The Sun.
London, England, 1831-02-15 00:00:00

DECREE.

~ I am pleased to sanction and command the following
resolutions of the General Legislative Assembly to be put
in execution :

Art. 1. The funds in specie, at present in the
Bank and the Branch Bank of St. Paul's, not the pri-
vate property of a third person, are immediately to he
placed at the disposal of the Sinking Fund ( Cazia de
Antortisacao), for the redemption of the old Bank notes,
of the old stamp, in circulation in this province.
66 Art. 2. To effect such redemption, they will
divide the specie into lots, not exceeding forty contos of
reis each, and after due advertisement of the same will
dispose of them by public sale at the same time and in
sums which may be judged most convenient; and in case of
a sufficient number of buyers not appearing on the days
appointed for the sale, or of a fall in the agio, to suspend
the same, and put it off, in order to obtain the greatest
possible advantage.
" Art. 3. The specie at present in the Bank of Bahia,

not the private property of a third person, is to be
placed at the disposal of the Sinking Fund, for the pur-
pose of buying up the notes in circulation after the manner
set forth in the foregoing article.
" Art. 4. In respect to the notes redeemed in conse-
quence of this resolution, Articles 12 and 30, of the 23d
of September, 1829, will be adhered to.
" Art. 5. All laws and orders to the contrary are
annulled.

(Signed) " By the EMPEROR.
' Rio de Janeiro, Dec. 7, 1829."

We have letters this morning from Swan
River, dated 14th October, from Fremantle,
which give a favourable account of the colony.
Provisions and various articles for domestic use
were, however, exceedingly dear. Brandy was
worth 20s. per gallon ; bread, 9d. per pound ;
ebeef,crockery,
nk
elr
y 5. per
tin-ware, ee
ge. la s s
,Tszh e
e marketwhich
h werewas
bare of
selling
at enormous rates. An expedition was about to
depart from Shark's Bay, Raffles' Bay, and other
places in that direction, under Lieutenant PUR-•
TON, in three boats, and very sanguine hopes
were entertained of its success, as it was hoped to
induce the Malays to visit the colony in the sum-
mer, which n ould be most beneficial to the fishing
and to the colony in general. The colony at King
George's Sound was quite well ; it consisted of
Captain BARKER, the Commandant, 20 soldiers
and about 15 convicts, besides officers. It was
to be given up to Government, when the Go-
vernor intended sending troops down. The
country about King George's Sound, for 40
miles in the interior, was very inferior. The
Swan River settlement was, however, working
well, and the settlers began to get more sanguine
A gaol was building at Fremantle, and at Perth
barracks and a boat dock were erecting. The
land between the river and South Bay was also
about to be cut away, so as to form a canal, and
a breakwater was about to be run out from the
south end of Arthur's Head. The hills were
generally sandy, but the vallies contained fine
alluvial washings. The winters are described
as exceedingly cold.

We stated yesterday our intention of explain-
ing our objections to the proposition of the
Times that all advertisements should be charged
one and the same duty of ls. 6d. instead of the
CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER'S scale of is.
for ten lines, and 2s. 6d. for all above that number.
Our first objection is, that one price for all
advertisements, of whatever length, is mani-
festly unjust, because a servant out of place
would thereby be made to pay to Govern-
ment out of his very necessity as much for
three lines as a money-lender, estate agent, or
others whose advertisements announce property
for sale of value from 1001. to 100,0001., and
which advertisements frequently occupy a space
of perhaps twenty times the length of the poor
servant's.

Secondly—lt is well known that advertisers
have been compelled in order to evade the duty,
to string a number of advertisements specifying
several distinct articles such as books, drugs,
houses, &c. into one long advertisement, thereby
saving the duty from Government, but paying
more in proportion for the length of the adver-
tisement.

Thirdly—The high price charged for advertise-
ments, together with the excessive duty, prevented
parties from advertising in more than one Paper,
instead of several, by which the advertisers were
themselves injured—the public deprived of a
more extensive circulation—and the Govern-
ment stinted in a more productive Revenue.
These are a few reasons. But it would be easy
to enlarge were it necessary. We think that there
should be a standard of width as well as length,
but it might interfere too much with the freedom
of business. The columns of one Paper differ
in width from those of another,—and the size of
the type will also make a material difference.—
To obviate these it. would perhaps be better to
make the number of words the standard; or, as that
might take up too much time, lot there be a fair
average. For instance—let advertisements of
servants, being all short—be charged 6d., all
other advertisements under ten lines is., under
twenty lines ls. 6d., under forty lines 25., under
sixty lines 2s. 6d., and all above sixty lines ss.
This last charge would benefit the Revenue by
checking the practice of clubbing a number of
advertisements under one head.

As to any objection that may be stated about
the trouble to the Stamp-office, we would pro-
pose that at the corner of each advertisement
the figures 1,2, 3,4, 5, be placed, to designate
the respective classes to which it belonged.
There would then be only the trouble of count-
ing how many of each class there were, and
charging accordingly.
We merely throw out these hints for the con-
sideration of the CHANCELLOR of the EXCHE-
QUER, resting satisfied that the more equably
the duty presses, the more will its justice be
acknowledged.