The Sun.
London, England, 1836-07-19 00:00:00

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LONDON,
TUESDAY EVENING, JULY 19, 1836.

That part of the Stamp Duties Bill which relates
to Newspapers, and which the CHANCELLOR of the
EXCHEQUER embodied in a separate Bill,
passed the Committee of the House of Com-
moons last night. No clay was fixed for the
third reacting, but we understand that the neces-
sary steps will be taken to allow the measure to
come into full operation on the Ist of Sep-
tember. Several important amendments were adopted,
with the whole of which we are very well satisfied.
The first of these respects printers, who, by enter-
ing their names at the Stamp-office, will not
be subject to a summary conviction, before they
have been served with a notice apprising them of
the illegality of the publications for which they are
to be held responsible. This is a great and most
important concession. Printers will thus be enabled
to protect themselves in eases where they might be
made the dupes of unprincipled speculators. If, how-
ever, a printer decline to register his name, he must
abide the consequences of liability without any pre-
vious notice. The next amendment allows a draw-
back of 25 per cent. on the Penny Stamp in favour of
Irish journals---thus reducing the duty in Ireland to
three farthings. To this boon granted to the pro-
prietors of Irish journals we have no decided objec-
tion to offer, although we cannot help thinking that a
general assimilation of Stamp Duty throughout the
three kingdoms would be preferable. We know that
the Irish Press feels strongly' upon this subject, and
that we shall expose ourselves to much severe animadver-
sion by insisting that it ought to be placed upon an
equal footing, as regards taxation, with the Press of
England and Scotland. But for this we are prepared,
nor shall a dread of it hinder us from giving expres-
sion to our real opinions. If an equalization of
the duty would swamp the Press of Ireland,
we can only express our conviction that it
ought to be swamped. Let us, _ however, not
he misunderstood upon this point. W e are decidedly,
of opinion that any increase in the circulation of Eng-
lish Newspapers in Ireland would materially benefit
the Irish Press ; for it would stimulate the proprietors
to double the exertions which they now make—it would
tend to-abolish the sectarian spirit which pervades the
columns of every Newspaper printed in Ireland—and it
would create a class of readers who, in a very short
time, would be the very best supporters of the national
Press. Take the Press of Ireland from north to south,
and where is the single paper which is not the organ,
not of a political party, but of a religious sect ? The
sectarian aspect is the favourite one with all, and thus
moderate men—men of minds too enlarged to care for
the squabbling of ecclesiastics, and the ribaldry of
sectarian hate—are without a dispassionate organ of
public opinion. In stating this fact, we wish it to be
borne in mind, that we have the greatest respect for
the literary ability with which the Irish Press is con-
ducted. We most willingly concede all the learning,
all the powers of discrimination, all the correct reason-
ing faculties which the writers may claim for them-
selves ; but we shall still be prepared to shew that
these powers are misapplied when employed in fostering
sectarian feuds, and in unravelling knotty points in
theology. In England the Press must accommodate
itself to the prevailing tone of public feeling ; but in
Ireland, where no such thing as public opinion exists,
independent of a sectarian connection, it is the duty