The Sun.
London, England, 1825-03-23 00:00:00

DI PRE-SS SERVICE.

To a question from a Member,
Mr. HUME said, he was determined to bring on, at an early
period a motion for altering the system of impressing, and pre-
venting the flogging of seamen without a court-martial.
SUPPLY. _

The Report of the Committee of Supply was brought up, and
the various Resolutions agreed to.—Several other Resolutions
were then agreed to.
POLICE MAGISTRATES.
The Report on the increase of salaries. to the Police
trues was brought up and agreed to, and a Bill pursuant thereto
was ordered to be brought in.
IRISH COUNTY TREASURERS.
The Irish County Treasurers' Bill went through a Commit-
tee of the whole House, and the Report was brought up and or-
dered to be read to-morrow.
• • • WINE DUTIES.

On the mOtion of the CHANCELLOR of the EXCHE-
QUER that the Houses should go into a Committee on the
Wine Duties' Bill, the Right Hon. Gentleman observed the
°alp alteration he now intended proposing extended to Cape
wires up to the year 1839 ; the duty on Cape to two shillings
fr,r the first three (or two) years, and for the remaining period to
1439, 2s. 6d.
Mr. HUME expressed a wish that the Right Hon. Gentle-
man would attend to the suggestion of the Hon. Member for
London (Mr. T. Wilson); for he (Mr. Hume) thought it
would make little difference to the revenue, while it would con-
siderable benefit the Cape growers. He wished the duty to he
1 s. lid. for the fiz.st two years, and 3s. for the next three years.
la such a case 'h3 thought these parties would have no reason
to complain. •
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER was by no
means of opinion that those parties had any cause for complaint.
Ile, of course, was well aware that in all such cases the par-
ties looked to their own individual interests, but the Govern-
ment of the country had to weigh and balance all and do what
was just between them. He had, therefore, met the parties in
question half way, and he had no doubt that by and by they
would be nerfectly• satisfied.
Mr. Alderman WOOD wished to know on what quantity of
wine the drawback would be allowed ?. The interests of poor
dealers would'be materially affected if the drawback were not
allowed on a much smaller quantity than that stated by the Right
Hon. Gentleman.
• The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER replied that
the drawback would be allowed on-halfw tun, or 126 gallons,
which was considerably lower than the increase upon the rise of
duties, as nothing less than a tun.was before charged with such

a rise in the duty ; and it could not be denied that the difrerence
now yielded was even more than strictly just. •
Mr. BRENAL asked from what day the duty on wine was
to take place ?
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER—From the
2d of March. _ _

Colonel PALMER hoped the Government would take care
that the public should be benefftted by the reduction of the
duty upon wines. In the Port wine trade he knew they could
effectually do so : but he complained that the trade in French
wines had not been more favourably considered.
Mr. BERNAL, while on this subject, begged to call the at-
tention of the Right Hon. Gentleman tc. the duty on glass bot-
tles coming from Prance, as it was well known that certain fo-
reign wines would spoil at once, if not packed in a peculiar de-
scription of bottles.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER—Certainly a
duty of lid. a bottle is put on these bottles, besides an excise
duty of WA. per cwt. on the glass. It was, however, intended
to consolidate these duties, and not have two. different descrip-
tions of officers to collect them. The duty altogether amounted
on each bottle to between 90. and 10d. The subject, however,
was under consideration, but it could only be looked at with a
fair regard to the excise duty which continued upon glass bottles
of our own manufacture. _ _ _

The Report wag then brought up, and ordered to be received
to-morrow.

CALEDONIAN CANAL.

On the motion for the second reading of the Caledonian Ca-
nal Bill,
Mr. HUME said, that he was well aware of the Right Hon.
the Chancellor of the Exchequer's objections to Joint Stock
Companies ' • however, he (Mr. Hume) thought, in this case,
that if the Right Hon: Gentleman would advertise for some
Joint Stock Company to take this canal' offlik hands, the pub-
lic would save considerably by it, and the canal be managed
much better than it was now likely to be.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER—I have no
objection, provided the. Hon. Member will allow me to nomi-
nate him as the principal director—(A laugh.)
Mr. Alderman WOOD—If he were I can only say, much
of the public money might be saved.
The Bill was then read a second time.
RO3IAN CATHOLICS.

Mr. BROGDEN presented a petition from Launceston
against any further concessions to the Roman Catholics.—To
be printed.
MARQUIS OF HASTINGS.
Mr. HUME gave notice for the production of certain papers
relative to the expenditure in the war in India, under the (com-
mand of the Marquis of Hastings.
The other Orders of the Day were then disposed of, an the
House adjourned a few minutes before Txx o'CLocs.

