The Sun.
London, England, 1840-08-07 00:00:00

POLISH REFUGEES.

i „""•

CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN LORD DUD-
LEY STUART AND T. S. DUNCOMBE, ESQ.,
M. P.
Lord Dudley Stuart presents his compliments to the
Editor of The Sun, and would feel obliged by the inser-
tion in his \Ptwer of the following Correspondence :
Sussex Chambers, Duke-street, St. James's,
August 5, 1840.
Dear Mr. Dutusembe,—Being on Monday night
under the gallery at the House of Commons, during
the discussion of the ease of the Polish Refugees, it
was not altogether without surprise that I heard you
make some animadversions on the Literary Association
of the Friends of Poland. If I understood you cor-
rectly, you stated that complaints, which you btlieved
to be well-founded, had reached you of the conduct of
this body, to the following effect :—That the Associa-
tion, in its administration of the fund for the relief of
the Poles, with which it had for several years been
charged, had acted with great partiality ; and that, in
reporting to the Treasury certain Poles as deserving to
be struck off the list, it had been actuated by political
animosity ; that these persons had been so reported,
without any investigation, or any verdict against them ;
and you also stated that it had been your intention, if
you had had the opportunity, to ask for an inquiry into
the subj:ct.
If I have in any degree misapprehended your mean-
ing I shall be very happy to be corrected ; but if the
above is really the substance of what you did say, I feel
it my duty, on the part of the Association, to dony the
charge in the most distinct terms. It has ever been the
study of the Association, in the administration of any
fund committed to it, to preserve the strictest impar-
tiality. No inquiry has ever been made by it as to the
political opinions or tendencies of any of the Poles, and
I do solemnly declare, on my own part, and that of my
colleagues, that is recommending persons to be struck
off the list, who we thought ought not to bo upon it, we
were not at all influenced by any political feeling. In
fact, none of those persons were at all known for their
political opinions, and it was not till after their removal
from tha list, that their political predilections were
ever heard of. As to their being struck off with-
out a verdict, those will blame us who think,
as you appear to do, that no refogee ought
to be removed from the list unless convicted of an of-
fence against
.the law of the land. They were Lot,
however, struck off without a careful investigation of
their cases, and I believe that the public in general
will be of opinion, that we should have violated the
trust reposed in us had we permitted persons, whose
misconduct was known to us, to continue in the receipt
of the national bounty. If you ask how known ? I
answer, .threugh proofs in our own hands, or through
the representation of a Committee of Poles, not
chosen Ly us, but by the general assembly of the Poles
in London. Happily the number of such unworthy
characters was exceedingly small, a fact, which, being
on.this painful subject,. I feel • bound, in justice
to the Poles =in general, once more to record. •
With reference to the inquiry which you regretted not
Itadzig the opportunity. of asking for, I beg to say the
.Asiociation would hail it with eagerness. The idea is
siot new tons, for when, in 18:38, the Chancellor of the
Fltch: goer .of that day,. now Lord Monteagle, who.
feend t.iait with the ,Association for its indulgence to
the Poles, as you do for its sevarity, hinted at an inquiry,
are were earnest w:ilt him' to grant it, and only desisted
' from pressing. hint on the subject when ha gave up his
charg,e, against us. .But though you had.no opportunity
of asking for this inquiry on Monday, other epportu-
inizies will occur in the name of' the Association, and
in my own, and, let me add, in the name of. justice, I.
call upon you not to neglect them, and I pledge, both
the AsTociation in
.gcneral, and myself in particular,
to rose any influence we may possess to aasist you.
Ihe mean cline, I feel that I have a right, through
who hive coin..s toward pui;l:dy to attack ui, to
it iii the pnblic to siiNperld :ts ju
T;:e Aoaer t oil, rffnicd korne:t aLely after the ter-
Itnilaton of the Polish struggle, has continued ever since
to exert all its energies to elicit ite the distress and
rrneliorate the co:id::ion of the Polish re'ugees. 'rho
vraats voted, este:lM, and enlarged by Parliament,
the sums collected by subscriptions and other means,.in
tact, slmost ad that 1143 been dole for the Poles in this
Int:: be asclibe.,.l t.o the exertions or to
irfluencc of the Associatio.). • Tt.is fore:-•, in-
Cce(!, tin reason why the. A sncintion sl!ould act
be: it will surely be thought a reason
t, should not be lightly- accused, and more
Tv1:;• the accusation should not easily be credited. I I
known that you meant to attack the Association,
1 r:,,o!r! have taker) care to have some friend ready to
speck in its dLfcnoe, which would have rendered this
-Jotter unnecessary ; but hawing had n, notice, and the
Session bralg so near its else, I ant reduced to the
present, es the only mode of reply lug to anim,-.dverriontF,
coming from a McinlJer in in
the A,,,sociat;nn feets it cannot pa:; over in silence.
I am, dear Mr. Duncombe, yr,th's faithfully,
DUDLEY COLTTS STUART.
T. Duncombe, Esq., M.P.

