The Sun.
London, England, 1846-12-07 00:00:00

LON DON MONDAY
G

No. 16,916.

DEPUTATIONS to GOVERNMENT

-- -
the smuggling, and that the enterprise of the contraband
trader had beea transferred to tobacco. The effect of
the reduction of the duty on spirits had been a positive
increase of revenue. This would certainly occur in the
case of tobacco.
The deputation then retired, no intimation, so far as
we have understood, having been given of the intentions
of G•)vernment in reference to the tobacco duties.

CALEDONIAN ASYLUM.
dJ Incorporated in 1815.
A QUARTERLY GENERAL COURT of GUARDIANS was hell
at the Scottish Hospital, Crane-court, Fleet-street, on the 3d instant,
for the ELECTION of SIX BOYS and SIX GIRLS into the
Asylum, when the following were declared to be the successflal
Candidates:—

MONSON'S ARMS, COMMERCIAL and
AGRICULTURAL INN, MIGH-STREET, LINCOLN.
JOHN INMAN begs most respectfully to retarn his best thanks to
his agricultural and commercial friends in particular, and to the
public in general, for the increased and increasing support conferred
upon him; and to merit which it will be his constant endeavour and
ut emitting study.
Commercial gentlemen will at the Monson's Arms find accommo-
dation equal to any house, however celebrated for commercial resort
—an excellent commercial room, well aired beds, and good stabling.
Travellers by railway visiting the ancient city will receive every
attention.
An omnibus to and from the railway station on the arrival and
eparture of each train.
November 28, 1846.
ETHIOPIAN SERENADERS.
ST. JAMES'S THEATRE.
The celebrated Ethiopian Serenaders, Pell, Harrington, White,
Stanwood, and Germon, whose entertainments last season at the
St. James's Theatre were so eminently successful, and whose recent
performances in the Provinces have been atte,ded with unexampled
success, will have the honour of resuming their entertainments at the
above theatre on TUESDAY EVENING, Dee. 15. and of continuing
the same every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday evenings,
durign
the Christmas holidays.
The public is respectfully cautioned that the Songs and Melodies,
as sung by the above party at the St. James's Theatre, are published
only at Mr. Mitchell's Library, 33, Old Bond-street. None others
are authentic.
St. James's Theatre, Dec. 1, 1846.

