The Sun.
London, England, 1840-11-19 00:00:00

SPAIN.

the 2.5 th October last, together with the manifesto atr-1
nexed to it relative to the right of your Highness, du-
ring the absence of her Majesty the Queen-mother, to
exercise the guardianship of our Queen Donna Isabel
IL, and the Most Serene Infanta Donna Maria Louisa.
As this is an affair of the highest importance, and one
that involves questions of serious and difficult solution,
the Regency, desirous of acting for the best, has deemed
it advisable to take the opinion of the Supreme Tri-
bunal of Justice, and will, in due time, have the honour
of informing your Highness of their decision, praying
the Lord, in the mean time, to preserve your High-
ness's life for many years.
" Madrid, Nov. 3, 1840.
1" The Mnst Serene Infante Don Francisco Antonio."

At a meeting of the principal capitalists of Madrid,
held this day at the Bank of St. Ferdinand, the sum of
ten millions of reals (about 100,0001.) was subscribed
on loan to the Government, and against drafts upon the
Havannah at from 1 to 24 months' sight, with a bonus
of 18 per cent., besides which interest, at the rate of 6
per cent. per annum, will be paid in the Havannah upon
all bills of longer date than three months. The Minis-
ter of Finance expects to raise thirty-one millions of
reals here, and ten millions between Cadiz, Seville, Ma-
laga, and Barcelona, which sum, with the bonus, makes
the fifty millions nominal capital, for which he intends
giving Government drafts.

ORDINANCE OF THE SPANISH MINISTER
OF FINANCE.

The Spanish Minister of Finance has published the
following rules for regulating the working of his im-
important decree relative to the assignations of the
Havannah. The following is the ordinance issued :

declaration of the
MADRID, Nov. 10.—Thefollowing
Infante Don Francisco Antonio, and the reply of the
Provisional Regency of the kingdom, hove been in.
serted in the Gazelle of this day
As QUCCII Maria Christina of Bourbon is ali-
from Spain, and as the charges of Regent and GU:rt.
dian cannot be held together by the Council of
ters, the guardianship of my August Nieces, Queen
Isabel IL. and the Infanta Donna Maria Louisa, de_
volyes upon me, in virtue of the laws actually in force,
until the decision of the Cortes.
" The interest of the nation. and my affectionfor the
daughters of my brother and King make me desirous of
assuming that. charge forthwith.
" I, therefore, address this declaration to the Provi-
sional Regeacy, confident of the loyalty. honour, and
patriotism of its nembers ; and I expect that their sup-
port and co-operation will afford me the means of dis-
charging that high and delicate trust. (Signed)
FRANCISCO ANTONIO, Infante of Spain.
To the Regency of the Kingdom
Paris, Oct. 25, 1840." *

ANSWER OF TIE REGENCY.
" The Provisimal Regency of the kingdom has re-
ceived the declamtioo of your Highness, datcd Paris,

TURKEY.

They consist of a series of religious essays, which
though in point of doctrine perfectly orthodox,
contain nothing that is striking either in thought or
sentiment, but are in fact a mere tissue of common-
places.