IrJ

vli.,

A!.b.my, Aug. 6th, 184).

Dam Lord Dudley Stuart-1 bare rccived your
let:cr a yesterday's date, complaining of same ani-
madversions you understood me to make on the con-
u',aet of the •Literary Associaton of the Friends cf
;Wand, on Monday night, in the House of Commons,
uhen the case of the Polish le.',ltigees was under dis-
klissil.n ; and I hasten to set you right on one or two
po'nei on ;I huh you certainly ruisunderstood rne.
Y ;nwere assuredly mistaken in supposing that I
stntrd " my belief to be that tlie complaints contained
e'ilions which I had presented against the eon-
•ort (!„,- the Association were well founded " What I
was, that " whether those complaints were well
..i:novied or not I could not pretend to say, as the
slat. incrils I had received were qf the most conflicting

You have also fallen into error in understand- I
ing me to assert that, "in reporting to the Trea-
sury
certain Poles as deserving to be struck cif the
Est, the Association had been actuated by political
animosity, that those persons had been so reported with-
out any investigation or any verdict against them." My
ive rd.; wera, or their purport was, that ‘• those persons
kid bcen struck 01' the list bit the Treasury without any
invistiation or trial, or any possibility being afforded
them y'reizating charges made bshind their tacks, and
twerely on the representation of the Literally Association
o; the Friends Poland." And lam still of o, iui. n that
ii:e report of no self-constituted anti irresponsible body
thould be substituted or taken for a verdict, but
that in cases of this kind the Treasury should in-
quire and judge -for itself; and above all should af-
ford some opportunity to Oa accused to be heard
"in their dtifteOce,4 considering it as I do, no light matter
to ilepriw a strange; in a foreign land of his only
means of sun istence. I certainly said that it had been
my intention, if the session- had not been •so far ed-
Nanced, to more for an inquiry into the subject, and for
which I added as my reason t'ont "great d:stress had
been endured by those who had been so struck c!"; that
they were without food or raiment, except such as they
could procure, from the trifling-alms that their snore
fortunate compatriots, who still received the na-
tional bounty; could afford- them, and without a roof
•.by -day or bed' by night, were to be found sleeping on
' the bare benches in the pals or; traversing the streets."
Permit me to add that I deeply sympathise with the
unfortunate Pules who are suffering to an unheard-of
extent for their love of freedom and attachment to their
native land ; and with this feeling, I am anxious that
what the bounty of the British nation decrees them
should be impartiaily allotted, without reference to the
political opinions of the recipients ; and that no one
of them should be deprived of his scanty bread without
an open charge; and a full opportunity of defence.
I am, my _dear Lord Dudley, yours faithfully,
THOMAS S. DUNCOMBE,
To the Lord Dudley Coutts Stuart, &e.

