The Sun.
London, England, 1847-01-07 00:00:00

THE QUARTER'S REVENUE.
(From the Morning Papers of yesterday.)
TIMES.—The national income has been so steadily
increasing during the last four or five years, that we
now look for a surplus as a matter of course. The re-
Senile table for the year and quarter coiling the 51h of
January, 1847, which ac publish this morning, does
of disappoint the expectation. Compar: d with similar
periods calculated to the sth of January, 1846, it shows
an increase of 19,8731. on the quarter, and 13,0321. on
:he y. ar. These figures, however, do not present the
most favourable view of the matter, inasmuch as they
eive only the net total, after deducting a decrease
of 1,015,225/, consisting chiefly of repayments of
►dvances, and of a falling off in the Chinese tri-
bute, which are not included in the general estimates.
The statement of the ordinary revenue is very much
more brilliant, and shows an increase of 454,662/. on
the quarter, and 1,028,257/. on the year. In fact,
there is an advance on the year in every item, ex-
cept Stamps, and on the quarter in all except Stamps
and miscellaneous receipts. The decrease under these
heads is not large, and, with respect to one of them, is
easily accounted for by the diminution of railway enter-
prise. The principal increase is in the Customs, Excise.
and Property• tax : in the first, 205,659 L and 159,9321.
for the year and quarter respectively ; in the second,
344,138/. and 269,318/. ; and in the third, 368,8211. and
63,2341. We observe that in the Post-office also there is
an advance of 85,0001. on the year, and 14,000/. on the
quarter. It has been usual to consider the collections of
the Excise as the surest test of the general prosperity
of the people. When the produce of this department
of taxation exceeds the average of former years, we
say that the country is in a flourishing condition.
If the amount is less, we suspect the existence of
distress. Without questioning the general accuracy
of this conclusion, we are forced to withhold
our reliance upon it at the present moment. We have
only to look around us, and observe the universal poverty
that depresses the labouring classes, in order to be con-
vinced of the fallacy of this surplus test. Exciseable
articles, no doubt, have been sold to a much larger
amount than in the end of the year 1845; but we must
not forget that the intervening twelve months have pro-
duced between 300,000 and 400,000 more mouths to
consume them. The main fact, however, is the co-
existence of distress among the people and prosperity in
the Excise revenue:—an apparent contradiction, which
proves that the prevailing idea we have mentioned is at
best but an unsafe opinion. We can much more safely
congratulate the free-trade party on the success of their
commercial and financial measures, as displayed in the
present and several former revenue tables. Notwith-
standing the continual reduction and repeal of Cus-
toms' duties from the year 1842 down to the last ses-
sion of Parliament, the amount of revenue from that
source has never been diminished. In 1842 the great
scheme of economical reform commenced, and we
think that a sufficient space of time has since
elapsed to afford a fair opportunity for judging of its
merits. In the interval, no less than 503 articles have
been entirely released from duty, and 727 considerably
relieved; yet the national income remains unaffected. It
may be said, and not without truth, that the income-tax
is the stream supplying the drain from other sources.
This would be a very proper remark, and we should be
the first to make it, if we were examining the general
balance between income and expenditure, and investi-
gating
the causes of an apparently flourishing surplus.
But this is not now the point. The question is con
cerning the merits of the more liberal commercial policy
lately pursued by this country, as they appear in the
results. The object proposed in remodelling the old
scheme of taxation was chiefly to promote the comfort
and happiness of the middle classes; and it was expected
that the relaxation or abandonment of the old duties
would, by making the common articles of food and
clothing cheaper, increase their consumption, and thereby
keep up the revenue to its former amount. If it be too
much to say that they are now accomplished, it is at
least allowable to believe that their ultimate success is