TEA. DUTIES.
A deputation on the subject of the tea duties waited
on Lord John Russell and Mr. Charles Wood, on Satur-
day, having been introduced by William Entwisle, Esq.,
Member for South Lancashire.
Mr. William Earle, in presenting the memorial from
the town of Liverpool, agreed to at the late public meet-
ing, and signed by the Mayor, praying for a material
reduction of the duty on tea, assured his Lordship that
he had never witnessed a more influential or unanimous
meeting in Liverpool than the one at which that memo-
rial had been adopted, and he believed it expressed the
feeling of nearly every inhabitant of that town.
Mr. Halliday presented a similar memorial from the
Dublin Chamber of Commerce.
Mr. Feilden presented a memorial from all the in-
fluential inhabitants of Blackburn, and another, signed
by upwards of 2,000 of the working classes, in favour or
a great reduction in the duty on tea.
Mr. Law presented a memorial from the city of Edin-
burgh, signed by the Lord Provost, and another from
the Chamber of Commerce there, to a similar effect.
Mr. Scarlett presented a memorial from the town of
Leeds, and stated how seriously the trade of that town
was affected by the injurious tendency of the present high
duty on tea.
Mr. John Scott supported the prayer of the memorials
which had been sent direct to the Government from the
city of Glasgow, the Merchants' House, the East India
and China Association, and the Chamber of Commerce
of Glasgow.
Mr. William Potter, of Liverpool, then addressed his
Lordship on the benefits which would accrue to the mer-
cantile and shipping interests by a material reduction of
the present high duty on tea. He showed, in a very
forcible manner, the immense increase of manufactures
which he stated would be consumed in China,- and that
the increased consumption of tea, and consequently
of
sugar, would give employment to at least 40,000 tons of
additional shipping.
Mr. Wench, of Liverpool, argued, from statistics
which he brought forward, that by reducing the duty to
ls. per lb. the public would be enabled to consume
twenty-seven millions of pounds more of tea, and 27,650
tons more sugar, without any additional outlay; that
tea which is now retailed at 4s. per lb.inight,pen be
sold at 2s. 6d., and that the lois to the revenue-would
only be 101,5731., even if the rate of consumption were
no greater than in the Isle of Man, where the duty is
Is. per lb.
Mr. Robert Gardner, of Manchester, stated the im-
mense decline in the shipment of cotton manufactures
from Manchester, in consequence of the serious losses
incurred in the China trade by the restrictions caused by
the high duty on tea. Many of the mills had already
commenced working short time, and others must follow,
unless an impetus were given by such a reduction of the
duty as would enable shipments to be made to China
with better prospects than were now offered.
Mr. Scarlett, of Leeds, called the attention of the Go-
vernment to the depressed state of the woollen manufac-
turers in the West Riding of Yorkshire, greater than
had been felt for several years.- The trade with China
had been so ruinous that shipments had greatly fallen
off. He felt assured that an early intimation of the Go-
vernment's decision in favour of a reduction of the tea
duties would at once cause renewed activity in the de-
mand for woollens. He was desired to mention, on the
part of the deputation from Norwich, how fully they
concurred in the statement he had just made.
Mr. John Scott stated how mach Glasgow was inte-
rested in the subject, and hoped the Government would
take the tea duties into their serious consideration.
Mr. Horsfall, of Liverpool, assured h:s Lordship that
it was the general opinion that a small reduction would
be certain to disappoint both the Government and the
consumer ; to be of service, it must be reduced to a rate
equivalent to is. per lb. We had secured for other
nations the same advantages in China that we ourselves
possessed, but whilst in no other country was tea
charges a higher duty than 6d. per lb., and in some it
was entirely tree, our consumers had to pay 2s. 21d. per
lb. It was, he argued, most unjust to force upon the
Chinese a tariff the lowest of any nation with whom we
traded, whilst we imposed on the principal article of
their manufacture so exorbitant a duty. It was con-
trary to the feelings of Englishmen to oppress the weak
and the powerless, and he hoped that so great a blot on
the national character would soon be wiped away.
Lord John Russell assured the deputation that Go-
vernment were fully impressed with the importance of
the subject. He had listened with great attention to all
that had been urged by the several speakers as affecting
the commercial, manufacturing, and shipping interests,
and also as regarded the claims of China to a more
liberal treatment. It was, as all knew, a revenue ques-
tion, and an important one,- but he would promise the
early consideration of the Government to the arguments
that had been advanced upon this point. More he could
not say, nor could it be expected of him.
Mr. Eutwisle then thanked his Lordship for the
patient hearing be had given to the subject, and the
deputation withdrew, highly pleased with the courteous
reception they had met with.

GIRLS,

BOTS.
Thomas Mitchell.. • • .. 1789
Robert Hutcherson •• 1573
Andrew Fell .. .. 1406
James Chambers • • .. 1157
Richard Alexander • • .. 1062
John Gunn .. • • .. 1032

Mary Ann Cooper 1237
Mary Charlotte Clark .. 829
Eliza Prentice • • .. 692
Lucy Isabella M'Leod 335
Margaret McKenzie • . .. 312
Mary Ann Robertson.. .. 234
Rocina Sutherland .• .. 234
JOHN BURNIE, Secretary.

THE TEA DUTIES.
(From the Examiner.)
The question of reforming the duties on tea is at pre-
sent under agitation by the commercial community
throughout the country, and began on the 28th of kW,
mouth by a great and enthusiastic public meeting at
Liverpool.
The history of the tea duties, or as much of it as is
useful, is easily told. Under the monopoly the, public
tax was an ad-valorem one of 100 per cent., with a
favour of four per cent. for the consumption of the poor.
On the abolition of the monopoly, thirteen years ago,
this was replaced by a duty rated to the value of the
different teas by classes. Against this rating the tea
trade mutined, and forced on the Government the exist-
ing system of an uniform rate, against which the tea
trade is again in a state of mutiny with a good deal more

ROYAL POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTION.
BY PERMISSION.
PROFESSOR SCWENBEIN'S GUN COTTON, diff:ring from all
other specimens recently before the public, is LECTURED on, with
other explosive compounds, by 7r. RYAN, daily at Half past Three;
and on the evenings of Mondays, Wednesdays. and Fridays.
The principle of the ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH DEMONSTRA-
TED, by Professor BACIIHOFFNER. The OXYHYDROGEN and
OPAQUE MICROSCOPES. The PHYSIOSCOPE DIVING EX-
PERIMENTS. The DISSOLVING VIEWS, y CUARLES
SMITH , &c. &c.
Admission la. Schools, half-price.

