The Sun.
London, England, 1849-09-22 00:00:00

0/ I', ' ' 'mina Atix,

LONDON, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1849.

It is of the utmost importance to the health and
well-being of every inhabitant of the metropolis that
the system of sewerage and draining, to be for the
future adopted, should be as perfect as possible; and
no system of sewerage can be considered as perfect
which does not preserve the Thames from pollution.
We, therefore, trust that in the proposed system of
sewerage for Richmond care will be taken that
the Thames shall not be made the receptacle of the
filth and refuse of that town and its neighbourhood.
The Board of Health have warned the public, over
and over again, of the danger arising from open
drains, and, under the present system, the Thames is
made the vast open drain for the whole of the metro-
lis ; and it is worthy of remark, that the recent in-
crease of cholera, in the metropolitan parishes bor-
dering on the Thames, has been contemporaneous
with the flushing of' the sewers in the more
inland and elevated districts. We would,
therefore, earnestly impress upon the autho-
rities the necessity of devising some plan which
shall save for the future the Thames from pollution,
and restoring to us our fine river in its pristine
purity, make it that which GOD intended it should
be, the source of health to those inhabiting its banks,
and not what man has made it, the prolific parent of
deadly disease. But while we would have the
Thames preserved pure, in order that the air which
we breathe may be preserved pure also, we would
equally protest against the adoption of any other
method for the dispesal of the sewage which
should have the effect of rendering the air
impure. come persons have proposed that the
sewage in its fermenting and corrupting and
stinking state should be taken at once from the
sewers, without being subjected to any disinfect-
ing process, and spread over the fields as manure.
With the example of Edinburgh before us, we
cannot but fear that this plan, however bene-
ficial to the fields and gardens, would, so far
as the persons inhabiting the neighbourhood of
those fields and gardens are concerned, be neither
more nor less than sowing the seeds of disease broad-
cast. If the evaporation from the surface of a cess-
pool five feet in diameter is sufficient to infect with
cholera or fever all the inhabitants of the block of
houses in the neighbourhood of which such cesspool
is situated, what must be the effect produced by an
evaporation of cesspool fluid from a surface of several
hundred acres in extent ? But we need not theorise
on the subject, the experiment of " fetid irrigation"
has been largely tried in the neighbourhood of Edin-
burgh, and with the best effects, so far as an increase
in the agricultural production of the lands to which
it applied is concerned, but with anything but be-
neficial effects as regards the public health of the
neighbourhood. Dr. Amsorr, Mr. LISTON, and other
celebrated medical men, have published their opinions
as to the deleterious effects produced by the exhala-
tions from lands thus irrigated on the public health.
" The atmosphere," says Dr. ALISON, "over and
around the irrigated lands in the neighbourhood, when
loaded with noxious emanations, is known to produce,
even by very temporary action, immediate deviations
from health ;" and the late Mr. LISTON declared that he
had been long convinced that the irrigation of the low
grounds and meadows around Edinburgh was a
fruitful source of fevers and various kinds of typhus.
The Piers-hill Barracks are situated in the immediate
neighbourhood of these irrigated lands, and at the
time of the first appearance of cholera in this country,
Dr. BARLOW, then surgeon of the 31 Dragoon
Guards, stationed at Piers-hill Barracks, math
the following official report on the sub-
ject to Sir JAMES .111'6, a EGOR ; the report
is dated 6th December, 1831. In this report
Dr. BARLOW says, "At this period when so much
alarm exits on the subject of cholera, and when hi:
MAJESTY'S Government are enforcing so strongly all
the means calculated to prevent its appearance, or to
diminish its malignity, I feel it my duty as surgeon
of the regiment now occupying Piers Hill Barracks,
to call your attention to a public nuisance of a mos,
extensive kind, which exists in the immediate vieinit)
of the barracks. It is an accumulation of every species
of filth from the common sewers of Edinburgh, and
sprei:d out :rtiticially so as to cover a surface of
several hundred acres." " The situation of the bar-
racks,' continues Dr. BARLOW, " is healthy," and then,
as proof of the deleterious effects of the exhala-
tions from the fermenting sewage, he re-
lates the following fact :—" A messman o:
the 7th Dragoon Guards alleges that he has fount
from observation and experience that the butcher':
meat which he provides for the mess becomes very
soon tainted at Piers bill, much sooner than in any
other place with the same temperature. So convinced
is he that his inference is well founded, that he has
hired a room in Edinburgh where he preserves his
meat until it be ready for dressing." We think that
the result of the experiment in Edinburgh proves that
it would be by no means proper to spread sewage
refuse over a large surface in the neighbourhood of
populous districts without such sewage having
been previously disinfected. The public attention
having, by the ravages of the prevailing epi-
demic, been effectually roused to the im-
portance of the subject of drainage, it is the
duty of the authorities to take advantage of that
circumstance to secure for the inhabitants of the
metropolis as perfect a system of drainage as human
ingenuity can devise; the first object to be re-
garded in such a system is the preservation of the
public health, and therefore no system which pollutes
either the water we drink or the air we breathe can
be considered as perfect.