CONSTANTINOPLE, OCT 28.—8 y tater, arrived late
last night from Malatia, official intelligence was received
by the Porte from the Pacha of that district of the re-
mains of the Egyptian army, left by Ibrahim in the
neighbourhood of Marash and Orfa, having entirely
abandoned those provinces, and retired through the passes
of the Taurus into Syria, evacuating, at the same time,
both Adana and Tarsus. It does not appear from the
tenour of the despatch that this retreat was occasioned by
any demonstration of a forward movement on the part
of the Pacha of Malatia, but in consequence of orders
to that effect from Ibrahim himself. A fleet of trans-
ports, with strong reinforcements for the Turkish army,
and supplies of ammunition and stores of every kind,
has been for some time ready for sea, but has been unable
to leave in consequence of the prevalence of bad
weather and contrary winds. Anticipating, however,
the above-mentioned retreat of the Egyptian army,
several regiments have been sent forward to strengthen
the force of the Pacha of Malatia, who will now, of
course, advance to occupy the plains of the Taurus.
In consequence of fresh instructions received from
his Government by the last steamer, the French Am-
bassador had an interview with the Sultan a few days
since, and negotiations arc now being entered into,
by which the Porte consents, as I anticipated would
be the case, that the operations of the Allies shall be
confined to Syria ; and after the whole of this shall be
abandoned by the Egyptians, and provided that Me-
hemet Ali will then deliver up the Turkish fleet, and
place his own at the disposition of the Sultan, he shall
still he left in possession of Egypt, and that it shall be
granted to him under certain conditions as hereditary
in his family.
The frigate with the Egyptian prisoners, which sailed
from Beyrout the day previous to the departure thence of
the Taira Bahri steamer, only arrived here on Monday
evening. The number she had on board is I,oo3—five
having (lied during the voyage. The brig of war which was
sent to guard her, and the two other vessels which accom-
panied her, likewise loaded with prisoners, have not made
their appearance : they had been separated, it appears,
by the heavy weather, but they are now looked for
every hour. Since the date of my last communication
five vessels have arrived from Alexandria, bringing the
whole of the officers of the Turkish fleet. Their num-
ber altogether amounts to 520. The sailors, it is stated,
Mehemet Ali has placed on board his own vessels, mix-
ing them up with the Egyptians ; but he has sent back
the officers fearing, which, of course, would have been
the case, that in the event of an attack being made on
his capital they might have been the means of inducing
his own crews to declare for the Sultan.

Thursday last being the anniversary of the promulga.
tion of the Hatti Scheriff of Gul Khane, a grand festival
took place at Constantinople, and the first stone of a
magnificent column in commemoration of this event, to
be erected on the spot where it was first read, was laid
by the Sultan in person, surrounded by all his Ministers.
The whole of the Hatti Scheriff is to be engraved on
the column in letters of gold, and is to be entitled the
column of Liberty. The city was brilliantly illumi-
nated in the evening.

THE STUDENT.
Sherwood and Co.

This new periodical (French and English) pos-
sesses several novel features. Besides original
essays, translations, Sec.; it contains a Self-Instruct-
ing French Grammar, admirably calculated to faci-
litate the pupil's progress in that useful language.
It appears to be very well received. as the last
Number states that the proprietor, on account of
its success, intends enlarging it one-third its pre-
sent size without an additional charge.

IMPORT I)UTIES.-INJURY OF

PROTECTIVE DUTIES.

THIRD ARTICLE.

We confined our former notice of the evidence
collected by the Import Duties Committee to the
inutility of those duties,—we shall now proceed to
prove their immense and positive evils. We will
begin quoting the substance of what is said
about b
coffee,y because that is the first important
article, proceeding according to the alphabet.
REDUCTION OF DUTY.--.COFFEE.--The good
effects of a reduction of duty, and, pro tanto, the
mischievous effects of a high duty, are thus well
illustrated by Mr. Porter :

In 1801 the rate of duty on coffee being Is. Cd. per
lb., the consumption per head was 1 oz. and 9-100th
parts of an ounce per head, the amouut contributed to
the revenue being lid. per head. In 1811, the duty
on coffee having been reduced to 7d. per lb., the con- '
sumption amounted to 8 oz. 12-100th parts of an ounce
per head ; the sum contributed by each individual to
the revenue in respect of coffee was 4d. In 1821 the
duty had been raised to Is. per lb., and the consumption
per head was somewhat less than it had been in 1811 ;
it was, in 1821, 8 oz. per head, and the sum contributed
to the revenue by each individual was 6d. In 1831,
the duty bad been lowered to 6d. per lb., and the con-
sumption per head was increased to 21 oz. 13-100ths
of an ounce, the amount of duty being Bd. In 1838,
the rate of duty remaining the same, 6d. per lb., the
consumption of each individual was 22 oz. and 6-lOths,
and the rate of duty per head Bd. and 1-601 of a penny,
showing that the reduction of duty on coffee has tended
in a most material degree to increase the consumption.

