The Sun.
London, England, 1846-07-27 00:00:00

THE SUGAR DUTIES.

- - -
It is expected, we believe, that the division upon the
Sugar Duties will take place to-morrow night, and the ma-
jority in favour of the measure will, it is anticipated, be even
larger than that upon the second reading of the Corn Bill.
Sir Robert Peel and Sir James Graham will support the Mi-
nisterial measure. The opinion gains ground too that it is
not likely to encounter any serious opposition in the House of
Lords. The more this question is looked at, the more the
facts which bear upon it and the interests of the community
are considered, the more must our amazement be excited that
eo monatrous an abuse should so long have been suffered to
existslhat so great an economical error should have remained
so long unredressed. The facts connected with the Sugar
Duties, and their effect upon the consumer, constitute
no finely balanced question, on which, when once they
are known, any disrute can be maintained ; they are
so palpable as at once to bring home conviction to the
mind of the absurdity of the system we have hitherto
pursued. And this is the more striking when we
consider that in other articles intimately connected, both in
their sources of production and in their actual uses, with
sugar, a policy the reverse of that now under consideration
has been pursued for the last quarter of a century, and with
such success that statesman after statesman has referred to it
as conclusive evidence of the wisdom of relaxing commercial
restrictions, and of the fact that exorbitant duties are alike
inconsistent with the true interests of the consumer and the
fiscal policy of the State. Our surprise at the pertinacity
with which statesmen have adhered to this absurd system is
greatly increased when we consider the character of the article
which has been so long the object of this most unwise policy.
With the exceptions only of bread and salt, there is proba-
bly no other article capable of such an extended and ben ficial
consumption as sugar, or by the aid of which the useful pro-
perties of so many other articles of every-day consumption are
developed. It is worth while to look back for twenty or thirty
years, and to see the anxiety displayed by commercial re-
formers to bring the articles of coffee, and tea, and fruits
more within the reach of the poorer classes of our consumers,
while, until last year, little or nothing has been attempted to
secure a corresponding increase of sugar. Since 1821 the
reductions which have taken place in the duties 'on coffee
May be thus stated :
Duty on Duty on Dnty on
Colonial East India Foreign
Coffee Coffee. Coffee.
per lb. per lb. per lb.
s. d. s. d. s. d.
1821
1825
1835
1842 ........ 0 4
1844
Under these reductions the consumption of coffee has in-
creased so rapidly as to yield a revenue at the present time
much more than double the amount that it did in 1821.
The progress of consumption may be thus stated :
In 1821
1831 .... 22,740,000
1841
1845
Again, the opening of our trade to China, by the abolition
of the monopoly of the East India Company, has had great
effect upon the price, and consequently upon the consump-
tioo of tea. 'fhe consumption of tea was in
1821
1831
1841
1845
From 1821 to 1846 the consumption of coffee, nnder the
reductions of duty to which we have referred, increased
nearly fivefold; and during the same period the consump-
tion of tea increased twofold. But while these extraordinary
changes have been taking place, what has been the progress
of all those supplies of sugar from which the consumption of
the country could be drawn? The entire importations at the
periods quoted have been as follow :—ln
1821 ...
1831 5,366,262
1841
1844
But of the quantity imported in 1844 no 1 ss than 777,000
cwts. were of that class of sugar practically prohibited from
consumption by a duty of 635. per cwt., while in 1821 of that
class the supply included only 197,000 cwts. So that in
reality the actual available supply of sugar in 1844 was only
4,110,000 cwts., while in 1821 it was 4,176,000 cwts. seeing
how uniformly the supply and consumption of coffee in-
creased with every reduction of duty, we shall be less sur-
prised at the stationary character of the supplies of sugar
when we consider the scale of duties to which during the
same period that article has been subjected. They were as
follows: ' •

