The Sun.
London, England, 1846-11-27 00:00:00

tion of the duty on tea in a commercial point of view ;
this had already been so ably gone into, that it would
be unbecoming in him to add one word to it. All he
would do, in conclusion, was to express an ardent hope
that the millions of those who moved in the humble walks
of life in this densely-populated land might be enabled
through the instrumentality of the promoters of the
present movement, to partake plentifully of that bev-
erage which " cheers but not inebriates," and adds to
social intercourse and the comfort of the domestic
hearth.—(Applause.)
Mr. HUGH HORNBY moved the next resolution. He
said ho felt some difficulty in making observations on
this subject, inasmuch as he had never yet heard any
argument advanced by those opposed to the reduction of
the duty on tea, to which it would not almost be an in-
sult upon the common sense of the meeting, to attempt
to make any reply. It had always appeared to him that i
the excessive duty on tea was so utterly indefensible—
attended by such manifest, such unmitigated severity—
that it was a matter of surprise so little had been hith-
erto done to induce its reduction. But it was in refer-
ence to its mischievous effects upon the moral habits of
the working classes that it had now become a question
of paramount and pressing importance to the public at
large. At the present moment, when the utmost
anxiety existed to rescue our working population from
ignorance, destitution, and degradation, it should re-
quire no inducements to be held out to cause Govern-
ment to make a reduction of the duty on an article of
general consumption—a reduction which it was admitted
on all hands would ameliorate the social moral, and phy-
sical condition of the humbler classes. He was aware
that, in making these observations, he had entered on a
topic reserved for gentlemen who should succeed him ;
but he felt deeply on the subject, and trusted he would
therefore be excused. We had been so long accustomed
to the high duty on tea, that he believed we had at
length become unable to make a proper estimate of
its evil consequences. If any stranger ascertained
that China could supply us, to all practicable purposes,
with an unlimited supply of tea—what would be
his astonishment on finding an impediment to the in-
creased import of tea, arising from an artificial regu-
lation of our own ? that it was in consequence of our
imposing a higher duty on this article, with the excep-
tion, he believed, of ardent spirits and tobacco, than any
other in the commercial tariff. There was no valid rea-
son why a reduction should not take place. He (Mr.
Hornby) believed there was no instance of an excessive
duty on any article of universal consumption being re-
duced, where an increased consumption did not compen-
sate for the loss of revenue which must otherwise have
been felt. In the case of coffee the reduction was at-
tended, not by loss, but by actual profit to the revenue.
With tea, in his opinion, the result would be still more
striking, because its taste was more congenial than coffee
to the people of this country. He for his part had not
the slightest doubt, if the duty on tea were reduced from
2s. 24d. to ls. per lb., in a few years the consumption
would be trebled, and the revenue would be a gainer
instead of a loser. Mr. Hornby concluded by affirming
that we had not acted in a spirit of true reciprosity with
China—maintaining the duties on tea after their grant-
ing a tariff admitting British manufactures at the mode-
rate duty, 5 per cent.
Mr. T. B. HORSFALL seconded the resolution. He
expressed his opinion, amid loud applause, that no tri-
fling reduction would be of any importance whatever ;
but that we must have a large and substantial reduction.
He amplified the calculations of Mr. Brown, to show that
previous reductions of the duty on tea had not injured
the revenue, and stated the important fact, that during
the past ten months of the present year the shipment of
goods to China had fallen off 40 per cent. He concluded
by expressing his conviction that Government not only
would, but readily, attend to the representations which
the meeting might make to it.

The meeting was subsequently addressed by Mr. Adam
Hodgson, Mr. Thomas Blackburn, Mr. Winch, Mr. Brod-
ribb, Mr. Ileyworth, Mr. Christopher Rawson, Mr. Geo,
Grant, Mr. J. Cropper, Mr. T. Brocklebank, Mr. William
Rathbone, and Mr. Thornley, M.P., and all the resolu-
tions were passed unanimously, and ordered to be in-
serted in the Daily News. A deputation was named to
proceed to London, for the purpose of having an inter-
view with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, &c. Thanks
were then voted to the Mayor, and the meeting, after a
few hearty cheers, separated at a few minutes to four
o'clock.

RAILWAY SHARE MARKETS.
LIVERPOOL, NOVEMBER 26.