It is scarcely necessary to add, that Mr. Porter
states no new facts of importance ; they were all
known before ; and therefore his statement is unex-
ceptionable. He has indeed strengthened our con-
viction of the impolicy of high duties by his excel-
lent illustrations. Besides the duty, how-
evei, levied on coffee for the use of the Govern-
ment, there is a differential or discriminating,
duty which was, up to the close of last Ses-
sion, %%hen a slight alteration was made in it, Is.
per lb. on coffee imported from other places than
British possessions within the limits of the East
India Company's Charter, and Is. 3d. for foreign
coffee. Thus coffee, the produce of our colonies or
territories is protected in the market by an additional
duty of 6d. per lb. on coffee brought from other coun-
tries beyond the Cape of Good Hope, and by an ad-
ditional duty of 9d. per lb. on coffee imported from
foreign countries of this side the Cape. Now we
have to beg the attention of our readers to the ef-
fects of this additional duty, which is not levied for
the State, but to serve the interests of those who
cultivate coffee in territories belonging to the East
India Company, and on land belonging to the
planters of Jamaica, Demerara, and the rest of the
British colonies.

We must, however, impress it on the reader as a
general principle, never to be lost sight of in these
discussions,
that no part of these discriminating and
protective duties go to the labouring classes of the
favoured territories. The semi slaves of the pro-
vince of Bengal, or the island of Ceylon, will not
get a grain of rice a-piece more as wages in conse-
quence of the discriminating duty imposed in favour
of their productions. Up to a recent period, the
labourers in our West India colonies were all slaves,
and their comfort was not increased by the wealth
those duties poured into the laps of their masters.
Even now it may be stated that the free labourers will
not receive any increase of wages from these duties.
Wages are determined by a competition for employ-
ment, and as, in general, the labourers bid for work,
it is their competition against one another, rather than
the wealth of their masters, which determines their
wages. Now this is a most important element in
considering all protective duties, because it shows
that the whole benefits of them go into the pockets
of an amazingly small class of persons, such as
landowners and capitalists, while the real question
at issue is, to borrow the language of Mr. J. D.