WONDERFUL mACI-lINE.---A great degree of
interest has recently been excited in Presburg by the invention
of a machine which promises to effect a wonderful revolution
in the art of printing. The inventor is a person named Joseph
Yon Itidiegel, and the machine is• said to possess the twofold
power of superseding the operation of the hand in composing
.„„aiiileprtiug or distributing types. Only the model has, as yet,
been produced; but a committee has been formed at Presburg,
the superintendence of Count Ludwig l3athyany, for the
purpose Of raising the fund; necessary for the construction of
.the machine. You Klie,sel has given to his invention tho
tame of Typographisclie Nchnellsez-und-Sorter machine.
Though capable of conjoint operation in the processes of corn-
' -"piing and distributing types, yet the two powers of the ma-
, " - • r . .
e, being quite distinct and independent of each other,
ire capable of acting separately. Herr Von Kliegel has
wedged himself first to cemptete that portion of the
•''-..-itachine applicable. to
,type-sorting. A sheet of Cicero
may, it is said, be broken up and distributed
the duration of •an hour and a-half, by an opera.
"'---tion 'which reqpires no manual aid, and may be made to act day
-" ;sod night? like clock work. In the course of a day tea sheets
-i%a. be broken tip and distributed. The composing machine is
Inected with the distributing machine, so that the type boxes
:ay be instantaneously transferred • from the latter to the
'firmer. The distributing machine is worked by means of a
ioindh.., turned like that of a mangle. The composing ma-
,chine riots by mcaris nf a key-board',
mp
ard-,oosttor. It is expected
like that of a piano-forte,
xhirh t
must be touched by the
lay the aid cf this invention words may be composed as ra-
P stove, unpractised, cornpo e •
- idly sts they can be Pelf. Even
sitor may compose a street of Cicero type to an hour and a-half,
• :• -and he requires no other help than that of a boy, to lift from
- •i the machine each page as it is completed.
Cott, the' American " juinFer," repeated his
leaiiS -from the outer hi•atl of the. C.lisin Pier. on
.--,lPridy'ax,(l,vk,,!ertlay.. The exhibition is certainly a wonderful
the .19p of the ladder from which he leaps, and which
ma,.beagi :,t the outer platform, IE4
LS: Po less than P.O 'feet high ! 'lle draws an Lninense
..41,4.7,n5t tofeats.—Brigliton Gazette,
• :. I.,SEY'S BURIAL-PLACE.—WOLSCV'
it is
known, was boiled at Leic3ster withhi the walls of its
tittit!hint abbe- •i.eClint
y. pot is, however, not even to be distin-
•,-Istiishisi from the adjoining ground. The whole is now a gar-
s ea, and comprisiSi several. acres. •
7. • • *.
•
I N DOW I A the nature of things, taxes
are always obnoxious to all those persons who are compelled to
pay them. The window tax is not an exception from the gene-
gal
feel:oz, and ahnost el the country newspspers contain ac •
c wants of the not over- courteous reception given to the Surveyors
Cif Assessed Taxes, in their window-peeping excursions.

BEER-SELLERS' ANNIVERSARY.

The Annual Dinner of the Beer-sellers of the Me-
tropolis took place yesterday at the Highbury-barn Ta-
vern ; it happened singularly alto that they were enabled
to celebrate the passing of a Bill which gives them very
extend,Nl privileges, and places them, so far vs their
hours of opening and shutting goes, on an equality with
their great opponents, the Licensed Victuallers, and ren-
ders them in that respect independent of the capriee of
the Magistracy. Having discussed the good things laid
before them by the Messrs. Hinton,

Mr. DvxE,_the „Chairman, proposed the usual loyal
toasts, which were most cordially responded to by a
company exceeding 1,000. He then proposed the prin-
cipal toast of the day, " Prosperity to the Metro-
politan Beer-sellers Protection Society"—and in doing
so, in order to prove the flourishing condition of
the Society and its usefulness, said that from the
year 1834 to the present time it bad been uniformly
successful. In 1835 the balance in hand was a little
more than 71. ; now there was 2701. in hand, and the
result which bad been so happily achieved was an in-
stance of the utility of the Society, and the necessity
that every one connected with the trade should enrol
himsM under its banners.

Mr. BISHOP, the Secretary of the Society, responded
to the toast. He enumerated the many difficulties
which the Committee had had to encounter in the pro-
gress of the various Bills which had during the pref.
sent session been in progress through both Houses of
Parliament. He fully explained the pernicious enact-
ments contained in those, to the number of five, which
the Committee had successfully opposed ; and the
BA now only waited for the Royal Assent, under
which the beer-shops of the city and metropolitan bo-
roughs are allowed to keep open till 12 o'clock, with
other advantages. He then named those Members of
Parliament to whom the beer-sellers owed a debt of
gratitude, among whom were Lord Monteagle, the
Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr. Warburton, Mr.
Hume, Mr. Hawes, Mr. Ewart, Mr. Wakley, &c. ;
all of whose names were received with loud cheers.

Mr. BACON, in a highly eulogistic speech, proposed
the health of Mr. Bishop, to whom the trade were in-
debted for the great advantages given them by the Bill
which would soon become law. But for his talent, zeal,
and energy the Committee would have utterly failed in
laying their case fairly and so strongly before those in-
fluential Members of both Houses whom it was neces-
sary to enlighten on the facts of their trade, which had
been grossly misrepresented by their influential compe-
titors. The toast was drunk enthusiastically.
Mr. Bistro!, returned thanks, and hoped that the
beer trade was now upon a fair and, he fondly trusted, a
permanent footing.