Provisionally registered according to Act of Parliament.
METROPOLITAN and SUBURBAN
CEMETERIES SOCIETY, established for public objects,
and carried out by private means.
First Capital, 100,0001., in 5.000 shares of 201. each.
Ultimate Capital, 2,000,0001.
Deposit, 11. 10s. per share.
All Shareholders to have the option of burial-ground in exchange
for their /ha Tq, at two thirds the price to the public, with the pre-
emption of any future shares of the ultimate capital whieh may be
issued. To be incorporated, and the liability of shareholders limited
by Act of Parliament, or Royal Charter.
TRUSTEES.

reason.
The fixed duty, which has now been in operation ten
years, is 2s. 2-Id. per pound on teasof all, or any quality,
and is equally imposed on poor bohea, as on supeifine
gunpowder, or superfine flowery pekoe—equally on the
consumption of a washerwoman and the luxury of a fine
lady. The value of the lowest bohea is 2d. a pounds
and that of the finest gunpowder or pekoe 4s. 6d.
a pound, or seven-and-twenty times as much ! The
fine lady ought to pay righteously, twenty-seven times
the tax which the washerwoman pays, but the law makes
her pay just the same sum. She pays 2s. 21. d for her
4s. 6d. worth, and the washerwoman 28.21-d. on her two-
pence worth ! The washerwoman's tax, rated on the
value of her consumption, exceeds 1,300 per cent., and
the fine lady's is under 48 ! The public tax now paid
by the washerwoman is near fourteen times as much as
it was before the abolition of the monopoly—and that
paid by the fine lady is less than one• half what it
was then !
This, with a vengeance, is placing small-beer and im-
perial tokay on a fiscal level. The result of the levelling
has been that the 10,000,000 lbs. of bohea consumed by
the poor, eleven years ago, have been well nigh kicked
out of the market altogether, and that there is not now,
nor has there been for some years back, a stock of bohea
in the kingdom that would suffice for a year's consump-
tion of the washerwomen of Marylebone. All this comes
of a Government listening to evil advisers !
Of the speakers at the great public meeting at
Liverpool, by far the most enlightened sentiments
were expressed by Mr. Brown, the new Member for
Lancashire, and they were such as show very clearly
that the electors of Lancashire have made a good
choice. Mr. Brown showed from one of the lectures
of Mr. Bamfield, that the poor who were consumers of
'Tea amounted to 10,300,000—the middle-class consu-
mers to no more than 4,500,000, and the wealthy con-
sumers only to I,2oo,ooo—and he asked if it was to be
endured, however convenient to the merchant and the
Custom-house, that the poor and rich should pay the
same specific duty.
We are sorry to be obliged to say that Mr. Brown
stood alone in the expression of this generous, righteous,
and politic sentiment. He was loudly cheered, but no
man backed him, and after a great exhibition of statistic
knowledge and much talent, the meeting came to the
most lame and miserable conclusion of demanding a
swingeing reduction in the duty—a reduction of one
from 2s. 21d. to one of " one shilling"—thus leaving the
ruinous principle untouched, and throwing the whole
onus of an enormous defalcation of revenue on the Go-

Benjamin Bond Cabbell, Esq.' M.P., &c. ; Luke James Hansard,
Esq., &c. &c. &c.
COMMITTEE OP MANAGEMENT.
Henry Berkeley, Esq., Essex-street, Strand.
John Berkeley Cotter, Esq., Broad-street-buildings.
John Gardiner, Esq„ Regent's Villas, Regent's Park.
William Gilpin, Esq., Northumberland street.
Captain Hackett, R.N., Upper Rutland-street, Dublin.
George Peters Irvine, Esq., Travellers' Club, Pau mall.
George Leslie Lee, Esq., Broad street-buildings.
George Frederick Minton, Esq., Berners-street.
Edward Duke Moore, Esq., Arlington-street.
George Kennett Pollock, Esq., Essex-street, Strand.
William Stuart, Esq., Bedford-square.
William Wslmsley Terrington, Esq., Great Winchester-street.
Charles Robert Thompson, Esq., Winchester House.
James Tracy, Esq., Great Winchester-street.
With power to add to their number,
BANKERS—The Commercial Bank of London.
STANDING COUNSEL.
Mr. Sergeant Channel' and Mr. Thomas Bourdillon, Esq.
SOLICITORS—Messrs. Bourdillun and Sons.
AncturzcT—John Hargrave Stevens, Esq., C. E.