Hume, " do we propose to serve the nation, or to nerve
particular individuals 7" The nation is not comprised
in the few individuals who alone are enriched by
those duties, which rather consists of the many la-
bourers than of the few idlers who live by their
labour acrd make the laws.
LIMITATION OF CONSUMPTION.-- As the
discriminating duties on coffee confer no benefit on
the masses of the population in India and in the
West India islands, so they inflict, for the sake of
the very few individuals we have alluded to, a serious
injury on the bulk of the people. Mr. Pewter
shows that the discriminating duty limits con-
sumption:—
The consumption of coffee in this country has of
late years
.been completely starved by the differential
duty.
Mr. Villiers asked, have you ever made any cal-
culation of the extent to which the consumption of
coffee would be further increased, if the duties were
equalised ?—Mr. Porter replied, It is impossible to
make any exact calculation upon the subject ; but, rea-
soning entirely from former facts, there is every reason
to be certain that the consumption of coffee would be
very materially increased by a reduction in the differ-
ential duty. The consumption has been increased by
the reduction of the duty on British plantation coffee,
from 750,0001b5. to 25,000,0001b5. It has been nearly
stationary for several years past, because the consump-
tion of the country has overtaken the supply of coffee
which is admissible at the low rate of duty. There is
no reason to doubt, that if a larger supply were pro-
curable at the low rate of duty, the progress of con-
sumption would likewise go on. To the extent to which
the differential duty tends to limit consumption, and to
increase the price, it operates as a tar. upon the com-
munity. It also limits the amount of revenue collected
upon the article. The way in which it shows itself is
in the enhanced price of the coffee admissible a: the
low rate of duty, which, of course, tends to limit the
consumption, and thereby to limit the revenue also.
The differential duty is a tax upon the community in
England, for the producer (landowner, not labourer) in
the colonies.
AMOUNT OF TAX.—If we must be taxed for
those virtuous patriots, the owners of the soil of
England
.and their co-receivers of rent—the tithe-
owners—does there exist any good reason why the
White people, including those favoured classes,
should be taxed to enrich the rent-receivers of De-
merara, including Church-building Gladstone—the
new Loyola—and Ceylon. By the following ex-
tract from the evidence of Mr. Shiel, a Liverpool
merchant engaged in the trade of St. Domingo,
fractiontli a,,ce oft
et.icn publicogidLuu ndyme
roansy d sc. eopef
re
ert
eol
b.
I plunders what extent
tetn
M the descrimi-
n_
rr
ea Ceylon
. series
asked, what is the general value of
Hayti coffee imported into this country ?—I should say
the average value would be 435., or 445. per cwt—a
sof years Hayti could supply this market
with coffee at 435. or 445. ?—For about fiftceen years
tiHaytieceofflai
eta
es
whichwas averaged
admitted i
ta sold 3 o about
on
n at
thethat6d
. Continent.price.
duty,
h ant
has been tbe pr
Bef
1835, it was then' like St. Domingo, imported and sold
for export, and I find that up to that period they bore
the same value ; St. Domingo coffee was a little higher
than Ceylon. I
take this market as being a better cri•
tcrion than any other ; because coffee is brought here for
all other markets, and therefore it is the measure for
the value of other markets. I find Ceylon and St.
Domingo coffees, up to 183.5, running nearly parallel in
price ; but in 1835 there was a change made in the
duties, and then Ceylon coffee became an article of
consumption in this country ; then I find that the con-
sumption increased, and it rose rapidly in price. In
1834 the price of Ceylon coffee was from 48s. to 51s.
in the London market ; the price of St. Domingo 51s.
to 535. ; that was the year before the change ; now
the year after the change, in 1836, the price of Ceylon
coffee was 738. to 76s and the price of St. Domingo
coffee 545• to 555. ; in this present month of July,
Ceylon coffee is worth from 808. to 85s. Ido not give its
extreme quotation ; some has been sold as high as 103 s. ;
samev.rt 18u3p4t to
the 1834
one
I give the general run of the market ; St. Domingo cot-
fee is worth 445. to 455. The quality of the two coffees
is so nearly
value, alikeand ti
to 503., and the other from 51s. to .538.
Chairman—Could vou state how much the British
t h eriyals v
we roe r
taht
f arb oom u tthe
48s.
consumer pays more for his coffee under the existing
system than he would pay if the St. Domingo coffee
was introduced, looking to the prime cost of the article ?
—I should say that he pays just as much more as the
difference between Sr. Domingo and Ceylon coffee.
50s. is not the price of St. Domingo coffee for export ;
it is the price, with the advantage of bringing it at the

THE sUN, LONDON, Tiltutsfixi, NOTEMI3ER 19. 1840.

duty,, which allows something for the extra charges,l
but not much: Here.are two samples of coffee (pro-
clueing the same) which 10. vvonkl show to any dealer
almost in London, and I woulii v&ljAi thet tre would
not be able to say which is the better quality!,
he would not be able to tell me which was which ; tlid
one sells dt liCis., It. Domingo, and the other at 928.,
Jamaica coffee, but this TVs. Is tb's privileged coffee ; it
is not the St. Domingo coffee ; on the Continent with-
out the privilege it would be worth 445.
Without the additional expense of going round the
Cape of Good Hope it could be sold at 445. ?—Yes,
I should be very glad to sell it at that:
So that the St. Domingo coffee totild be imported
into this country and sold at this time, at dee,,half less
than we are paying for Jamaica coffee ?—Yes.
Mr. M‘Gregor, and a witness called Mr. A. fl.,
both agree in stating that coffee is purchased on
the continent of Europe at from.Bo to 100 per
cent. than in England. But taking Mr.
Shiers estimate, and taking the annual consump-
tion of coffee at 5,000,0001b5., the tax levied on
the people by the discriminating duties on coffee is
not less than 570,000/, a year. What a bonus to
the landowneers of Ceylon and Jamaica I
ADULTERATION.—Of course this heavy duty
gives rise to much adulteration. Mr. A. B. states
that chicory and corn are mixed with the coffee,
and that there are establishments in London where
chicory and British grain are roasted and ground,
and where they arc afterwards sold to the grocers.
Mr. Hume deposes to similar facts, and says
that out of sixteen ounces of burnt coffee three or
four ounces consist of chicory or burnt corn. But
the persons who chiefly buy their corn ground are
the poorer classes ; and on them, therefore, fads
most of the mischief, and most of the cheatry of
,his adulteration.