The next toast was." Our country friends," to which
Mr: SAtOn, of Stockport; responded ; and in doing so
bore ample testimony to the zeal and indefatigability of
the London- Committee, whose exertions were worthy of
the very highest commendation and cught to ensure
them the lasting gratitude of di concerned in the trade.

Several other toasts were liven, and it was announced
in the course of the evening th It a subscription was
about to he opened among the trade for the purpose of
acknowledging—the arduous services of Mr. Bishop and
the Committee, which seemed to give much s.tisfaction.
The Cominitte6 bad provided a display of fire works,
which went oft' briliiantly ; after which the Mks who
had accompanied their friends enjtved all the mazes of
the dance to their infinite satisfaction.
'Vie whole affair went off with great eclat, and did
honour to all •Who were assembled.-

TURNPIKE ROAD COMMISSIO'2‘..

The Report of this Commission, which was issued oa
tie 31st of January last, under which the Duke ui
Wchmond, the Marquis of Salisbury, Lord Hathertor,
Lard Eliot, M.P., the Hon. ANT. S. L:seelles, M.P.
.IndE A. Sandford.Esq. M.P., were the Commi,sioners,
Lquiring. into the state cf the roads in England and
Wales, and Mr. Tidd Pratt, their Secretary, wds last
night presented to the House of Commons. . After ad-
verLing to the law generally as it regards turnpike as
nen as parochial roads, the Report gives a summary of
the information derived firm the answers ;o questions
sent by the Commissioners to the several Turnpike
Trusts.

We shall hereartar quote more at length from the re-
port, but at present must content ourselves with the
bliowing statement :

It appears that there are 1,116 turnpike trusts con-
sisting of about 22,000 miles.

TtTo number of toll gates and side-bars, are about
7,796.

The officers employed consist of treasurers, clerks,
std surveyors ; of the former th:l.e. are 1,120 ; the
number of clerks is 1,135 ; and that of surveyors about
1,300 ; total, 3,555.

Oa an average of the 1,1,1, five year, the money ex-
pended on account of repairs, &c., of the turnpike-reads,
Including manual labour, team labour, and carriage of
materials,'materi.ils for surface repairs, land purchased,
dam.lge done in obtail.ing materials, incidental expenses,
tradesmen's 13;11, and estimated value of statute duly
performed, has been 939,543/. per annum, or 45/ 1:),r
mile per annum ; and the money expended on account
of management, consisting of the salaries of treasurers,
clerks, surveyors, and law charges, about 129,124 per
annum, or 61. per-mile-per annum.
Tile amount of money expended in manual labour,
team labour, and carriage of materials, and ,lor mate-
rials for surface repairs, is about S 6/. per mile per an-
num, and the money expended in improvements 9/. per
mile per annum.

The annual amount of the repair of turnpike-roads
and management of trusts, on the present scale of 51/.
per mile per annum, is 1,122,0001.
The amount of the mortgage debt, in 1829, was
6,578,8151.; in 1334, 7,068,2751.; in 1835, 7,116,792/. ;
inlB:7-26, 7.187,543/.; in 1837, 7,262,962/. ; and in 1838,
7,260,993/. The sum of 263,2.59/., included in the
!eregoing amount, is unpaid interest converted into
prinei2al.

- -
The amount of money belonging to charities invested
on the security of turnpike bonds appears, from the
Report of -the Charity Commissioners, to be 62,9391.
3s. 2d. ; and the unclaimed dividends in the hands of
the treasurers of turnpike trusts were, on the 31st De-
cember, 1839, 39,5301. Is. lid.

The money paid for interest on account of the mort-
g,w,c debt, from 1834 to 1838, has averaged about
300,0001. per annum.

In cighty-two trusts in England, and two in Wales,
no interest has been paid for several years.
Tile amount of toils received in the years 1834,
1835, 1836, 1837, and 1838, was, on an average,
::bout 1,458,2851. per annum ; and the funds arising from
fines and other incidental profits (not including statute
duty, or composition in lieu thereof, and money bor.
rowed), was about 32,232/. per annum; total, 1,490,5171.
per annum. •