local taxes. He had now
shown the gross inequalities of the present tax ; and it
was for the interest of Parliament and the country that
the Chancellor of the Exchequer should be encouraged
to take the right course in this matter. He had only
now to say, that if ever the Chancellor of the Exche-
quer did set his heart to work to consider this question,
(he Mr. Bright) hoped he would also take into his con-
sideration, in connection with it, the barbarous principle
of consanguinity, by which one man receiving property
by descent paid 11. per cent. legacy duty ; another, a
nephew, 31. per cent. ; and another, a stranger, 101.
per cent. An illegitimate child was even taxed 101.
per cent., as if its illegitimacy was a crime upon itself.
(Hear, hear.) Nothing, he submitted, could be
more barbarous than a state of things like that. At
all events, the main question was before the public that
the Exchequer had received within the last fifty-five
years some 80,000,0001. or 90,000,0001. from the duty
in question, the greater portion of which had been charged
upon a class of society during all that time very inade-
quately represented in that house, and who believed it
had been so raised just because the landed proprietors of
the country were very adequately represented there.
(Hear, hear.) He must say that he bad very high expecta-
tions of the present Chancellor of the Exchequer, and
he would beg of the right hon. gentleman not to be
afraid of the hobgoblins which had been raised by the
right hon. gentleman opposite (Mr. Henley), but fairly
to grapple with this question, and settle it in a way
which would meet with general satisfaction throughout
the country. (Cheers,)
Mr. WILKINSON said he agreed in the principle in-
volved in the motion of his hon. colleague, but he could
not see the use of pressing it to a division after the state-
ment which it had elicted from the Chancellor of the
Exchequer. Should his colleague, however, be still dis-
posed to divide the house, h 2 (Mr. Wilkinson) would
vote with him.

Mr. WILLIAMS bliefiy replied.
The house then divided, when there appeared—
For the motion 7l
Against it 124

Majority against the motion
THE CASE OF M. BONACICH.

Mr. MUNTZ moved for a select committee to inquire
into the petition of M. Bonacick relative to the improper
seizure of the Novello, and to report how far he was en-
titled to compensation from the British Government.
Captain SCOBELL seconded the motion.

Lo-rd PALMERSTON stated that there was no man
who would be more zealous than himself to do justice to
the fair claims of any foreigner upon the Government of
this country, and upot every principle of equity and
justice the Government was bound to satisfy all just
claims made upon it. His objection to granting the
committee was, that the claim had been already fully in-
vestigated both at the Treasury and at the Foreign-
office, and he would advise the louse not to consent to
the appointment of the committee, as he did not believe
that the individual for whom the committee was asked
had the slightest legal claim upon the Government of
this country.
Lord STANLEY said that he thought that an act of
injustice had been committed in. this case, and that the
house and the country were bound in some measure to
repair it. It was quite true that M. Bonacich was put
into prison at the suit of a private person, but his impri-
sonment was caused solely by the difficulties of the posi-
tion in which he was placed by the conduct of the Admi-
ralty in seizing his vessel. He did not think the house
was a fit tribunal to judge of the merits of the question,
and as he believed there existed a primd fade case, he
thought the house ought not to refuse the inquiry asked
for.
Mr. M. GIBSON thought th at on the face of these
transactions there existed a prima fade case for inquiry.
Mr. MUNTZ stated that the -vessel was detained for
seven years, and sold for 1,0001., the whole of which sum,
with the exception of 1341., was .appropriated to the pay-
ment of the Admiralty and broke rs' fees.
After a few words from Mr. rench, Mr. Hume, and
Mr. Wilson,
Lord PALMERSTON, in answer to an appeal made
by an hon. member, stated that he had performed his
duty in stating the reasons why he thought the claim
was unfounded, and that the appointment of the com-
mittee would only involve an Ai n necessary waste of the
time of hon. members. As it appeared, however, to be
the general opinion of the house that the inquiry should
be gone into, he would waive his objection to the ap-
pointment of the committee.
The motion was then agreed tie.
GRIEVANCES OF THB LETTER-CARRIERS.