STATE PAPERS.

ENGLAND AND AMERICA.

Lord Livenroor. and Mr. CANxtvo laid the
following before both Houses of Parliament last
night :

OPINION OF THE EMPEROR OF RUSSIA WITS! RESPECT TO
THE FIRST ARTICLE OF THE TREATY OF GHENT EN-
TERED INTO BETWEEN GREAT BRITAIN AND THE

UNITED STATES.

Having been requested by Great Britain and by the United
States to pronounce an Opinion as Arbitrator, upon the differ-
ences which have arisen between those Powers, as to the inter-
pretation of the first Article of the Treaty concluded between
them at Ghent, December 24, 1814, the Emperor has exa-
mined into all the Acts, Statements, and Notes, by which the
respective Plenipotentiaries have !wade known to the Imperial
Department for Foreign Affairs the arguments which each
party advances in support of his own view of the right interpre-
tation of the said Article.

After having maturely weighed the observations brought for-
ward by each party ; considering that the British and Ameri-
can Plenipotentiaries have demanded that the discussion should
be brought to a dose ; considering that the former, in his note
of the Bth (20th) of October, 1821, and the latter, in his note of
the 4th (16th) of November following, have declared that it is
upon the construction of the text of the Article, as it is written,
that the arbitration is to be founded; and that neither of them
have referred to the general principles of the law of nations and
of maritime law, but as secondary considerations.

The Emperor is of opinion " that the question is only to be
decid:d according to the literal and grammatical meaning of the
first article of the Treaty of Ghent." •

With respect to the literal and grammatical meaning of the
first article of the Treaty of Ghent ;—considering that the para-
graph upon the meaning of which doubts have arisen, is couched
in the following terms :

" All territor', places, and possessions whatsoever, taken by
either party from the other during the war, or which may be
taken after the signing of this treaty, excepting only the Islands
hereinafter mentioned, shall be restored without delay, and
without causing any destruction, or carrying away any of the
artillery, or other public property, originally captured in the
said forts or places, and which shall remain therein upon the
exchange of the atifications of this treaty, or any slaves or other
private property. And all archives, records, deeds and papers,
either of a public nature or belonging to private persons, which
in the course of the war may have fallen into the hands of the
officers of either party, shall be, as far as may be practicable, forth-
with restored, and delivered to the proper Authorities, and per-
sons to whom they respectively belong."—Considering that in
this paragraph the words, " originally captured, and, which
shall remain therein upon the exchange of the Ratification or
this Treaty," form an incidental phrase, which can only gram-
matically refer to the substantives or to the matters which pre-
cede ; that thus the first Article of the Treaty of Ghent does
not prohibit the contracting parties from carrying away from
those places, for the restitution of which it stipulates, any
public property but such as may have been originally captured
therein, and which may have been actually there at the mo-
ment of the exchange of the Ratifications; but prohibits the
removal from the said places of any private property whatever :
That on the other hand, these two prohibitions are applicable
only to the places the restitution of which is stipulated for in
the Article:—

The Emperor is of opinion "that the United States of Ame-
rica are entitled to claim from Great Britain a just indemnifica-
tion for all private property which the British forces may have
carried away, and, as the question relates to Slaves more espe-
cially, for all the Slaves that the British forces may have car-
ried away from the places and territories of which the Treaty
stipulates the restitution, in quitting these same places and ter-
ritories.

" That the United States are entitled to consider as having
been so carried away, all such Slaves as may have been trans-
ferred from the above-mentioned territories, to British Vessels
within the waters of the said territories, and who, for this rea-
son, may not have been restored.

" But, that if there should be any American Slaves who were
carried away from territories of which the first Articles of the
Treaty of Ghent has not stipulated the restitution to the United
States, the United States are not intitled to claim an Indemni-
fication for the said Slaves."

The Emperor moreover declares, that he is ready to exercise
the office of a mediator, which has already been tendered to him
by the two Powers, in such Negeciations as they may be oblig-
ed to enter into, in consequence of the arbitration they have
requested from his Imperial Majesty.
Done at St. Petersburgh, the 22d April, 1822..

The pressure of business, from the number of
Committees sitting, was yesterday so great, that the Commit-
tee on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, sat from one to
half-past three, within the body of the House of Commons.
Mr. Sergeant SrAsKIE was heard there as Counsel on the .13i11.