The Sun.
London, England, 1841-06-14 00:00:00

EVENING E

ITION.

TDE CORN-LAWS MAY BE_
CHANGED FOR THE WORSE
When we noticed, a few numbers back, a pamphlet on
the policy and probable consequences of the proposed
repeal of the existing Corn-laws, we justified our dissent
from some of the opinions expressed in it by reference
to the authority of Mr. M'Culloch. The third edition.
of the pamphlet, now before us, bearing the name of
Mr. M•Culloch on
.its title-page, informs us that in
doing so we have been arraying his own authority against
himself. A similar accident once happened to an emi-
nent legal authority in Scotland, at the bar of the Cour
of Session. Perhaps Mr. M'Culloch may reply as the
advocate did when his own treatise on the Bankrupt-laws
was quoted against him—" I have not read that part of
the work lately."
We advert to Mr. M'Culloch's present line of argu-
meat for the purpose of noting two points. First, he
shoes by a tabular statement., that, under " the scale pro-
posed by Lord John Russell, the duties would be higher
than they have proved to be under the present law"; and
that, under the duties proposed, "it is clear that such
wheat canna be sold iu England under 565. a quarter,
which is only Ilid. less than the average price of English
wheat during the ten years ending v%ith 1840." Does
Mr. M'Culloch make this statement with a view to create
a national enthusiasm in favour of the Government
scheme ? Does he expect ".the stones of Rome to rise
and mutiny" in favour of an increased duty uponim-
ported grain, and a saving of 11 id in every quarter of
wheat—a quarter of wheat being the quantity which, by
the calculations of economists, a healthy adult male con-
sumes in the course of a year ?
The second point in Mr. M'Culloch's pamphlet to
which we direct attention, is his entoosimoosy in favour of
a "drawback," as he terms it, of ss. per quarter on the
exportation of home-grown grain. It is rather a violent
stretch of figurative language to speak of a " drawback"
on the exportation of a commodity upon which nochity
has been paid : a bounty would be the more intelligible
denomination • but let that pass. "We regret," says
Mr. M'Culloch, "that Lord John Russell gave no inti•
mation of the intentions of Goverment as to the grunt*
ing of a drawback on the exportation of corn." Thu
granting of this drawback or bounty is thus vindicated
—" The proposed duty on foreign corn is to be imposed,
partly because the laud has to sustain peculiar burdens
not laid on other departments of industry, and
partly to prevent any sudden or injurious shock being
given to agriculture by excessive importations of foreign
corn. But in so far as the duty is to be regarded as an
indemnification to the agriculturists for peculiar burdens
affecting them, its imposition is not a matter of grace or
favour, but of justice ; and, being so, the agriculturists
are entitled to demand, and if they correctly aPpr,-ciate
their own interests will not fail to insist umii receiving,
an equal drawback." The " peculiar burdens not laid
upon other departments.of industry," which Mr. M'Cul-
loch represents as sustained by the land, are pure matter
of assumption : he offers no explanation of their nature
or proof of their existence. Looking to the heavy Probate
and Legacy duty, contrasted with the absence of any cor-
responding tax. upon inherited property in land, and to the
exemptions in favour of vehicles laden with agricultural
produce inscribed on every toll-board, men are apt to be
sceptical when it is alleged that the landowners are snore
heavily taxed than other classes of tee community. But,
admitting for the sake of argument that the landed in-
terest may be more heavily taxed than other classes, it
might have been expected that an economist of Mr.
M'Culloch's eminence would have advocated doing
justice to the land by relieving it from this. excess
of taxation, instead of bolstering •up 'the unwise and
extravagant system of drawbacks—being at the ex-
pense and trouble of collecting taxes merely to pay
them back again. Sure'y he cannot have considered
maturely the effect that must be produced in years of
abundance by his drawback. The effect .of a plentiful
harvest will be.a large addition to our annual expendi-
ture, for the purpose of enabling the landed interest to
export corn lest corn should become cheap. Will this
be, to vulgar eyes, a seemly item in the year's account
Does Mr. M'Culloch expect that people will submit to
pay a million or two of additional taxes, and to pay a
higher price for their bread in consequence of having
paid these taxes ? Mr. M'Culloch is anxious to inti-
mate that "he is alone responsible for the
contents " of his pamphlet,—in other words,
that he writes without consulting anybody,
and must not be understood to express
the wishes or intentions of Government or any section of
its partisans. We have no doubt of this ; but men are
quick in comprehending what seems to be for their ca-n
interest, and it will be necessary for constituencies at
the coming election to insist upon explicit statenietits
from Anti-Corn-law candidates, as to what kind oficaodi-
fication of the system they really contemplg".e. We
shall be finely helped if the change effecteciAiould turn
out to be—an increased rate of duty on iniported corn,
and a bounty on the exportation of home =grown corn !
Spectator.

