The Sun.
London, England, 1840-07-09 00:00:00

THE lONIAN ISLANDS.

The following extract is at direct variance with
the statements of Lord John Russell and Sir
Robert Peel in the House of Commons on the
occasion of Lord Charles Fitzroy moving an ad-
dress to the Queen for the appointment of a
Commission to inquire into the complaints of the
inhabitants against the lonian Government,
but we give it, as many of the statements
are confirmed by private letters, and also on
the principle that both sides should be heard
Lord Charles Fitzroy will brim).° the subject again
before the House on the 16th instant, when we
trust' a full explanation will he given, of the steps
taken by the Colonial Government to answer the
complaints made against Sir Howard Douglas :
[From the Greek paper, the 'Ascvv, No. 151,
published at Athens.]
Since the discovery of the pretended Russian
conspiracy in Greece, the lonian Islands have been
the-_scene of the following illegalities and persecu-
tions:—

1. The imprisonment of -M. Maurovenni.
2. The banishment of the clergymen and five
gentlemen from Cephalonia.
3. The banishment of four citizens from Zante,
and one of the most venerated of the clergy.
4. The banishment of a citizen of Ithaca.
5. The banishment, without trial, of two youths
from Corfu.

6. The sufferings of Dr. Pilarino and the re-
corded order for his banishment.

7. The death of the virtuous liazi from political
persecution.
..s _
8. The blockade of the whole country as regards
Greece.

9. The seizure and confiscation of private letters
at the pelit4ffliiii,
10. The offered to the Greek. Consul by
the absolutistu,of Sir H. Douglas.
11. Thelkinticiliiiri visits upon M. Mustoxidi,
the Counts Capo d'lstrias and M. Petrizzopu!o,
.and the seizure of all their papers.
12. The double prorogation and subsequent dis-
solution of the Legislative Assembly, for its op-
position to the plans of Sir H. Douglas, &c., &c.
Sir Howard_ Douglas, as every one knows, is
seated on the throne of Ulysses, but unlike that
hero, he plays off his tricks, not upon his enemies,
but against those whom he was sent to protect.
Why is Sir H. Douglas, the worthy follower of
Maitland and of Castlereagh, allowed by Lord
Palmerston, a Liberal, to give to the world such
proofs of his liberality and philanthropy ?
In a sudden fright at some phantom of a plot,
he seizes on the papers of the most distinguished
citizens, without knowing why ; and then dis-
patches his son to Athens on an embassy, to find
out a reason for it. The son sends him word that
there is a great deal to be told, but that he knows

nothing about it. In the interim Sir Howard
picks out a new Assembly to his liking, banishes
the most eminent citizens, persecutes and insults the
Greek Consul, makes a vast noise throughout Eu-
rope, and then comes back the son to say that he has
found out nothing, that there is nothing to be found
out, and that not a doubt, or even the shadow of a
suspicion can be entertained against M. Mus-
toxidi, the Counts Capo d'lstrias, and M. Pc-
trizzopulo.
Thus, then, lonian citizens are insulted, banished,
imprisoned, tortured ; the most venerable and vir-
tuous of the lonian clergy degraded and banished ;
eminent men without guilt and without trial de-
prived of their liberty ; private letters broken open ;
the prosperity and commerce of the country ruined ;
tire divine gift of the press chained up ; books and
newspapers prohibited to be introduced under pain
of imprisonment and torture ; the unfortunate pri-
soners flogged at discretion by the guards of the
pol ce ! And for what ? Because Sir Howard
Douglas, the representative of the Protecting Sove-
reign, wills it.

RAILWAY COMMUNICATION.

FOURTH REPORT.

THE SELECT COMMITTEE appointed to inquire into the
STATE OF COMMUNICATION BY RAILWAYS,IO whom
several petitions were referred ; and who were em-
powered to report their opinion and observations,
together with the Minutes of Evidence taken be-
fore them, from time to time, to the House, have
further considered the matters to them referred,
and have agreed to the following Report :
A. considerable number of petitions have been referred
to your Committee, suggesting the justice and expe-
diency of altering the present system on which railway
passengers are taxed.
Much evidence upon this subject was collected by the
Committee on Railways during the last Session of Par-
liament, and your Committee have also entered fully
into the same inquiry ; from both which inquiries your
Committee are satisfied that this question is of great
importance to the public at large, and especially to the
poorer classes of the community ; and that, in propor-
tion as railway communication is extended through the
country, the unequal pressure of this tax will be more
severely felt, inasmuch as it will be found to limit the
accommodation which railways might otherwise bene-
ficially afford to the labouring classes.
_ _

