The Sun.
London, England, 1823-04-05 00:00:00

THE -lONIAN STATES.

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MEETING THE PARLIAMENT,eourn, MAncri 1.
SUUSTANCE OP SIR THOMAS MAITLAND'S SPEECH TO
TIIE PARLIAMENT ASSEMIILVD THIS DAY.
Speaking of the conviction that the Members of the now Par-
liament will be guided by . the •,genuine principles of pa-
trimism, Sir TIIOMAS 'MAITLAND says, a of this, the cha-
reefer, the known talent, and the property ,in the country of
the persons I have the honour of addressing, are the amplest
guarantees."
Ile then enters at length into the difference of the present
situation of the islands from that in which they stood at the pe-
riod of the promulgation of the Constitution of 11117, and con-
gratulates the Assembly " on the gradual increase of the pro.
sperity of every part of the population ;" which he attributes
to the good general demeanour of the people, under circum-
stances of a trying nature.
lie declines entering into the misrepresentations of the trans.
actions in the lonian Islands, " which have been spread over
Europe, and no where more industriously circulated than
within the dominions of the Protecting Sovereign ; for it is
sufficient (says the General) for you to feel, and for his Ma-
jesty's GoVernment to know, that you actually enjoy more of
the blessings of civilized life, more liberty, and a greater degree
of prosperity and affluence, than many of those countries in
which there is an affectation of lamenting the tyranny and op.
pression under which they falsely say you live."
. In regard to the neighbooring warfare in Greece, he observes,
" These unfortunate hostilities are, as usual, attended with the
greatest horrors', and atrocities. The lonian Government, how.
ever will -continue to seize on every opportunity of exercising
the duties of hospitality and humanity, in favour of the unhappy
victims of that wide desolation, which forms the peculiar cha,
ratter of this cruel.and bloody warfare."
in regard to the internal quiet of the Islands themselves, he
feels confident of the continuation " of the present calm and
unruffled tranquillity," and recommends in consequence to the
lonian Executive Government " the recal to their native
Island Zante, of those turbulent individuals, being five in num-
ber, whose behaviour during the late crisis in the Morea, forced
the Government to remove them from the Island for a time.
They comprise the whole of the individuals treated in this man-
tier; nor is there a single person within the States in a state of
arrest ordetention on this account."
The Speebh then adverts to the Finance of the Islands.
The public accounts are up to the 31st of January, 1823, the
close of the hist4inanclal year.

The receipt during the year was
The expenditure ditto -

Spanish Dollars.
• 7413,876
• 490,618

Leaving a surplus Revenue of - 117,347
" Your financial affairslsays the General) continue to wear
a prothising aspect. Certain it is, that this is not the result of
fresh taxation ; for you well know that no additional imposts
have been laid on • the people since the establishment of- the
present Constitutional Government of 1017: unless the modifi-
cation of the then existing taxes made by Parliament in 1010
is considered in that light. Rut to settle this point at once,
there is laid on your table a return of the present commercial
duties and taxes of all descriptions, . together with a statement
chewing how they stood at the period of, and 'antecedent to,
the connection between Great Britain and the Islands. From
these documents it appears that mitigation,_ not aggravation,
of taxation was the result of the regulations of 1818 al.
lotted to."

The crops during the last year failed at Corfu. In the
islands of Cephalonia, Zante, and Ithaca, the last year was one
of unexampled prosperity, from good crops and a price for cur.'
rants high beyond all precedent, owing to the total destruction
of the currant 'plantations of the Morels, in the contest in that
Peninsula.

On this Sir THOMAS says—
" From real documents which have been submitted to me, it
appears that the proprietors of Cephalonia, Zante and Ithaca,
have received in one year a return,
clear of all diarges what-
ever, of 20 to. 30 per cent. on de value of their respective
properties; and it affords me the highest gratification, at a time
when the agriculturists, in all other parts ofthe world, find the
greatest difficulty in obtaining sale for their produce, that the
inhabitants of these Islands form the happiest exception to the
general distress, and that the praiseworthy industry they have
shown, since the establishment of the present Government, in
the material extension of'the cultivation of -their lands has
met its due reward." ,
In regard:to the expenditurei the Civil List Is laid oti the
table for the consideration of the Assembly ; also an acciount
enumerating every item of the whole expenditure, the chief
heads of which are alluded to, such as the Government new
buildings at Corfu, the new market and lazzaretto in Cepha-
lonia, and the new military hospital at Zunte ; the money
expended in all the islands in the making of roads, and in
paying, during the 'last year, an extra body of the militia
to guard the coast, as thcplague had shown itself on the op.,
posits shores.
The new College is open in -the current year, but not in
Ithaca, as formerly:proposed, but in Corfu.
In respect to the administration of Justice, the General ex-.
presses his regret that the progress has not been greater in