Among the many imposts levied upon the British
nation, there is perhaps none more unequal in opera-
tion, or more unprofitable to the Exchequer, consi-
dering the amount of property upon which it is
chargeable, than the land tax. If fairly and equit-
ably assessed, according to the intention of the Le-
gislature by which it was first granted, it would
now produce nearly 20,000,000/. sterling, sufficient
to defray the expenses of our naval, military, and
ordnance departments, and of the entire civil govern-
ment of the country. Owing to the gross mis-
imnagementthat has taken place, and the unwise
andimpolitic provision which enabled parties
y
chargeable therewith to redeem the liability for i
a
were trifle, the amount paid into the Exchequer
less than 1,200,000/. sterling, or about six per
cents
of what ought to be the real produce of the tax.
Nothing could be sounder in principle than the land.
tax on its original creation. It was in fact to all intents
and purposes a property-tax in its most unobjectionable
form, and there can be no doubt that it was intended
to be levied on personal as well as real property. It
was desired that every man should contribute to the
national Exchequer in proportion to his means. But
there was at that period but little personal property,
and that could be easily concealed (villa& away wan)

-Tll

and accordingly, for convenience sake, and to remove
the temptation to fraud, the assessment (like the poor-
rate) was by general consent made upon the more
tangible species of property that could not be removed
from the collector's sight.

The first statute expressly relating to the assess-
ment and collection of the land-tax, is the 4th William
and Mary, c. 1. That Act, like all others imposing
any burdens upon the people at that early period, was
passed but for a limited time. Its provisions were,
however, embodied in other measures passed every
year, until the year 1798. When the invention of the
Minister was exerted to the highest degree to discover
approved forms of taxation, so obvious an impost
could not be overlooked. The Act, 38 Geo. 111. c. 5,
was accordingly passed (soon afterwards rendered per-
petual by another Act), under which the impost has
ever since been collected. The Act directed that a
sum of 1,989,6731. should be raised in England and
%Vales, and 47,9541. in Scotland for land-tax, accord-
ing to the several proportions at which each county,
city, borough, town, or stewartry was then as-
sessed. The propositions wEre fully set forth in the
Act itself, and commissione.rs were appointed to
determine what part of the sum assessed upon each
county should be paid by the parishes or hundreds,
but in settling such quota the commissioners were to
be governed by the assessments made in pursuance
of the 4th Wm. and Mary, c. 1., upon which the as-
s essments made upon various counties and districts
specified in the Act were founded ; and the
tax was to be raised by an equal pound
rate not exceeding four shillings in the pound.
Another clause in that important statute directed
that personal estate should also contribute at the rate
of 4s. in the pound upon the annual value, or 20'.
for every 1001. of capital towards the sums to be
raised under the Act. This most just and equitable
enactment was repealed by a subsequent statute. It,
however, affords the strangest confirmation of the
. _

truth of our assertion, that the land-tax was in effect
nothing more nor less than a property-tax of 4s. in the
pound, or 20 per cent. on all accumulated and rea-
lised property of every description—a tax which
would, if fairly levied, produce sufficient to defray
the entire national expenditure, and to permit the
abolition of the Customs, Excise, Stamps, assessed
taxes, and the various other modes of taxation which
the ingenuity of various Chancellors of the Exchequer
has from time to time invented.
Mr.
Dis a
DISRAELI
Aylesbury
yle y t
recentlysbor do the
grosstedtheit
attentionnegoaly
of
themeeting of
the operation of this impost. lie inveighed against
farmers of Bucking-
hamshire
the impropriety
n o
less of
f than charging
d the
.in the pound, while the
merchants of Liverpool were required to contribute
less than one farthing in the pound. He clearly and
distinctly exhibited the injustice of overlooking the I
extraordinary alterations of value that have taken
place since 1692, the period at which the assessments
were originally fixed, when the annual value of the
property chargeable with the land tax was only
9,948,3651., although it is now nearly ten times that
amount, that is to say, for England and Wales
88,724,2531., and for Scotland 9,481,7421., in all
98,205,995/. The Honourable Gentleman, however,
limited his view to the part unfairly pressing on the
agricultural interest. He spoke of the heavy burdens
imposed on Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, and
Bedfordshire, in comparison with Liverpool, Man-
chester, and Brighton, which, in fact, have sprung
up and attained extraordinary prosperity within the
last century and a half. He might, however, have
cited instances no less inequitable in almost adjoining
parishes. He might have shown that in the metro-
polis itself the amount of land-tax levied on the
wealthy and aristocratic parish of St. Marylebone
does not amount to more than one-half of a farthing
in the pound, while St. Paul's, Covent-garden, pays
no less than ls. 10 cl., and Cripplegate Without
more than ls. Bd. in the pound. He might
have stated that St. Martin's, Carey-street, in
the city of York, pays 9id. in the pound, while its
more fortunate neighbour, St. Martin's cum-Gregory,
in the same city, does not pay quite Ad. ; although
the inhabitants of Shengay, in Cambridgeshire, con-
tribute no less than 2s. 9d. in the pound, and of
Winchihea, in Sussex, still higher, in consideration of
their quondam wealth and splendour.
These gross anomalies should undoubtedly be cor-
rected. There is no possible ground on which they
can be sustained or justified. The partial redemption
that has already taken place has been used as an
argument against any change ; but even if there were
any validity in this argument—a point on which we
shall not at present pronounce any opinion, but which
we may perhaps consider on a future occasion—
it could not apply to more than two-thirds
of the real property in the country, the
owners of vi hich neglected to avail themselves of the
opportunities placed within their reach. A new
valuation of the remainder, and an equal assessment
according to the original rate of 4s. in the pound,
would now produce about 14,000,0001. sterling
per annum, sufficient to provide for the
maintenance of the poor and all the local rates and
charges, in addition to the sum now returned to the
Exchequer, or even an equal rate of ls. 6d., as
mentioned by Mr. DISRAELI, would give 5,000,0001.,
a very valuable assistance to the Financial Minister,
and which could be profitably disposed of in a variety
of different methods.
We cannot conclude our observations on this
subject without directing attention to a pamphlet
from the pen of SAMUEL MILLER, Esq , Barrister-at-
Law,* in which will be found a great variety of
useful information on this important point, and in
which the justice and expediency of a speedy change
is very clearly demonstrated.