EVASION OF THE DUTlES.—Besides the adul-

teration, all the crimes growing out of which are
to be wholly ascribed to the law, the parent of
many crimes, the spirit and intention of the law are
evaded. On this point we shall quote the evidence
of Mr. M‘Gregor, and one passage from that of
Mr. Sheil

The effect of the high differential duty on coffee has
been the legal evasion of the law, in principle, es to the
way of bringing coffee to this country. 57 out of
every 10Olbs. which were imported to England by way
of the Cape of Good Hope was carried, in the first in-
stance to that colony from Brazil ; eight from Cuba ;
twelve, I think, were sent, from England of foreign
coffee to the Cape, to be re-imported to England ; six,
I think, from Java, and six or eight sent from Holland
to the Cape of Good Hope, and the remainder from
other countries.

Mr. Thornely—From your evidence it appears
that cargoes of coffee have been sent from the United
Kingdom, and from ports on the continent of Europe,
to be landed on the Cape of Good Hope, and to be
brought back to the United Kingdom for the purpose
of supplying the necessary consumption here ?—Yes,
from the 26th of April, 1838. to the 24th of March,
1840, it appears by the returns that eighty-one cargoes,
importing more than 21,000,0001b5. of foreign coffee
had arrived in the United Kingdom from the Cape of
Good Hope ; the duty being on that mode of carrying
coffee 9d. a pound, that is 6d. less than if imported
direct from foreign countries ; the duty, if imported
from the country of the growth of the principal part of
the coffee would amount to 1,750,000/. ; the duty
saved by the indirect importation would be 750,0001.
supposing all to be entered for consumption.
Chairman—Then it is to be understood that mer-
chants, in order to evade the discriminating duty, have
been at the expense of sending coffee from those differ-
ent ports, and even from England, in order to obtain
admission at the reduced rate ?—Yes ; and also upon
other articles which pay differential duties, such as
spices and nutmegs.
Mr. Sheil was asked by
Mr. Ewart—Do you mean that foreign coffee goes
to India and the Cape of Good Hope, and afterwards
find its way here ?—Yes ; the prices in 1838 rose to
such an extent that they left a sufficient margin to en-
able foreigners to send coffee to possessions in the East
Indies, and afterwards bring it here and pay the 9d.
duty.
Chairman—But ought there not to be a certificate
of origin accompanying all coffees purporting to be from
British possessions within the limits of the East India
Company ?—lf they are accompanied with a certificate
of origin, they are admissible at 6d., but the circum-
stance of their being carried in this way admits them
I at 9d.

