The Sun.
London, England, 1847-02-22 00:00:00

THE BUDGET.

At ten minutes to six o'clock, the House of Commons
resolved itself into a Committee of Ways and Means.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER then rose
to make the financial statement for the year, and
claimed the indulgence of the House while he
made the statement which he would make as short as
was consistent with clearness. It was many years since a
CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER had to report such heavy
demands upon the Exchequer, but those demands were
occasioned by the dearth of food, which was a visitation
of Providence. Thousands of starving persons in Ire-
land appealed to this country for sympathy and assis-
tance, and that he could not refuse. Never, however
had the finances of the country being so able to
bear their demands. For the first time their
had been no deficiency bills, and the produce of
the revenue had been sufficient to defray the expenses
of the State. In the Customs, the produce of every
article for the last nine months, had, with the exception
of articles on which duties had been reduced,
exceeded the estimate. In the Excise, with
the exception of soap, the same had taken

state of things would continue, and after the unexampled
prosperity of the last two years he found they were on
the verge of a check. He, however, saw no symptoms
of a revulsion, but he merely feared :a check, for he
thought commercial matters were on a sound basis, and
he considered that the measures for regulating the
currency which had been passed two years since by Sir
R. PEEL, had tended to prevent such a revulsion, by
placing the currency on a sounder basis, and by induc-
ing investments in works at home into Mississippi
stock or Pennsylvanean Bonds. He thought, therefore,
that no revulsion would follow, but still that high price
of food would tell in the diminution of comforts and the
diminution of the consumption of articles of luxury.
which were subject to Excise duties. The whole pro-
duce of Customs and Excise for the last year was
34,500,0701., of this 5,530,000/ was contributed
by articles of food, 21,781,0001., of drink 21,781,0101.
and by tobacco 4,336,000/. making 31,653,000/.
out of 34,500,070. This must have diminished
in consequence of the diminution of employ-
ment in the manufacturing districts. On the 9th January,
there were making full time 25,845 persons ; short time,
11,851 ; and without work, in consequence of the stop-
page of mills, 1,690. On the 9th February, there were
working full time 22,949 persons ; short time, 15,862 ;
and out of work, 2,613. The drain of bullion in the
Bank had not been so great as might have been ex-
pected. The amount of bullion was only 1,200,000/.
less than it was this time twelve months. The late
CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER had calculated upon
a surplus of 776,0001., the actual surplus whs 2,846,000/.
including 304,000/. paid as duty on the import of
foreign sugar. He now would state what the probable
income of the year, from sth April, 1846, to sth April,
1847, would be. Last year the duties on corn
produced 793,000/. He could not calculate upon such
an amount, but still he calculated in security.
There had been an increase on the importation of butter,
cheese, and silk last year, consequent upon the reduction
of duty, and he calculated that this increase would con-
tinue, and he assumed that the probable revenue from
Customs during the next year would be 20,000,0001.
During the present quarter the increase of Customs
duties had been 204,0001. Up to January
the amount of Excise duties had been
13,988,0001, and he reckoned for the ensuing year
an increase of 13,700,000/. The increase on the Excise
from the beginning of the quarter had been 106,000/,
and in Ireland, extending to January, there had
been an increase. He contemplated from Stamps
a revenue of 7,500;0001., from Taxes 4,270,000/.
from Property-tax 5,390,000., from the Post-
offices 845,0001., from Crown Lands, 120,0001
from miscellaneous sources of revenue 427,0001.-'making
a total of ordinary revenue of 52,065,0001. The ex-
penses of the inerest of the debt and the Consolidated
Fund would be 30,735,0001.; for the army, 6,840,0741.;
The Navy vote would be 7,561,0001. ; the Ordnance vote
would be 2,679,127/, being an increase of 135,5681. over
the vote of last year, a great portion of which was due,
as in the case of the Navy, to a deferred vote of last year.
The residue ;was owing to an increase of 1,200 men
and to putting the ports in a state of defence. The
miscellaneous votes, exclusive of votes for Ireland, would
be 3,750,0001., being en increase of 397,000/. The in-
crease was owing to the expenses of the poor-law and
the prosecution of prisoners, and another portion to the
increase of printing and stationery for the Houses of
Parliament. The whole of the estimates would amount
to 20,851,0771., making the whole ordinary expenditure
5i,576,00U1. He had purposely omitted in his statement
all; allusion to grants for the relief of distreso in
(LEFT MAKING.)

THE PROSPECTS of the POTATO
CROP.—GOVERNIIIENT INQUIRY.
At the beginning of last month the Poor. law Com-
missioners announced to the Assistant Coinmissioners and
others, that Government was anxious to receive infor-
mation from leading gentlemen of practical experience,
on the following point connected with the failure of the
potato crop during the last and present year, viz.,
" whether any sorts of that root have not been more or
less than others injuriously affected ?" It was also
stated that the object of Government in directing an in-
quiry into this branch of the subject appears to be to
collect such information as may serve as a guide to
farmers who are making choice of sorts for planting ;
and looking to the probability of future failures, it is a
question of paramount importance, and to which atten-
tion does not hitherto appear to have been sufficiently
directed.