The great advantage which would result to these
classes from the establishment of railway communica-
tion was repeatedly urged as an argument in favour of
these undertakings. To convey the labourer cheaply
and rapidly to that spot where his labour might be most
highly remunerated, was frequently stated to be one
great benefit which would be derived from opening these
new channels of intercourse, while it was added that
the hoalth and enjoyment of the mechanics, artizans,
and poor inhabitants of the large towns would be pro-
moted by the facility with which they would be en-
abled to remove themselves or their families into healthier
districts and less crowded habitations. Your Com-
mittee believe that Parliament would devly regret to
find that the tax imposed on railway passengers had a
tendency to deprive the labouring classes of these pro-
mood advantages, and especially when it is seen that

in those parts of the country where the pressure of this
tax is most seterely felt, the revenue derived from it is
insignificant in amount.
The income derived from the duty on railway pas,
sengers during the last six years has been, in the years
ending
olh January 1835 -0,852
8,6g3
1e37 10,296
1838 16,892
1839 39,570
1840 72,716
• . _

A reference td the Appendix will show that of the
sum of 72,000/4 derived from this tax during the last
year, 53,0001. was received from the five following
lines, namely, the Grand Junction, Great Western,
LiverpGol end Manchester, London and Birmingham,
London and Southampton ; so that those Railways in
Scotland and in the North of England, which derive
their income, as connected with the conveyance of pas-
sengers, chiefly from the poorer classes of society, and
which suffer most from the present tax, contribute in a
very small proportion to the revenue.
The effects of the present system of taxation are very
clearly pointed out by witnesses practically conversant
with railway communication.
The present duty on railway passengers is fixed by
the Act 2 and 3 Will. 4, c. 120, which states that
the proprietor or company of proprietors of every
railway along which any passenger shall be conveyed
for hire, shall pay for all such passengers at the rate of
one halfpenny per mile for every four passengers so
conveyed."
Every passenger therefore, whatever may be his fare,
is taxed to the amount of one-eighth of a penny per
mile. It is obvious, that while the tax is the same on
each passenger, the proportion which it bears to the
fares of different classes of passengers must vary
considerably. The operation of this tax is well illus-
trated in the observations of Mr. Smith, the assessor
of stage-coach duties : " Suppose a line of 120 miles
and three elasses of carriages ; suppose the first class
tire to be 3d per mile or 305., the second class to be
205., the third class to be 10s., the duty on each pas-
senger would be 1,5 d." This is a large proportion on
the lowest fare, end it; effect must be to prevent railway
Directors reducing their charges for the accommodation
of the poorest class of passengers. A coizparisr of
the mileage duty with the fares of different ran.:2ys
will be found in the Appendix, from which it will be
seen that the proportion of the mileage duty to the
fares on the London and Birmingham is 1-22 d, while
on some of the Scotch railways it amounts to 1-102 d,
and in one case even to 1-6th.