certain.
CEIRONICLE.—The revenue returns for the year
and the quarter ending the sth instant, published last
night, exhibit in every respect a most satisfactory com-
parison with the corresponding returns of last year. So
far, therefore, as these returns are to be taken as indi
cative of the actual condition of the finances of the
country, they exhibit nothing calculated in any way to
remove the gloomy forebodings which are entertained as
to the ultimate effect of the extraordinary expenditure
which has for some months been going on in Ireland,
and which it would appear we must lay our account to
see still much extended. But though it be quite true
that, as far as the Exchequer itself is concerned at the
moment, it matters little from what sources its receipts
are derived so that they really come, still, when we re-
gard the revenue accounts as indicative of the condition
of the country—as evidence of the extent of business
which has been done—and of the power -which the
people have had to command the necessaries, comforts,
and luxuries of life; and, further, when we are desirous
to form an opinion as to the probable prosperity
of the coming quarter's revenue—for all these
purpose it becomes matter of the highest im-
portance that we should carefully distinguish
wherein lies the increase, and wherein the decrease.
Customs, Excise, Taxes, Property- tax, and Post-office
the best tests of the state of trade, and of a thriving con-
dition of the country—are the items on each of which a
very considerable increase has taken place; while, on the
other hand, China money, Imprest and other money,
Repayment of advances, and Stamps are the items which
exhibit a falling off in the present year. These items of
themselves prove nothing as to the general conditien of
the country or of commerce, if we except the last-men-
tioned—stamps. And with respect to this the explana-
tion is perfectly satisfactory. In 1845 the immense
number of railway projects led to an unusual use of
stamps in the various deeds under which the companies
were formed, which fortunately have not been required
in the present year. It is a fact, moreover, which it is
essential to bear in mind, that the items of increase are
the regular and substantial sources on which the revenue
relies; while the items of decrease, with the exception of
stamps, are all of a mere casual and accidental character.
In this view of the case we may also congratulate the
Chancellor, for though his present gain is very little, this
fact, as far as it goes, promises well for the future.
I3ut as far as the Customs and Excise are concerned,
flattering as they appear in these accounts, they are even
much more so in reality when we bear in mind that the
accounts of the present year, on which so considerable
an increase is apparent, are the result, after the
numerous wise and well devised reductions' in
the Customs tariff and Excise dutiesera no madel by
Sir Robert Peel were in full operation.
indeed a pleasing task to be enabled to take sucht is
a
review of the past. We wish our anticipations of the
future were equally cheerful. But we cannot look
around at this time, and see the numerous causes which
must operate, in the current year, to depress the condi-
tion of the masses of the population; we cannot consider
the defective supply of cotton, which hinders full em-
ployment to the large and important classes engaged
immediately in that trade, and in those trades indirectly
dependent thereon; we cannot look at the high and still
rising price of provisions of every kind, and of the cer-
tainty that large masses of the people will be able to do
little more than procure the bare necessaries of life at
such prices; we cannot look at the state of the foreign
exchanges and recognise therein an indication of the
critical condition in which our monetary interests stand,
notwithstanding the large amount of bullion in the Bank;
we cannot, moreover, view the financial difficulties of
France and other continental states, with which our
money market must sooner or later sympathise ; and,
lastly, we cannot reflect upon what Ireland now is, and
what Ireland unfortunately will be during the next
year ; we cannot glance at all these subjects and indulge
a hope that on the 6th of January, 1848, we shall have
so pleasing a duty to perform, in reviewing the revenue
for 1847, as we have now had in laying before our
readers the results of the past year.
HERALD.—Considering the tremendous difficulties
which lie before the Government and the country, in
dealing with the sufferings and the difficulties of Ireland,
it is a matter which ought to cause great thankfulness
that the state of the revenue in the year just closed is
probably the most satisfactory that has been exhibited
for a long series of years. We know not whether the
advocates of free trade, feeling some natural alarm for
the wholesome working of their measure, will attribute
the prosperous state of the revenue to their panacea.
Such a theory, if propounded, would be a most absurd
one. Two of the chief items of increase are, the Pro-
perty-tax, and Miscellaneous. How these branches of
receipt could be benefited by the free-trade measures
which came into operation in the autumn of last year,
is more, we apprehend, than any one can tell. The
simple truth is, that the country had righted itself before
the free-trade schemes were carried. How they will
affect the revenue, we shall better und?rstand on the
sth of January, 1848. Another remarkable fact must
be noticed in the present account. It has been usual,
for many years past, to issue what are called" Deficiency
Bills"—i. e., Exchequer-bills to meet the charges on the
quarter, to such an extent as the public necessities re-
quired.
i
That amount has usually been to the extent of
several millions; and the item was of so nvariAble an
occurrence, that these words were alwaysprinted, stereo-
typed, as it were, at the foot of the revenue accounts:—
. Tee probable amount of Exchequer-bills re-
quired to meet the charge on the Consolidated Fund,
quarter ending" so and so. For the first time for a long
period, that stereotyped line has become useless, and is
struck out ; and in lieu thereof we read, " Surplus of
revenue, after providing for the charges on the Consoli-
dated Fund, and for the Supply, in the quarter ended
January 5, 1847." This is a prodigious and most im-
portant change. To reduce it to the language of common
life, we may say that the nation, for many years past,
found itself, every Christmas, with an overdrawn bankers'
account ;—but now, after a long period of default, it
finds, on opening
the year 1847, a balance of 1,385,4551.