STOCK ExcitA.Non.—The sales are—Chester and Birken-
head, 5134—Edinburgh and Glasgow, Halves, 1034—London
and North-Western, Quarters, New, 1234 p.—Ditto, Quarters
(G. J.), 20 p.—Manchester and Leeds, Fifths, 5 p.—Mid-
land, 124—Ditto, New, 4 p.—Preston and Wyre, Preference,
Halves (A), 31/2 p.—York and Newcastle, Preference, 5 .
—Belfast and Ballymena, 7s.'dis.—Great Grimsby Dock, 214
dis.—Great Grimsby and Sheffield, 4% dis.—Ditto, Exten-
sion, Bs. 9d. dis.—Huddersfield Canal and Railway, Exten-
sion, 1% p.—Leeds and Dewsbury, 1114 p.—Ditto, Branches
(blue), p.—Ditto, Extensions (green), 134 p.—Leeds
and Thirsk, 211 dis.—Ditto, New, 14 dis.— North Wales
Mineral, Halves, 21,4 p.— Ambergate and Eastern Junction,
p.—Birkenhead, Lancashire, and Cheshire Junction, 11/2
p.—Birmingham and Dudley, 53/4 p.—Birmingham and Ox-
ford Junction, 6% p.—Boston, Stamford, and Birmingham,
p.—Glasgow and Dumfries,3s. 9d. p.—Liverpool, Manches-
ter, and Newcastle'Junction,',4 dis. —Newry and Warrenpoint,
2yB p.—North Staffordshire, 3% p.— North-Western, Bs. 9d.
p.—Shrewsbury and Hereford, dis.—Shrewsbury, Wolver-
hampton, and South Staffordshire, % dis.—Shrewsbury and
Birmingham (A), 1% p.—Ditto, 91. 12s. 3d. shares (B), 1/
p.—Shropshire Union Railway and Canal, IA dis.—West
Riding Union, 11/ p.—Manchester, Midland, and Great
Grimsby, 21s. 3d. dis.—North :British, New, 18s. 9d. p.—
Dutch khenish, dis.—Great Luxembourg, 34 die.
_ MANCHESTER, NOVEMBER 26.

STOCK EXCHANGE.—The sales are—Ambergate, Notting-
ham, and Boston, 1-16 p.—Birkenhead, Lancashire, and
Cheshire Junction, 1% p.—Birmingham and Dudley, 54 p.
—Boston, Stamford, and Birmingham, par—Churnet and
Blythe, 14 dis.—Direct Northern, % dis.—East Lancashire,
No. 1, New, 44 p.—Ditto, No. 2 (late Liverpool, Onus-
kirk, &c. ), ex add. sh., 4 p.—East Lincolnshire, % p.—Edin-
burgh and Glasgow, Quarters, 18—Glasgow and Dumfries,
1-16 p.—Huddersfield and Manchester Railway and Canal,
43/4 p.—Ditto, Thirds, 1% p.—Lancaster and Preston, 10
p.—Leeds and Thirsk, 2% dis.—Ditto, New, 14 dis.—Leeds,
Dewsbury, and Manchester, 111.7, p.—Liverpool, Manchester,
and Newcastle Junction, 5-16 dis.—London, Manchester,
and Birmingham, 72—Ditto, Quarters (A), 6% p.—Ditto
(B), 67/8 p.—Ditto (C), 6% p.—Manchester and Leeds,
20 p.—Alanchester and Southampton, % dis.—North Staf-
fordshire, 3% p.—North-Western, % p.—Oldham Alliance,
354 p.—Shelleld and Lincolnshire, % dis.—Sheffield and
Manchester, Quarters, No. 3, 4 dis.—Shrewsbury and
Birmingham (A), 1% p.—Shrewsbury and Herefordshire,
c. dis.—South-Eastern and Dover, No. 4, 1,4 p.—West
Lancashire Coast, Bs. dis.—West Riding Union, 1% p.—
Wharfdale (late North-Eastern), dis.—York and New-
castle, Preference, 5 p.
LEEDS, NOVEMBER 26.

SIOCK EXCIIANGE.—The sales are—East Lancashire, 41/2 n.
p.—Ditto, No. 2 (late Liverpool, Ormskirk, &c.), 4 c. p.—
Huddersfield and Manchester, 5 is. p.—Ditto, Thirds, 11A p.
—Leeds and Bradford, 4514 p.—Leeds and Dewsbury, 11%
n.p.—Ditto, Extensions, 31s. 6d. p.—Leeds and Thirsk,
dis.—Ditto, New, par—Malton and Driffield Junction, 15s.
p.—Midland, Preference, 3',4p.—North British, Thirds, 2% p.
—Ditto, Quarters (late Carlisle Branch), 21/2 p.—Ditto, Ex-
tensions (scrip), 20s. p.—North Staffordshire, 3% p.—Wharf-
dale Junction, 10s. dis. c.—York and Newcastle, Preference,
474 p.—Ambergate, Nottingham, and Boston, par—Direct
Northern, 10s. dis.—North-Western, 7s. p.—Sheffield, Ro-
therham, and Goole, ss. p.—Shrewsbury and Birmingham,
n. p.