By examining the fares actually paid on different
railways, it will be found that, while, in some cases, the
first-class passenger pays a tax of only 31d. per cent
on his fare, the third Oa:, passenger is taxed 12, and
in some cases 1.5 per cent.
The inequality of taxation tends materially to di-
minish the profits arising from the third-class passen-
gers, and thereby operates as a discouragement to Railway
Companies giving that accommodation which the labour-
ing class might otherwise derive from railways. The real
hardship of this result deserves the greater attention
on the part of the Legislature, because railway commu-
cation ha§ superseded, and in many cases destroyed the
conveyance by means of waggons, rati3, and carts, which
afforded a cheap though dilatory mode of travelling to
the labourer and his family. How much the poorest
members of society are interested in some alteration
of the present duty may be seen by referring to the
evidence of Captain Lawes, in regard to the hand-loom
weavers, and also in the answers of Mr. Lindsay Car-
negie, and other gentlemen connected with the Scotch
railways, from whose statements it appears that the tax
will, on some of these lines, almost put an end to the
passenger traffic, inasmuch as the R iilway Directors
mulct raise their fares to an amount which will exclude
the chief part of the present passengers from the
line. Tna pressure of this tax is now for the first
time felt on many lines of railway, because in former
years, the Lords of the Treasury have exercised a power
given to them by the Act 2 and 3, Will. 4, c. 120, and
have allowed many of the Scotch and some of the Eng-
lish railways to pay an annual composition in lieu of
this tax ; this indulgence, however, which was a great
accommodation to Companies opening railway commu-
nications in the poorer districts of the country, is now
no longer granted, and your Committee see many ob-
jections to the future exercise of such a power by the
Treasury.
In considering the question of railway taxation, Par-
liament ought not to overlook the facts which were
elicited by the inquiries of the Committee of last ses-
sion, and which tend materially to increase the objec-
tions to a continuance of the present system. It was
stated by the chairman and deputy chairman of the
Leeds and Selby Railway that, in the year 1836, they
raised the fares on that line to an amount which dimin-
ished greatly the number of passengers ; but they
added, that by this increase of fare, although they
lessened their number of passengers by 12,000 in the
year, yet they augmented their profits by 1,300/. Evi-
dence to the same effect has also been given by the
chairman of the Bolton and Bury railway ; and a
reference to the returns of some of the Railways, con.
tained in the Appendix, will further prove the same fact.
Wherever the interests of railway proprietors and of
the public are at variance, it is probable that the com-
munity will be in some degree restricted from the
benefits which railway communication is capable of
affording ; your Committee, therefore, believe it to be
inexpedient to continue a system of taxation which tends
to separate the interests of the railway companies and
of the public, and which will gradually exclude a great
number of persons from the benefit of cheap conveyance.
Two modes of altering the present system of taxation
have been proposed, by which the inconvenience above-
mentioned would be removed.
One suggestion is, to substitute a per centage on the
gross receipts derived from passengers, in lieu of the
present tax. The assessor of stage-coach duties, an
officer in the department of Stamps and Taxes, has
stated that five per cent. on the gross receipts derived
from passengers, would produce about the same amount
of revenue as is raised under the present system. This
would relieve Railway Companies from that inequality
of which many complain ; and several of the petitions
referred to your Committee recommend this as the best
course which could be adopted.
Another suggestion has, however, been offered to your
Committee, which would be much more favourable to the
interests of the public, namely, to establish a graduated
scale of taxation, by which the amount of the tax should
be made immediately dependent on the amount of the
fare ; the great advantage of such a system would be
that it would act as a check on high fares, and would
hold out an inducement to Railway Companies to ac-
commodate every portion of the community.
A scale of graduation has been submitted to your
Committee by Captain Lawes, which will serve to illus-
trate this plan. Many Railway Companies are limited
by Act of Parliament to a maximum charge of 3Nd. per
mile for a passenger. Captain Lawes proposes that on
all fares exceeding 70 per cent. of the maximum allowed
by the Act, a duty of ten per cent. should be levied ;
on all fares exceeding 40 and under 70 per cent., a duty
of five per cent. should be levied ; on all fares below 40
per cent. a duty of two and a half per cent. should be
levied.

Mr. Wickham, the Chairman of the Stamps and
Taxes, stated his objection to the plan to arise from a
belief that such a graduated scale would be evaded, and
that the revenue would suffer a loss, or at least would
not receive the increase, which may be expected from a
continuance of the present system.
According to the calculations made by Mr. Smith-
upon the accounts rendered to your Committee by se,
veral Railway Companies, it appears' that there t%ould
be a considerable increase of duty by the adoption of tha
proposed scale. _ _ _

- Your Committee have examined into the different
objections urged against a graduated scale, which are,
the danger of fraud, by which the revenue might suffer,
and the difficulty of collecting duties varying in propor-
tion to the fare.

It is the interest of every Company that all its ac-
counts should be kept in a clear and intelligible form,
and in this respect the interests of the Company and of
the Government are identical ; under a proper system
of accounts it does not appear to your Committee that
frauds could be practised without detection ; and the
mode of issuing tickets adduced by Mr. Edmonstone, or
some similar method, would afford considerable facility
for the introduction of a graduated scale of duty.
Your Committee do not recommend that the scale
proposed by Captain Lawes should be adopted, because
they think that the duty of 10 per cent. would be too
high ; but they would recommend, that wherever no
maximum has been fixed by Act of Parliament, 3(1.
per mile should be considered to be the maximum, for
the purpose of this graduated taxation ; and that on all
fares exceeding 70 per cent. of this maximum, a duty of
7} per cent. should be levied ; on all fares exceeding 40
and under 70 per cent., a duty of 3 per cent, should be
levied ; and on all fares below 40 per cent. a duty of
per cent. should be levied. They believe that a
scale thus graduated would be found more just than the
present system, and that, while it would not diminish
the revenue, it would afford relief and continued accom-
modation to the poorer classes of the community
Your Committee would further suggest, that if
it be expedient that such an alteration should be
made, it is desirable that it should be carried into
effect with as little delay as possible, because every al-
teration in the principle of a tax becomes more difficult
in proportion to the extension of the traffic to which it
applies ; the traffic itself is thereby more deranged, and
especially in this case it is expedient that in those dis-
tricts where railways have been allowed to compound
for the existing tax, a substitution to the graduated scale
should enable them still to afford accommodation to the
labouring class, before they have been induced to aban-
don their present system of cheap conveyance.
Two other subjects have been incidentally brought
under the notice of your Committee, on which they are
desirous of offering a few observations to the House,
The rapid conveyance of troops from one part of the
country to another is occasionally an object of great
national importance ; and, for this purpose, provision is
annually made in the Mutiny Act, whereby in cases
of emergency " all justices are required within their