From any place, without a certificate ?—Yes, all the
vessel has to do is to go there, land her cargo, and ship
it again.
Have you known any coffee sent from St. Domingo
to the Cape and landed there, and afterwards brought
to England ?—Yes. several cargoes.
By this discriminating duty the revenue suffers
to the extent of at least 250,000/. a-year, as well as
the people ; and if any person can point out a single
advantage, besides the mere enrichment of those
who arc already rich, to set against the evils of
fraud, plunder, adulteration, and evasion, he must
read the history of the coffee duties very differently
from the manner in which it has presented itself to
us. We shall conclude by reminding the religious
and anti-slavery part of our people, that the coffee
from St. Domingo, which we exclude, is the pro-
duce of free labour, while much of the coffee for-
merly imported, and some of which is still imported,
is the produce of slave labour. On the one hand
we give 20,000,0001. to put an end to slavery, and
on the other, we give a yearly sum to encourage it.
People and Government are alike inconsistent.
CORN is the next article to which we must refer ;
but looking to the extent to which the Corn-laws
have been discussed in our pages, we shall now
content ourselves with quoting a portion of the
evidence of Mr. J. D. Hume, a gentleman whose
testimony, from his disinterestedness and great
acquaintance with the subject, is of peculiar value.
We have the more pleasure in quoting it, inasmuch
as it agrees with the opinions propounded in The
Sun which some persons have designated as extreme.
HIGH TAXES NO REASON FOR A BREAD TAX.

You have often heard it stated that the people of
England being higher taxed than they arc in any other
country, would be unable, as regards the price of food,
to compete with other countries if the Corn-laws were
taken off ?—I have heard that argument, but have
always been surprised at it, because it appears to me
that the very circumstance of our being so highly
taxed for the good of the State, is a reason why we
should not be taxed between ourselves.
You consider that a fallacy ?—The greatest fallacy I
can conceive ; it is the very opposite of the true pro-

position.
Chairman—Have you ever made a calculation as to
the amount of taxation which the community pay in
consequence of the increased price of wheat and
butcher's meat, which is occasioned by the monopoly now
held by land ?—I think that a tolerable calculation may
be made of that increased charge. It is generally cal-
culated that each person, upon the average, consumes
a quarter of wheat a year. Assuming, then, the amount
of duty that this wheat paid, or the price enhanced by
protection, whatever that is, as far as bread goes, to be
10s., it would be that amount upon the whole popula-
tion. Then you could hardly say less than, perhaps,
double that for butchers' meat and other matters ; so
that if we were to say that the corn is enhanced by 10s.
a quarter, there would be that 10s. and '2.os. more as the
increase of the price of meat and other agricultural pro-
ductions, including hay and oats for horses, barley for
beer, as well as butter and cheese. That would be
:36,000,000/. a year, and the public arc in fact paying
that as effectually out of their pockets as if it did go to
the revenue in the form of direct taxes.
And, consequently, are less able to pay any taxes that
the State may require for its support ?—Certainly ; I
conceive that having paid the private taxes they are the
less able to pay the public taxes.
Is not the effect of that also to cripple and limit the
industry of the country ?—I conceive the great evil lies
in that branch of the question ; it is not so calculable,
but if they could have the trade which I believe they
would have if all those protections were taken away, I
think they could pay 30s. a head easily, compared with
what they can now do.
So that the burden of this protective system gene-
rally exceeds the whole amount of taxation paid to the
State ?—I conceive so, taking the cost and the evil con-
sequences together, if that evil was equally subject to
computation. It is the case with many duties, such as
some of the excise duties, which are more injurious in
their regulations than they are in the sum taken from the
people, though you cannot estimate the injurious effect.
I. conceive the actual money paid, and the evil effect,
computed in money, would be more than the whole '
re-
venue of the country.
Mr. Villiers—Supposing that, in order to change
this system, .
some partial injury might be inflicted upon
some existing interests, that rather a ground for com-
pensation, and entering into an arrangement with those
interests, with a view to mitigate the evil, or is it a
ground for perpetuating the system of protection ?—lf
a mode could be adopted, and the alternative were
whether we should continue the protection or compen-
sate the parties injured, I should not hesitate a moment
to say, give the compensation. It is a circumstance
that has often struck my mind ; I have very often seen
duties kept up because of the injury which the remov-
ing of them would occasion to particular interests, when
a comparatively small sum would have compensated the
parties. One of our greatest faults is that we will not
pay the price of extrication from former errors.
I understand you to say, if there is any difference in
the cost of living in this country and in other countries,
or that we are under disadvantage in competition with
them, it chiefly arises from the protective system ?—.
That is my opinion ; with our great command of trade, j