The Sun.
London, England, 1849-03-31 00:00:00

but for the soundness of the principles, the
strength of reasoning exhibited in every portion
thereof. It cannot possibly be compressed—every
line must be closely studied and maturely considered.
He defended the propriety of the rate in aid, the
subject-matter of discussion, because he thought
that England had that claim on Ireland " for a sepa-
rate and independent exertion ;" but he did not sup-
port it, or the previous grant of 50,0001., or any
other rate in aid that might be imposed en Ireland,
as measures at all commensurate with the evil. He

vindicated the Irish character from the charges of
apathy and carelessness, of casting themselves as
mendicants on the charity of England, craving
for everything, and doing nothing for them-
selves ; and declared his opinion " that Ire-
land had made great exertions to meet the
obligations imposed on her." He pointed out
(as we have done on many occasions, and among
others on Wednesday last,) the vast difference be-
tween the burden of the poor-law in this country,
where we have had three centuries' experience of its
working, and in Ireland, where it was introduced in
1838, and where, in the midst of the unparalleled
affliction in which it was involved, it contributed no
less than 1,600,0001. towards a comparatively new im-
post. To those who felt indignant at what they conceived
the deep ingratitude of Ireland, and who declared
that they would render no further assistance, because,
after the gigantic efforts of this country in the dark
hour of their distress, they had rebelled against our
supremacy, he proved that they did not rebel; that
they did not give way to the temptations by which
they were surrounded ; and that for that very reason,
and that alone, we were enabled to suppress the in-
surrectionary movement got up by a few mistaken
enthusiasts, without the loss of a single man of our
military or police—nay, of a single friend of the
British connexion. The Irish people, suffering as they
did from a severe calamity, did remain faithful to their
allegiance. He then showed the wretched condition
of the country under the boasted system of pro•
tection, and before the arrival of that mysterious
visitation which for four successive years destroyed
the food of the people. He showed the mischievous
effects of an embarrassed proprietary, by the small
sums expended on the improvement of properties
under the Courts of Chancery and Exchequer, and
also the impossibility of what may be termed par
excellence the distressed districts supporting them-
selves, and he recommended the appointment
of a Commission to bring these districts
under one supervision, and suggested that an
effectual measure should be enacted to afford
facilities for the disposal of encumbered estates, free
from the technical difficulties by which the Act of
last session is prevented from having the desired effect.
We cannot, for the present, enter further into his
comprehensive and enlightened views—views, how-
ever, which must materially influence the future
policy to be adopted with regard to Ireland.

The unfortunate conflagration which on Thursday
evening destroyed the Olympic Theatre brings very
forcibly under our consideration the necessity of two
important improvements. First, the necessity of
abolishing the stamp duty on fire insurances. Se-
condly, the necessity of increasing the number of
doorways in our public edifices. By effecting these
changes we should be materially advancing the utility
of architectural science, and the beneficial effects of
the science of taxation. Through the increase of the
ways of ingress to, and egress from, the interiors
of our theatres, churches, chapels, and other
spacious buildings, a new security would
be afforded for the preservation of human
life. Through the abrogation of the intolerable laws
relating to the stamp duties upon fire insurances, a
new guarantee would be obtained by the community
against the destruction of property. The former
alteration would appear almost to come within the
province of those who by labouring for the organiza-
tion of a sanitary system under Government, are
endeavouring to diminish the obitacles at present
abounding against the natural prolongation of exist-
ence. The latter is certainly deserving the serious
reflection of those who, in conjunction with the Liver-
pool Reform Association and the Hon. Representa-
tives of Montrose and the West Riding of Yorkshire,
are striving to mitigate the evils of our existing plans
of taxation, besides effecting a thorough and perma-
nent reform in our financial expenditure.
Supposing—(to show the dangerous mode in which
these places of amusement are constructed)—sup-
posing that the fire which raged in Wych-street on
Thursday evening had broken out after the com-
mencement of the performances! we should have
had to record another of those deplorable catastro-
phes which have from time to time dismayed the
population—one of those terrifio accidents in
which the votaries of pleasure are trampled to
death in the midst of frivolities, and in
which the terrors of fire are enhanced by the horrors
of suffocation. And all owing to the absence of that
forethought which should always preside over the
arrangements of the architect and the builder! That
four or five hundred people, in the excitement of fear,
should throng with rapidity through a single narrow
passage, in the endeavour to escape from the agonies
of being roasted alive, and that in their disordered
effort they should blockade the only channel con-
ducting to the street, can be no matter of surprise
to any one who has had the felicity of
submitting his ribs to the crush at her
Majesty's Theatre on a JENNY LIND Night. But
that such an enormous structure as the Royal Italian
Opera, in Covent-garden, should be provided only
with one solitary entrance to the pit must be
astounding to any one who has ever observed the
numerous doors opening and shutting on all sides of
the Odeon Theatre. We have surely had sufficient
arguments to justify US in making some important
changes in this particular—such ghastly and
unanswerable arguments, we mean, as the death-
struggle at the Glasgow Theatre, and the rolling of the
dead, living, and wounded down the winding staircase,
to the gallery of the Victoria. If such terrible acci-
dents can arise from the confusion of a tussle to ob-
tain early admittance, what might not be expected,
what has not been recorded, as the result of the des-
perate sally of an audience through those narrow and
isolated passages on hearing the cry of "Fire ! "
As to the urgency of the demand for a diminution,
or rather for the dissipation of the miseries
and losses arising from the iniquitous stamp-
duties on fire insurances, we cannot do better
than refer to the opinions so forcibly pronounced
upon the subject by Mr. MACGREGOR. "The
stamp duty on , fire insurances," says that distin-
guished authority, " is annually about double the
amount charged for insuring property. This high
duty," he continues, " not only greatly prevents the
insuring of property, but property not insured is fre-
quently exposed to danger by the firemen with their
engines not exerting themselves to extinguish unin-
sured property, as they are directed by the compa-
nies who pay them to take care, in the first place, to
preserve the property insured. Therefore," he says
in conclusion, " the stamps on fire insurances,
now yielding (with those on marine insurances)
about a million and a quarter, should be abolished."
That this view of the Honourable Gentleman the

Member for Glasgow is very far from being the
effect of any exaggeration of the evils flowing from
the system is demonstrated by the recollection
of the fact that the amount of stamp duty on
Is. 6d. premium of insurance is not less than
the exorbitant sum of two hundred and fifty per cent.,
namely, 3s. 2kd.—more than justifying the assertion
of Mr. MACGREGOR, that "the stamp duty upon fire

insurances is, annually, about double the amount
charged for insuring property." Were this ini-
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quitous, because most unjust and onerous tax
removed—how many would be enabled to avail
themselves of the inestimable advantages of insurance,
would thereby preserve to themselves the value of
their property, even though that property were con-
sumed to ashes, and would thus be capacitated to con-

tinue earning for themselves an honest livelihood, in-
stead of sinking to the degradation of pauperism and
becoming additional burdens on their parish I
'We are earnestly solicitous that the two con-
siderations which we have here endeavoured to

enforce upon public attention may speedily
Produce an alteration in existing arrangements ;
and that while greater regard is evinced for the pre-
servation of the lives of the community some practical

exertions will be made to secure the better preserva-
tion of its property. We would in a particular man-
ner bring the one proposition under the observation
of the NetropolitAn Commissioners, And the ether