NAVAL INTEL).4I,GENCE.
(From the Hampsl'.ire Telegraph.)
PORTSMOUTH, JUNE 12,--The Electra sloop of war,
Commander Mainwarin,.., arrived this morning from the
western coast of Mexi•zo, and Rio Janeiro, with about
one million of dollar, on board. She left Valparaiso on
the 4th of March, 'and Rio Janeiro on tre-18th of April.
The Orestes, sloop of war, was collecting specie on the
coast, and it Ims understood would be the next ship sent
to England.

TluTEd'aburgh, 72, is ordered from Plymouth to Spit-
head, tri refit ; she wants men, having discharged such
ofhc't men as had served four years.
The Dublin, Captain Tucker, is taken out of dock,
and has been masted ; nearly, all her crew have entered
for her from the Bellerophon, who of course are gone on
three weeks' leave.

The Bittern, 16, is nearly manned. She wants only a
few petty officers, and will shortly be ready for sea.
The lair Rosamond, schooner, for the coast of Africa,
will go out of harbour on Monday. She was mustered
and inspected this morning by the Flag Captain.
The Scout, 18, at Sheerness, and Champion, 18. at
Plymouth, are commissioned.
Report sends Rehr-Admiral Fred. Warren to the Ad-
miralty as one of the Junior Lords, and Rear-Admiral
the lion. George Elliot to Plymouth, as Superintendent
of the Dockyard there.
Ir llarbour.—Queen,Victory, Excellent, Dublin, Royal
George, Bittern, Fair Rosamond, Raven, Echo, Alban,
steamers, and Adventure, naval transport.
At Spithead.—Monarch, Indus, and Electra, 'Vernon,
Mariner, timber ship, Owen Glondywer, 'East Indianan.

PROMOTIONS AND A PPOINT3IENTS.

PROMOTlON.9.—Lieutenant B. J. Sulivan to the rank
of Commander.

Mates.—John Borlase (1832) of the Excellent, W. F.
Robinson (1831), R. IL Western (1834), and E. M.
Lyons (1838), to the rank of Lieutenant.
APPOINTMENTS.—Commanders—J. P. D. Larcow, to
the Scout ; W. Lewis, to the Stromboli ; and Richard
Byron, to the Champion.
Lieutenants—Zacebous Andrews to the Vernon, ♦ice
Sinclair ; E. Bonen, to the Cornwallis ; Charles J. Wal-
ton, to Ole Princess Charlotte.

Purser—Mr. Tho►nas Woodn ard, 'from Wasp to
Daphne.

Assistant Surgeon—F. M. Rayner to the Qucen ;
B. Fegen, to the Vernon ; \V. J. Gruggen, to liaslar
Hospital.

-Alates—C. J. Austen, to Excellent ; H. F. N. Rolfe,
to Excellent ; H. J. Giles, to Caledonia ; R. Hall, to
Dublin.

Midshipmen—Messrs. E. H. H. D'Aeth, to Queen.
Masters' Assistants—Mr. G. S. Hodges, to Victory ;
G. Goman to Vernon.

Second Masters—J. M. Willis to Fair Rosamond ;J.
Whiting to Calcutta.