SURVEYORS —Messrs. Hoggart and Norton.
SUPERINTENDENT—.Tames Macdonald, ESQ.
SECRETARY Edward Hoare, Esq.
The proposed objects of the Metropolitan and Suburban Cemeteries
Society are as follow :
To provide sites for Burial, East, West, North, and South, of the
Metropolis.
To effect considerable reduction in the rate of charges.
To adopt a new principle of payment—a single charge being sub-
stituted for the customary fees.
To provide for the decent and respectable Burial of the Poorer
Population by a system of arrangement perfectly novel, including
buildings for the temporary reception, as well as for the transit of
bodies. Negociations are now pending for the purchase of several
exceedingly eligible sites, and one portion of 150 acres has beets
already secured.
The estimates show a large annual dividend when the Society shall
be in fitll operation, until which period four per cent. interest will be
paid on the deposits and calls.
The Committee of Management are now r.ady to receive applica-
tions for Shares, which m•ty be made to Messrs Bourdllion and
Sons, Solicitors, 30, Great Winchester-street ; J. H. Stevens, Esq.,
Architect, 6, Clement's Inn, Strand ; Messrs. Shewell and Sons,
Brokers, 25, Tokenhouse-yard ; Thomas Sleigh, Esq., jun., Broker,
22, Exchange-street East, Liverpool ; Messrs. W. H. Collis and Smith,
Birmingham; Messrs. Tate and Nash, Bristol; Messrs. Jackson
and M'Cowan, Glasgow ; James Pringle, Esq., Edinburgh ; Edward
Minton, Esq., 26, Darley-street, Bradford ; Messrs. Wood and Son,
Leeds ; or to the Secretary, at the Office of the Society. 6, Broad-
street-buildings, where Prospectuses and all further particulars may
be obtained.

By order of the Board,
London, Nov. 25, 1846. EDWARD HOARE, Secretary.

vernment.
We shall show how the proposed tax would operate,
in case the Government, which is not credible, should be
so simple as to adopt it. The lowest priced Bohea is
worth 2d. a pound, and the proposed tax is an ad-valorem
duty of six hundred per cent. on it. The highest
Bohea is worth 4d., and the tax is here three hundred
per cent. If the poor should be driven to 6d. tea, the
tax is still two hundred per cent.
The tea of the middle classes may be taken at Is. a
pound, and they pay only 100 per cent. ; but this class
also drinks tea at Bd., so that the poorest of them will be
charged 150 per cent. The tea of the wealthy may be
taken at 2s. 6d., so that the wealthy are to pay but 40
per cent. ; but the upper classes also consume teas worth
4s. a pound, so that the most luxurious of them shall
only pay 25 per cent.
By this pretty invention, originating with the en-
lightened town of Liverpool, from which we had hoped •
for better things, every man and woman is to pay taxes
in the inverse proportion of their means. The 12,300,000
of poor, from two to six• fold as much as the 4,500,000
who are in easy circumstances, and from five to fifteen-
fold as much as the 1,200,000 that are luxuriating in
wealth. With such a placard in their hands, Liverpool
is going to stir up the country, and enlist the sympathy
of the millions!
And of this clumsy piece of empiricism, the Govern-
ment is to be made the scape-goat. The present con-
sumption of tea is about 44,000,000 of pounds, mid the
revenue which it yields is 4,800,0001. By the adoption
of the "one shilling" duty, the immediate sacrifice
of revenue will ,be the appalling sum of 2,600,0001.—
more than a moiety of the income tax : and to re-esta-
blish it, the consumption must rise to ninety-six millions
of pounds,—that is, must be doubled, with a surpf us
above the doubling, equal to the consumption of the
United States of America !
That a very considerable increase of consumption will
be the result of the mere rude process of reducing the
duty without adjusting its incidence, is certain ; but,
striking at the very sources of consumption, the con-
sumption of the masses, that the increase will be such,
within the lives of the present generation, as to cover
the existing revenue, is what no reasonable man can
hope for.
It is in vain that the speakers at the Liverpool meet-
ing appealed to the increase which had taken place in
coffee and cocoa from reduction of duties. The fact
is that the increase in these articles has taken place at
the expense of tea, just as the consumption of hyson
and rekoe has been quadrupled at the cost of Bohea and
Twanlray. The duty on cocoa is 2d. a pound, or one-
thirteenth•part that on Bohea. The duty on coffee is
4(1., or less than one-sixth part of the Bohea duty. Can
any one be surprised, then, that the two first commo-
dities should have greatly increased, and that the last
should have nearly disappeared altogether.
In an article like tea, where a commodity of the value
of small-beer stands at the bottom of the scale, and one
of the value of first growth Burgundy at the top of it,
and in which the range comprehends at least sixty varie-
ties, it is obvious to common sense that any other prin-
ciple of assessing the duty than an ad valorem one must
be fraught with inequality and injustice, and equally in-
jurious, in the long rum, to the consumer, the dealer, to
commerce, and the Treasury. The experience of the
last ten years ought to be a warning to all future times.
The injurious specific duty has taken the place of the in-
-416, us monopoly, and consumption and revenue have
moved at a snail's pace under both, barely keeping pace
with increase of population. We must hear no more of
specific duties on tea. " The trade" must alter its tactics.
At present, it is pursuing that course which, Adam
Smith says, merchants sometimes followed in the olden
time, when they became the most suspicious councillors
of a government.