SUGAII DUTIES._

Colonial. Foreign.
1821 275. per cwt. ... ..635.
1831 245. „ ,6355.
1841 245. and 5 per cent. 635. and 5 per cent.
1844 .245. 63s.
Nothing can, therefore, be more conclusive than the evi-
dence of these facts as to the influence of duties upon the
amount of consumption ; showing. on the one hand, the rapid
increase which immediately follows a reduction of duty and
a removal of restrictions ; and, on the other, the sta-
tionary character of our supplies as long as restrictions
and high duties are maintained. But, with the rapid in•
crease which has taken place in the population of the coun-
try, what appears in figures as a stationary supply is, in
effect, an actual diminution. In 1801 the consumption of
sugar in this country was 3011bs. to each individual ; in 1821
it was 19ilbs. to each individual; and in 1844 the average
consumption of the whole population was only !Gibs. and a
small fraction to each individual. While of coffee, in .801 the
consumption per head, in Great Britain, was little above
loz.; in 1821 it was Soz.; in 1844, it was more than lilb.
to each person. So that while the established allowance of
sugar for each person in the navy is more than 341b5., and
while our workhouse regulations provide. more than 22lbs. to
each pauper in the year, the average consumption of each
person in the whole country, at the latest date to which our
figures extend, very little exceeds 161 b. Surely these are
facts which must silence all the objections which can be put
forward against increasing the supply of this necessary ar-
ticle of human food. What avails it that our coffees duties
have been reduced, it the supply of sugar remains stationary ?
What avails it that we increase our trade with the Chinese,
and bring to the consumer double the present quantity
of tea, if no more sugar is to be admitted? How can
the poor get the benefit of those relaxations of
the tariff which have opened to their use the fresh fruits
from the gardens of Flanders and Holland, if we are
still to be stinted to exactly the same quantity of sugar, the
share of each person decreasing annually as the population
grows ? We are told that the supply of fruit during the last
week has been so great in the metropolis, that the 13atayier
from Rotterdam, the Antwerpen from Antwerp, and the
steam-packet from Havre, have landed on our quays such an
abundance of fruit, that currants, which recently sold for
10d. the quart, have been sold during the past week at 10d.
the gallon. . But what of all this, if the poor man, the
decent mechanic, and the great bulk of the population, are
deprived of a cheap and abundant supply of that commodity
which can alone enable them to turn these advantages to
account? What could more conduce Bathe health and com-
fort of a large community ?—what gr domestic luxury
to the poor, than such a supply of sugar as would enable
them to preserve for future use such an abundant and cheap
supply of fruit? A good Sugar Bill is a necessary comple-
ment to all the reductions and reforms which we have made
in our tariff. Weigh against the great public interests in-
volved in the measure all the arguments which are put fcr-
ward by the monopolists against it—in all of them we re-
cognise only one idea and one fact, which has been thecon-
spicuous mark of our sugar legislation from time immemorial
—the interests of the many sacrificed to those of the few.—
Chronicle. •

DEATH OF COLONEL MACIRONE.—T his distinguished
but unfortunate officer expired suddenly on Saturday morn-
ing last. He was born at Manchester in 1787, and was sent
by his father to Italy, in 1801, for commercial objects, and
was detained at Naples on the breaking ottt of the war.
King Having attracted the attention of Murat, then of Naples,
from a certain likeness he bore to Buonaparte, as well as by
his success in experimental science and athletic exercises, be
entered the Neapolitan service, and in a short time was ap-
pointed one of the Aides-de-camp of Murat, with the rank of
Colonel: he was also decorated with the crosses of the Two
Sicilies, and of the Legion of Honour. His " Interesting
Facts," published in London, concerning that ill-starred
monarch, were so eagerly sought in Italy, where the
book was prohibited, that manuscript copies of it sold at
a very high price. In 1820 and 1821 Colonel Macirone
sent several hundred men to the Spanish settlements
in South America, and received the fruitless rank
of Brigadier-General from the Republic of Colombia.
He aftetwards served the Liberal party in Spain,
until the retreat of the Cortes to Cadiz. During the agita-
tion of the Reform Bill lie printed his " Defensive Instruc-
tions for the People," of which many thousand copies were
sold ; he subsequently published two volumes of autobio-
graphy, intending to follow them by two others, had not the
death of his bookseller prevented his design. They attracted
great attention and elicited much applause in the periodicals
of the time. Of late years he dedicated himself to mecha-
nical pursuits, principally to the establishment of steam loco-
motives on common roads, but failing in this undertaking he
became much embarrassed in his circumstances, and never
recovered any part of the money he embarked. lie was the
contributor of many useful suggestions in the Mechanics'
Magazine, and other scit ntitie periodicals; and amongst
those suggestions may be mentioned the Archimedes screw,
for the impulsion of steam-ships, many years before it was
adopted by Government. He died suddenly, but calmly,
without a murmur, we are afraid in utter destitution, leaving
a widow and two daughters, of course quite penniless.
LLANGOLLEN.—Mr. Cobden has been in the neigh-
bourhood of Llangollen and Machynlleth during the last
fortnight; his lady is a native of the latter place. His
health is improving. Cobden's print dresses are very
fashionable amongst the ladies here; nothing else will do.
Mr. C. was surprised to see so large a congregation at Llan-
gollen church, but the secret of his being there had got out,
and everybody rushed to see the agitator. —Cuenareon
Herald.
PARlS.—Workmen have commenced the demolition of
the elephant in the Place de la Bastille. The figure is com-
posed chiefly of wood and plaster, very little iron being used
about it. At the first blow of the hammer a number of rats
ran out, no fewer than 200 having been destroyed.

t6TLEY'i, ROYAL AMPiIITHEAIRK.
Proprietor. Mi. W. Batty.
Ender the especial pstronagts of her Most Gracious Majesty the
Queen, Prince Albert, the Prince of Wales, and ,Ite Princess
Royal. Tremendous overflows. The present productions nightiy
hailed with the most rapturous applause. Second Week of the
l'hanlorn Horseman:. Fiftieth Night of the Indian Wars.
Tins EVENING
wilt be performed the Grand -Military Spectacle, called THE
411{IIS' INVASION; or, England's Victories of 1846. Intro-
ducing the whole resources of the Theatre, military Brass Bands, &c.
After which, Novel and Picturesque SCENES of the HIPPO-
DROME and Sports of the Curriculum, by the British and Foreign
FrOIeSSOTS. Clowns in the Arena, Messrs. Wallet and Rochez.
'tie whole concluding with the successful Equestrian Drama of
the PHANTOM HORSEMAN.
Box-office open from eleven till five o'clock.—Doors open at six.
and commence at seven o'clock.