FATAL ACCIDENT on the NORTH-
WESTERN RAILWAY.
A melancholy accident, attended with the, less of two
lives, took place on Tuesday at the King's Langleyetation
of the North-Western Railway, 21 L iies from Lfe,doti.
A waggon train, laden with coals, from the midland
counties, was on its way up the line, and had stopped et
the King's Langley station about 01:1. o'el,:ek cn i nesday
morning, to leave some of the w2ge-ons. While the
latter vi ere being "shunted" a luggage train, fr,:re
Birmingham, was heard approaching. The danger
I•Lnip at the station was duly displayed, and the tad
lamp and side lights of the last waggon, or " break," us
it is called, of the coal train were also properly affixed.
Tee night was extremely foggy, and the policeman on
duty at the King's Langley station supposing, from the
undiminished speed of the advancing goods train, that
the engiee-drivers had not seen the lights, ran
down the line and waved his lantern. These
signals were seen when about 50 yards off by
the engine-driver and stoker of the first locomotive, or
" pilot-engine" (No. 16) of the goods train, who, per-
ceiving that a collision was inevitable, hastily shut off the
steam, sounded the steam whistle as a warning to the
driver and stoker of the second locomotive (No. 115),
and saved their own lives by jumping off. A tremendous
collision took place almost instantly afterwards. The
luggage train, with all the impetus imparted to it by a
speed of 15 miles an hour and the weight of 20 or 30
carriages, ran into the coal waggons, smashed the break,
and other waggons, and strewed large heaps of coats
upon and about the line. The locomotive and tender of
the pilot engine became a shapeless mass from the force
of the collision. The men who lost their lives were the
engine-driver and stoker of the second locomotive. From
the position in which their disfigured remains were
found, it appeared that they must have been sitting
down, one on each side of the engine, and it is also con-
jectured, that worn out bylatigue, they were probably
both a sleep. Before they could have been apprised of
their danger by the crash, the tender behind them,
by the prodigious momentum of the weight of the
train, was lifted up and driven into the part of the
engine where they sat. The unhappy men were
crushed beneath the superincumbent mass, and in this
helpless position they were miserably scalded and burnt
by the steam and fire of the boilers and furnace. Escape
was impossible. The steam rushing out on all sides
with an immense noise prevented any one from coming
near the sufferers ; and, with limbs mutilated and '
mangled under the tender, the poor fellows could do no-
thing for their own relief. About an hour or an hour
and a half elapsed before they could be rescued from
their frightful position, by which time their features
could scarcely be recognised, so blackened and charred
were they from the effects of the fire, &c. The driver
and stoker of the pilot-engine were but little injured.
The York mail train, which was due at King's Lang-
ley about a quarter to four .a.m„ and the Liverpool mail
train, due at a quarter past four A.M., were in conse-
quence of this accident delayed at Boxmoor until thirty
minutes after seven, when, the down line having
been cleared of the debris of the broken carriages,
&c., these trains proceeded up this line as far as
Watford. The early morning trains leaving London at
thirty minutes after six o'clock, seven o'clock, thirty
minutes after seven o'clock, and thirty minutes after
eight o'clock, were also detained for a considerable
period. Mr. Miller, the station-master at King's Lang-
ley, lost no time after the accident in repairing to Wet.
ford for assistance, and a number of hands having been
obtaiped, and the greatest energy displayed, both lines
were cleared about ten o'clock, and the trains ran as
usual without interruption. The names of the men were
William Alsop and Mather. •
The bodies were removed to the village of King's
Langley, where an inquest was to be held yesterday
morning at eleven o'clock. The attention of the
coroner's jury, so far as the railway company are con-
cerned, will, we imagine, be mainly directed to two
points; firstly, whether the engine-drivers of the luggage
train were duly apprised at Rugby that a coal-waggon
train was before them on the line; and, secondly, whether
a sufficient force was employed at Langley to "shunt"
the coal-waggons without unnecessary and dangerous
delay.

The proximate cause of the accident appears to have
been the fog, which prevented the engine-driver, from
seeing the lamp signals. It is worthy of the considera-
tion of the directors whether, on occasions like the
present, when the policemen hear the approach of a
train under circumstances which render the ordinary
signals of danger valueless, they might not introduce
with advantage the detonating fog signals, which explode
wit h the noise of a cannon, and may heard at a great
distance,

Since writing the above, we have received a commu-
nication from an official source, which states that the
accident " could not have occurred had the signals which
were given at the Boxmoor station and responded t 9 by
the engineman of the leading engine of the goods' train
been properly attended to, and the printed regulations of
the company duly observed."