In accordance with the wish above expressed, Mr.
Hawley, the Assistant Poor-Jim Commissioner, ad-
dressed a letter fram Durham to Mr. Milburn, of Thorp-
field, Thirsk, to which he received the following reply :
" Thorpfield, Thirsk, Jan. 26, 1847.
" beg to inclose replies to your queries in re-
ference to potatoes. I have paid a great deal of attention
to the matter, and am quite convinced that no causes,
such as I infer are thought of by the tone of queries, are
so far in operation as to account for the disease. Both
the old and the new kinds were equally affected, and
those which escaped most in 1845 suffered most in 1846.

" I am aware how very little value opinions are of in
the platter ; but I think the following statements arc
justified by facts :

" Ist. That in 1845 the white varieties and late va-
ritlies suffered most by the disease. 2d. That it mani-
fested itself most about the 12th of October, and pro-
gressed after they were removed from the ground most
severely. 3rd. Th9..t all kinds were most free from dis-
ease which were taken up early, say, before the Ist of
October. 4th. That the disease was most in wet and
clay districts, and bast felt in dry and sand districts, as
at Thirsli and, Doncaster. sth. That very diseased. sets
still had vitality, and would produce plants, in some
cases less tainted by disease than the sets free from dis-
ease would do.

" While, 6th, in 1846, the red varieties were the worst
diseased. 7th. That the disease manifested itself in one
night, say, about the 23rd of August, all the tops being
blackened as if by frost, though the night was thick
and oppressively hot ; but no progress was made by the
disease after the plants were removed from the soil.
Bth. That the early kinds were the worst, and those the
earliest removed from the ground suffered the most. I
think it probable that.this year they improved by laying
in the soil. 9th. The districts most free from the disease
in 1845 were the most affected in 1846, to wit, Thirsk
and Doncaster, arid sand districts.

" My opinion on the whole is, that it is owing to that
mysterious law of nature, that bounds shall be set to the
great increase of any species of animals or plants, and
thus the balance of creation shall be duly kept. . . .
" My impression is, also, that the disease will be less
severe in this year than last, and by and by it will wear
out as the "curl" in potatoes. and the dry rot have done
before, but not before there is much misery and ku f •
fering
" I trust her Majesty's Government, in carrying out
their present judicious and merciful measures for Ire-
land, will provide seed corn, especially rye, which will
grow on the poor soils of that country, and be a tran-
sition from a delicate exotic vegetable to a hardy one,
less accustomed to suffer by variable influences. Better
to pay the Irish for growing and tilling their own soil
and find them seed, than have a nation of paupers.-1
have the honour to be, sir, your most obedient servant,
" MATTHEW MAR MADURIE MILBURN.
" To W. IL T. Hawley, Esq."— Leeds Mercury.
PASSAGE OF. THE STRAITS OF

MAGELLAN.
(From the Liverpool Mercury.)
IMPORTANT TO SHIPMASTERS.

The following letter well deserves the attention of
those of the nautical world interested in voyages to the
west of South America :
" TO THE EDITORS OF THE 'LIVERPOOL MERCURY.'

" Gentlemen,-1 shad feel obliged if you will give in-
sertion to the annexed remarks on the passage of the
barque Cape Horn, of Glasgow, under my command,
through the Straits of Magellan, ou her last passage
from Valparaiso to this port.
" On Monday, November 16, 1846, at eight P.M., we
made the Evangelists, bearing N.N.E. five miles, wind
west, and tolerably clear ; at midnight Cape Pillar bore
S.S.W. three miles, and by keeping the starboard shore
on board, strangers will find no difficulty in finding Long
Reach. On Tuesday, 17th, at noon, we entered Crooked
Reach ; at ten were off Port Famine, which is a
safe anchorage ground, and where there is a Chilian
settlement, at which refreshments can be easily pro-
cured. On Wednesday, 18th, at 430 P.M., came to
anchor in Gregory's Bay, in fifteen fathoms; good hold-
ing ground. On Thursday, the 19th, at 330 A.M., got
under weigh; at 7 30 A.M., entered the First Narrows,
with a strong flood tide against us, which we found no
difficulty in stemming. At two P.M. we were clear of
the Straits. At six P.M. we rounded Dungeness ; and,
after the experience of four voyages round Cape Horn,
in September, 1843, August, 1844, August, 1845, and
the present voyage, I must say that the wear and tear,
owing to the bad weather we encountered, with heavy
cross sea so prevalent between the west entrance to the
Straits and Cape Horn, contrasted with the passage
through the Straits from the west caast is, in my opi-
nion, not to be compared; and had I another passage to
make at the same season of the year, or in the winter
season, with moonlight, I would take the Straits for my
passage. The risk of life and property, and the wear
and tear in the one, are not to be compared with the
other.—Yours, &c.,
" JOHN LONGMIHER, Master.
" Liverpool, 36, Upper Pitt-street, Feb. 11, 1847."