DAVIDGE'S ROYAL SURREY THEATRE
Last Week of Mr. Osbaldiston, Miss Vincent, and the Double Dra-
matic Company of the Surrey and Victoria Theatres, and First
Appearance of Mr. Shepherd.
THIS EVENING
Will be performed the Melodrama. entitled WILDFIRE, THE
GYE'SEY HORSE STEALYR ; or, The Fortunes and Chances of
War. Joe Mizen, Mr. Neville ; Ben Mizen, Mr. Shepherd; Harry
Marsden, Mr. Hughes; Wildfire, Mr. Saville; Captain Lindsay, Mr.
Johnson ; Peter Pertains, Mr. G. Forman ; Mary Marsden, Miss
Vincent ; Peggy. Miss L. Pearce.
After which, THE HONEYMOON. Duke Aranza, Mr. Osbal-
dlston ; Rolando, Mr. ; Juliana, Miss Vincent.
To conclude with THE RED ROVER. The lied Rover, Mr.
Hughes.

Under the patronage of her Most Gracious Majesty.
ROYAL SURREY ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS.
EVERY MONDAY, TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY, AND
THURSDAY.
VIEW of NAPLES, ERUPTION of VESUVIUS, DESTRUC-
TION of HERCULANEUM and POMPEII, in the year 79. This
magnificent spectacle is revived in an unprecedented scale of
grandeur, the picture being more than twice the size of the former,
and represents, as accurately as can possibly be done, the Great
Eruption of Vesuvius in the year 79, when the
under Destructhtion
direction
f Her-
culaneum and Pompeii tcok place: produced e
of Mr. Danson.
A richly ornamented cIOTHIC BRIDGE of STATUES has been
constructed, which will be brilliantly Illuminated at Night.
The PROMENADE CONCERTS, conducted by Mr. Godirey.
The Band consists of Fifty first •rate Performers, selected principally
from the Coldstream and her Majesty's private band.
In addition to the other attractions of the Gardens, will be exhi-
bited CALYPSO'S FAIRY GROTTO, approached by the Illumi-
nated Gothic Bridge, representing in the Interior Telemachus
relating his adventures to Calypso.
The pYROTECIINIC DISPLAYS, by Mr. Southby, are On the
most complete and effective scale.
Preceding the Volcanic Display, a novel exhibition will be intro-
luced, representing the Descent of nimbus in the Chariot of the Sun.
Mons. larinelli will descend from a Chinese Pagoda, seventy feet in
!might, to the surface of the lake, where a Naiad's Car will rise to
receive Lim, and bear him to his chrystal home.
The Glass Conservatory is splendally ornamented with festoons
of lamps, enabling the visitors to view the matchless collection of
Carnivora by gas-light.
Feeding of the Carnivora at half-past five; the Pelicans, &c., at
six ; Concert at half-past six ; and the Eruption at dusk.
On moND....r, Aug. 10, will take place a GRAND NEAPOLITAN
CARNIVAL and FETE D'ETE ; combining all the novelties of
the season.

Admission. One Shilling.

UOC
and the Cross," 2 vols., small Bvo.—The above work is
Edited FibyELEAlaiot ;W
a robru r tEo nn,glEat.nqd, ai unt hot hr
eo
f 'Nle' bwe CWresocrelid
published this day by 111 r. Colburn, of Great Marlborough-
street, and may now be bad of all booksellers. The follow
.ing-are alscr now ready, t-2. Horace Walpole's Memoirs of
the Reign of George the Second, edited by the late Lord
Holland, now printed for the first time in the Bvo form, in 3
vols. with portraits, 365. bound. 3. The Modern Orlando, in
seven cantos, 6s. 4. Echoes from the Back Woods, by Capt.
Levinge, 2 vols., 21s. 5. Second Series of the Stanhope
Memoirs, comprising the Seven Years' Travels of Lady
Hester Stanhope, 3 vols., 31s. 6d. 6. Lord Brougham's
Lives of Men of Letters and Science, volume the second. 7.
The Poetical Works of Horace Smith, one' of the authors of
" Rejected Addresses," 2 vols., 12s. 8. Viscount Fielding
• and Captain Kennedy's Travels in Algeria in 1845, 2
V 01,41 Nl'