Volunteers of First Class—Messrs. S. Woldridge, to
Dublin ; 11. B. B. Bennett, to Dublin.
Clerk's Assistant—Joseph Martin, to Dublin.
Chaplains—Rev. P. Somerville, to Edinburgh •; Rev.
R. Wilson, to Dublin.

ames Seymour, to Bittern. -
,Grititenufeertag gentlemen have been appointed to the
E x c e 11 e n t,
JTaas.dl,,s.ottend,oe
Cooke,
Cadets
Charles
roll
ire
s. t(ll,:tieo,t,ltlll
lebt,yhatutilird, Marines
. Il lv..
I .G" ..
.11. i; o°o
d. lora,llyl3,nll.(;.S3Ars.
evos'filltit.egeref,Toilolao7:itiget t , Midshipmen ill salaiiepdsm eB,,intohhii:lititss
Austen,
‘aenidi
st
tt:elne:mljtinasi..A,l Nara!i_ocoe(re,n,
Edward Hill, Fred. joint Ifornbv, Fred. Agsr Boyce,
Gerard Kingsley, Thomas Cuppsge Bruce, George Dar-
bin, Arthur Doyle, and John Francis Ross.
The following candidates passed for Commissions in
the Royal Marine Corps at the Naval College, on the Sth
instant:—Yessrs. E. 'l'. T. Jones, J. H. Jollitfe, J. W.
A. Kennedy, Robert Bo le, Simon R. Little, T. A. 31-
De Feber Pennington, JZthn Elliott, and S. L. Wilson.
I'LYnou':ll,- JUNE 11.—The Savage, 10, Limn. J. IL
Bowker, was undocked on Friday ; it is reported
that she will be paid off, and to be re-commis-
sioned.—The Nightingale, 6, Lieut. W. Southey,
arrived from Leith on Saturday ; she is ordered to
Bristol, to enter men for the navy.—The Jascur, 16,
Corn. F. M. Boultbee, was undocked on Saturday, and
7uvne;ocieinkt:
the(m
will shortly be ready for sea.—The Spitfire, steamer,
aln.ideuts.alil'eridngflot
ramt,haerrniscesdt
Ifnr7iiileis,Poornt.s!liv,i,dnohesdlion
yB.u_enodiaii:l,o"
Alert, packet, Lieutenant E. Jl:e)alerdinis7pusa.as,:tiso.
Tuesday, and will proceed to Falmouth on SaturdaT, to
take the next mail to the West Indies.=The Wolf, 18,
Ihvaasilbise,e7n2,tackaeli)staiitilitoplleteecrl:
Sound, on Thursday, by the Avon . and . Carron
IsLegeamscors.n—The Acorn, 16,1(i)eCom. J. Adams, was paid
Thursday, and will sail for the Coast of Africa
in a day or two.

THE REDhis bird has ftequently
been noted for the singular situations it selects for build-
inr, its nest. Amongst the many instances which have
been recorded, none probably have been more curiously
"2-'--BREASI.:--T
placed than one which now may be seen Within a few
miles of Leeds. In a cleft in an upright post or spindle,
which supports a large wheel or drum, round which the
ascending and descending ropes are wound for a coal-pit,
a redbreast has built its nest : there are now four eggs
in it ; and though'the pit is in full work, and the horse
which turns the upright post with the drum above, each
time the motion is reversed passes with its head within
few inches of the bird—still it sits upon its nest, un-
mindful of the horse, or the more dangerous urchin itt.,
driver ; and for hours together is turned round and kack
again with all imaginable composure.—Leeds
We learn that Earl Granville, the prthnt British
Ambassador at the Court of the Icitr-;• of the French,
has solicited permission. to relinquish his high and im-
portant diplomatic functions in the French capital, by
reason of the delicate state of the Noble Earl's health.
No change, however,- is at present contemplated ; hut
in September the Noble Earl is expected in this country
on a visit to his Noble relative, the Duke of Devonshim
A STANZA FOR THE TottrEs.---(From
Blackwood's Magazine.)

O Tories, dear Tories, who still are as true—
a trimmer, a rat is in view ;
In spite of defeat—and as trusty
its steel,
An apostate,
So after him boys, and svit upon Peel