1-40NDON FRIENDLY INSTITUTION,
19, London-wall, City.
Established and Enrolled, 1824.
TRUSTEES.
Thos. Challis,Esq., Ald. &Sheriff I George Lyall, Esq., M.P.
T. S. Duncombe, Esq., M.P. John Masterman, Esq., M.P.
William Ellis, Esq. Richard Taylor, Esq., F.L.S.
TREASURER—George Grote, Esq.
BAISEERS—Messrs Prescott, Grote, and Co.
For assuring by small contributions, according to age at entrance,
from Bs. to 28s per week in Sickness, with Medical Attendance and
Medicines, and from 51. to 501. at Death.
This Improved Benefit Society, secure, permanent, and economi-
cal, entirely managed by ts own members (elected from candidates
at the Annual Meeting), Is periodically reserving a surplus against
advancing age. Already its capital amounts to nearly 8,0001., unen-
cumbered by annuitants and shareh lders. There are no extra con-
tributions of any description, nor any uncertainty in the amount
of benefits. No office' to serve by compulsion, nor any public-house
meetings to attend. The baoks and accounts are always open to
inspection.
Prospectuses, with Tables, Sec., will bs forwarded by inclosing a
postage stamp ; or may be had gratis, and Rules, sixpence each, at
the office any evening, from five to nine, where persons may Wier
themselves for admission, or at
Chelsea—A. W. Warder, Esq., 1, Upper Robert-street.
Poplar—S. IC. Ellison, Esq., 22. High-street.
Rotherhithe—S. Tilley, Esq., 27, Paradise-row.
By order, J. PALMER Secretary.

NATIONAL LOAN FUND LIFE ASSUR-
ANCE SOCIETY,
26, CORNIIILL, LONDON.
Capital £500,000.
Empowered by Act of Parliament.
This Institution embraces important and substantial advantages
kvith respect to Life Assurances and Deferred Annuities. The assured
has. on all occasions, the power to borrow, without expense or for-
ehoro of the Polley, two-thirds of the premiums paid (see Table) ;
sise the option of selecting benetlta, and the conversion of his in-
terests to meat other conveniences or necessity.
Assurances for terms of years are granted on the lowest possible
fates.

TOBACCO DUTIES.
A deputation of the Associated Manufacturers or
Tobacco, accompanied by Dr. Bowring, M.P., Mr.
Henry Berk,ley, M.P., Mr. G. H. W. lleneage, M.P.,
and Mr. Ludlow Bruges, M.P., waited upon Lord John
Russell, at his house in Chesham place, on Saturday,
for the purpose of calling his attention to the state of
the tobacco trade, and the injurious influence of high
duties on the interests of the trade and on the comfort
and morality of the public. The deputation consisted of
the following members of the trade;--Mr. John Lloyd,
of the firm of J. and F. Lloyd and Co.; Mr. Williamson
4nd Mr. Back, of the firm of Taddy and Co.; Mr. H. 0.
Wills, of the firm of Ricketts, Wills, and Co., Bristol.
Mr. Von der Heyde; Mr. Thomas Huxley; Mr. Charles
Lloyd, of the firm of Wishart and Lloyd; Mr. Robert
Roberts; and Mr: Paul Anstie, of the firm of P. and E.
Anstie, of Devizes.
Lord John Russell was accompanied by the Chancellor
of the Exchequer, and received the deputation with much