Mr. T. DUNCOMBE said he :had no doubt the house
was in favour of the resolution he. had to propose ' • and if
the Government would assent to it, he would not trouble
the house with any arguments in support of it. The re-
solution was—" That it appears to this house, from the
numerous petitions presented dui-fa ig the present session by
the letter-carriers of Great Britain and Ireland, that, con-
sidering the responsible and arduous nature of their employ-
ment, the amount of their official, salaries is generally in-
sufficient, and that their compls Lints of its inadequacy
merit the attention of her Male s ty's Government.' He
brought this motion forward in c(5 nsequence of the nume-
rous petitions that had been prese cited from the letter-car-
riers of above 400 towns and districts in England, Scot-
land, Ireland, and Wales. They °emplaned of the made- •
quacy of their pay, and stated tl'eit their sufferings had
been greatly aggravated in consequence of an order of the
Postmaster-General in July last, prohibiting them from
soliciting the Christmas-boxes whic h they been in the habit
of receiving. He did not advocate the system of paying
public servants by gratuities ; he believed it to be bad and
vicious—(hear)—and he believed the letter-carriers them-
selves thought so. But when these gratuities formed a
considerable part of their salary, they ought not to be taken
away without the salary being advanced in proportion.
Continual returns had been called. for as to the amount of
the salaries and gratuities of then 3 officers ; and they had
been told, when applying fn• increased salaries,
that a portion of their pay was derived from Christmas-
boxes and gratuities. The order of the Postmaster-Gene-
ral applied originally to the letter-carriers of the whole
country, including the metropolis . The district letter-
carriers, or Two-penny Postmen, as they were called, num-
bered bout 900 ; the general post letter-carriers, about
300. Hearing what was in contemplation by the Govern-
ment, they made representations to the Postmaster-Gene-
ral, and the order was immediately suspended as regarded
the metropolitan letter-carriers. But it was still in force
as regarded the provincial letter-carriers ; and it was only
in abeyance as to the London letter-carriers, and might be
enforced next Christmas. But why should there be any
distinction ? The public cheerfully pa.id the gratuities,
thinking that the men were under-paid. He had to com-
plain of the system pursued in the post (delivery of the me-
tropolis. Why there should be any distinction between
the two classes of letter-carriers in the in etropolis, he could
not understand ; but if there was to be a distinction, it
ought rather to be in favour of the district letter-carriers,
the men with blue coats. The duties of the men with red
coats were over about ten o'clock in the morning, or they
were only engaged in sorting letters for the others. They
received from 235. to 30s. a week, with a very good super-
annuation allowance. The district lettor-carriers had ten
deliveries in the day, and they also assisted in delivering'
the general post letters. But the great hardship fell
on the provincial letter-carriers. Their appeal to the house
was not premature ; for they had taken every means
to obtain redress from the Postmaiter-General, and
were assured that he had no power to relieve them. As
many as 369 memorials from different towns and districts
had been presented to,the Postmaster-Goneral ; and no re-
dress whatever had been obtained. He (Mr. Duncombe)
had received from 400 to 500 letters on 'the subject, repre-
senting that the case was one of great hardship, and re-
questing him to bring it before the house. The whole of
the provincial newspapers were advocating, ranch to their
credit, the cause of the letter carriers. There was scarcely
a gentleman in the house who had not had to present peti-
tions on the subject. Another ground of complaint by these
persons was that their small pay was stopped during sick-
ness. One letter carrier at Deal was knocked down by a
horse and cart ; his ribs were fractured, and he sustained
other serious injuries. He was unable to attend to his
duties for four months ; his stipend was stopped, and he
could obtain no relief from the Postmaster-General. When
on duty this man had to walk 20 miles a day ; he was at
work from six in the morning till eight at night ; and for
this he only received 14s. a week. In some of the large
towns the number of letter carriers was extremely small
in proportion to the population, Manchester, with 300,000
inhabitants, had 80 ; Leeds, 20 ; Sheffield, 15 ; Bradford,
7, with 5 assistants. These men had no superannuation al-
lowances. An old woman at Beaminster, who had acted as
letter-carrier for 40 years, had recently been dismissed with-
out any allowance. The Postmaster-General's answer to such
applications was that he had no power to grant any reliof ;
the Legislature ought to give him this power ; for this was
a case where the public wished to be taxed in order that
these deserving officers might be properly remirnerated:
(Hear.) Cases of defalcation were frequently occurring,
annalehts. he eho ilpeedar. the) h
andw the way to gethonest servants was to give them adequate
Meuuscehwtoouithdeeirntceirt•ecalin it
credit, the. middle class
a
gentry had
taken up the claim of these persons;
Mr. WAItT, in seconding the motion, said he had re-
ceivedE
a strong representationo from his own constituents as
to the importance t
nc: ieftttlei!s case. There was great variety in
the wages
paid
country; the amount -carriers in different parts of the
ranged The memorial
from 20s. in London to 7s. in
some country towns.
com-
plained of the long hours during . from Liverpool
hich the letter-carriers
were employed, not a moment'sl7 being allowed for
mental improvement or recreationnehey also complained
of their wages being so much lower than those of the Lon-
donEersGATE said he could easily conceive that
boxes, while those in the
that
Cthherislettter-riers London should
was inflicted by the ord •
gr ema
trl e.
Nt, letter
hardship
er in question. It
was an anomaly
be allowed to receive
provinces were not. The resultm would be that the service
he entirely
Regardinng theirch
entpierrfelnyrrncoende.mTed i
life, there could not be found a
•
worthy set of men than the
tihnaMtthreh. had fallen lr:c—Le9Bf".? o°l Cmu d.
saki
3 re-
hora devolved most important duties.
mermore numbers
ree stationpaenedtab le and
ble sition which they held, the
Looking at the responsi
letter-earners, upon NvinP.
which they had to perform—a
great amount of labour .
raise
la-
a lower
description of labour which, being n.aetaeretrhat ancoyinkinmond of
hour, was therefore paid at