THE NAVY.
TO TEE EDITOR OF THE TIMES.
SlR,—The remarks in the Times of Friday upon what
you justly term " the most important point of all in naval
matter, that of securing an effective supply of trained
sailors to man our ships in case of emergency," and your
promise of recurring to the subject, induce me to tres-
pass on your indulgence.
There is so much in your observations exactly in
accordance with my own views, as expressed in a little
book which you were pleased to notice favourably last
July, that I trust whenever you recur to the subject you
will afford me space for some practical suggestions of my
own. For the present, I would only enforce the necessity
of not postponing so vital a question as that of manning
the navy until war breaks out, and would urge one or
two obvious inexpensive and ineffectual measures for sup-
plying our first wants. It cannot be too seriously consi-
dered that the delect of organization which leaves Eng-
land without those resources for any sudden emergency
which other Powers possess is no longer a secret. Not
only has it been officially admitted in England upon the
best authority that in the critical times of 1840 and 1844
we were completely a deecouvert to any hostile attack,
from our inability to collect seamen in time, but foreign
countries pre now fully aware of the fact, and caculate
upon it. The subjoined extract from a very clever and
singularly impartial History of the late War, by an in-
intelligent French naval officer, establishes the truth of
maninaesnsetrly forwardtionwhichlalstbseuliLe
elr.wacs
Captain
first to
.tojubrriient dperoia-
Graviere, after detailing the straits to which England
was reduced at the breaking out of war in 1793—a
war for which we were unusually well prepared, on ac-
count of the Spanish and Russian armaments of 1790,

says :
" The difficulty which the Admiralty experienced in
forming the first crews at this epoch presented itself
again in 1840. It will present itself every time England
finds herself obliged to face unforeseen embarrassments,
and will always give to an active and enterprising enemy
the advantage of most favourable chances during the first
months of a war."
Here we have a judicious and dispassionate French-
man exactly confirming my own assertions as to a fact
which, though controverted at the time by a large part
of the daily press, has since been officially admitted in
Parliament. Would it not, then, be lamentable apathy
and inexcusable neglect, if, with our eyes open, we con-
tinued to tempt other nations to insult us, by gratui-
tously offering them chances of easy success against us?
Are we again to enact the old farce, the transparent
cheat, of moving " demonstration ships" about our har-
bours, sticking their masts in, painting their sides, and
trying, by this demonstration, to frighten foreign Powers,
like naughty children, when they are perfectly aware
that it takes us several months to man a single line of
battle ship? Are we to pay above 7,000,000/. annually
for keeping up a navy, and yet leave it a demonstrable
fact that we are behind France and Russia in the p ,wer
of making any effective demonstration in case of emer
gency, and that we have not advanced one step beyond
the crude, and now unce? fain expedient, of impress-
ment for manning our fleets? I am happy to think there
is reason to believe that the present Admiralty do not
intend to sleep over this danger, or to tolerate so dis-
creditable a state of things. But, as any great measure
involving (as it must) the interest of our maritime popu-
lation requires the support of public opinion, I trust
the Times will afford its powerful aid in establishing the
necessity of some change. We may shut our ayes
to the fact, but it is undeniable, that the present
is a new era in naval affairs, and England might Just as
well trust to her old feudal levies for a regular irmyas
to impressment for an adequate supply of iraton f other
Powers.
sea-
men,capable of meeting the disciplined forces
Powers.
The optimists and quietists of the press may argue in
favour of doing nothing, but no Government can leave
things as they are. The experience i
of IS4O and 1844
forbids it, the admission of 1846 forbids t, and the too
well-grounded calculations of foreign writers forbid it.
A few words upon the general principles by which the
merchant seamen may be made available to the State.
It is certain that whatever may be circulated to the pre-
judice of the navy, it is least unpopular where it is best
known. Our first step, then, should be to make it better
known to our merchant seamen; and how can this be
done but by sending ships of war (not wretched,
conditioned tenders, but ships deserving the name) to
our commercial ports, where they are never seen by any
chance? I do not mean to raise volunteers, but merely
to show themselves in all the attractive "pride, pomp,
and circumstance" belonging to a well-ordered " Queen's
ship." Ido not theorise here, but can assert, from my
own experience, that the ship of war, at her first ap-
pearance, will be regarded with distrust and dread, then
with distrust alone, next with indifference, and finally
Iwith a strong desire to join her smart, cleanly, rakish-
looking, happy crew.
This would do much, if steadily and systematically
carried out; but more would be necessary in order to
dispel the strong prejudices which alienate our maritime
population from the Royal Navy. A further measure I