Elsewhere in our columns will be found a commu-
nication addressed to ourselves by a very afflicted
Gentleman, the father of the unfortunate Lieutenant
GRAHAM. Every one, we are satisfied, who has
become acquainted with the particulars relating to the
Childers and its recent Commander will peruse with
the deepest interest, and with the most genuine
emotion, the remarks contained in this interesting
document. In the course of a postscript, which we
abstain from publishing, our correspondent (whose
..ffliction, although the writer is an entire stranger to
our.elves, has excited our profoundest sympathy)
observes that his son, now incarcerated in Exeter
county gaol, is " treated as a felon, and fed as a felon,"
exclaiming, in a kind of incredulous indignation,
Do I live in England, or in Algeria ?" So long
as justice remains unsatisfied, in reference to
Mr. PITMAN and Lieutenant GRAHAM, we
shall not cease to comment upon the cruelty of
the whole proceeding towards the latter, and towards
Mr. ELLIOTT, his companion in misfortune. It will
afford us, moreover, unalloyed gratification to forward
the production of a memorial addressed to her Most
Gracious MAJESTY, who is ever the willing source
of consolation to the unfortunate. Such a memorial
from the People to the SOVEREIGN is, we maintain,
seriously called for at the present moment, not only
to mitigate the excessive punishment imposed
upon these two young officers, the victims of atrocious
tyranny and lamentable vindictiveness, but is essen-
tial, also, as the readiest means of bringing down
destruction on the existing system of naval and mili-
tary courts-martial.

HER MAJESTY'S DEPARTURE FROM SCOTLAND.—
The royal train is ordered to consist of seven carriages,
and her Majesty will either occupy the same carriage in
which she travelled from Glasgow to Perth, or the sa-
loon carriage belonging to the London and North-
Western, which then accompanied her, and now, we
believe, awaits her at Perth. An engine belonging to
the Edinburgh and Glasgow line will, as a matter of
course, be attached to the train at Greenhill, and an en-
gine of the North-British at the station here. 'rho dis-
tance from Perth to Edinburgh by this route is 75 miles,
which will likely be accomplished in little more than two
hours. No further communication has as yet been re-
ceived here from Balmoral as to her Majesty's passing
through Edinburgh, and no steps have been taken by
any public bodies to demonstratt- their loyalty, by their
presence on the plaff,rm or otherwise, till her Majesty's
wishes be ascertained.—Caledonian Mercury.
COLOSSEUM AND CYCLORAMA.—At this season per-
haps no exhibition in London affords such a varied treat
as this magnificent establishment. The Cyclorama of
Lisbon, and the Earthquake, is the most extraordinary
exhibition of a scenic nature ever attempted—it is
unique. The Panorama of Paris by Night, the Grand
Saloon of Sculpture,,the Swi-s Cottagr, and real Moun-
tain Torn nt, &c., form such a set ies of attractions,
that the visitor cannot but be delighted Kith all he sees.
The music is now of that superior class, as to afford a
great additional source of amusement.

• " Suggestions for aEquelizition General of the Land
Tax and the Abolition of the Income and Real Property
Taxes, and the Malt Duty." By Samuel Miller, Eq.,
Barrister •at. Law. London! B. Sweet, Chaucery•lane,
1848, Pp. 34.