courtesy.
Dr. Bowring referred to the Committee of the House
of Commons on the tobacco trade, which sat in 1844, and
to the important and conclusive mass of evidence which
was given before that Committee. It was shown that of
the number of seizures of contraband goods made by
the Customs, five-sevenths of the whole consisted of
,obacco, and that the convictions for the crime of smug-
gling had increased during the three years previous to
January last, more than two hundred per cent.; that the
duties on tobacco are so enormous (varying from 800 to
1,400 per cent. on the value of the article), that the
temptation both.to smuggling and adulteration is so grei!t
as to forbid the hope of collecting the duty; that the evi-
dence proved such an amount of these practices as to show
that the power of the revenue was entirely defeated.lt
was shown that a quantity fully equal to that on which
duty had been paid was introduced fraudulently, and
consumed without payment of duty, to the injury of the
fair trader. The Board of Excise produced chemical
evidence, with the intention of showing that they had
the means of discovering adulteration by analysis ; but
in that respect they had entirely failed. The evidence
went to show that the expen-es attending the evasion of
the duty are so great, that smugglers could not intro-
duce tobacco under a cost which would render it unpro-
fitable to him to run his goods if the duty were reduced
to Is. a pound.
Mr. John Lloyd said that the trade had been com-
plaining of the operation of duties for many years, com-
mencing soon after the close of the war, when inter-
course with the continent became open. That the strin-
gent regulations of the Excise survey—and the trade
had readily assented to the most stringent regulations
the Government could devise—having altogether failed
of their intended effect of preventing smuggling, they
were abandoned in 1840. That the rate of duty so
much exceeded any other article in the tariff, that even
on that ground tobacco had the first claim for reduction.
And now the duties on other articles having been re-
duced, the tobacco duties had become relatively still
higher. Thus all the operations of the smuggler had
become concentrated on tobacco. Formerly his venture
consisted of brandy, silks, and other highly taxed foreign
articles. Now tobacco forms the whole venture. That
the low prime cost of the article, and the consequent
enormous profit realised, had led to such an amount of
smuggling, that the condition of the fair trader was now
worse than at any former period. That this duty falls
heavily upon the working classes, inasmuch as eleven-
twelfths of the revenue derived from tobacco was derived
exclusively from the consumption of the working classes.
Mr. Lloyd also referred to the general views of the sub-
ject on which Dr. Bowring had touched,
Mr. Paul Anstie said that, after Mr. Lloyd's state-
ment, he was only anxious to prove that the calculations
which the trade had embodied in the papers they now
left with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, were strictly
based on evidence given before the Tobacco Committee,
and upon Parliamentary papers since published. They
had taken the proportion which existed between seizures
in London in the year 1843 (the only clear year after
the passing of the last Tobacco Act), and the whole of
the seizures in the United Kingdom. They had then
taken the positive testimony. given before the Committee,
as to definite
,amounts introduced into London by
smuggling during that year. The witnesses who had
spoken to quantities of smuggled leaf tobacco within
their own knowledge, were only six, and the total quan-
tity so ascertained had been multiplied only by
three ; an estimate believed to fall far short of
the truth. This remark applied also to the calcula
Lion of the quantities of smuggled foreign manufac-
tured tobacco, in which ease quantities deposed to
by three witnesses were multipliedte only by four. The
the amount
ese r trt had:is nubl ev
ttht
wh
oeel e°
nwhole of the
kingdom in
that 1 44
quantities smuggled
d dt 1 was, if in 8
the duty had been re lice 8. per lb. on leaf, ss. on
sameslesi4z3e proportion
wt
na sL oanpdpol
tg nd 1
foreign cigars and cheroot., on _ s, 6d. on other foreign
manufactured tobaccos nd snuff, the revenue from tobacco
inwedh
;ai etnaohdn and tsxnhel
would have been as gat, taking adulteration also into
account, as now derived from the present high rate of
duty. Several official papers had been published ; when
Sir B. Peel introduced his last tariff, the associated
manufacturers complained that he had taken spirits in-
stead of tobacco, the latter being most largely smuggled,
and was subject to'thehighest rate of duty. They have
evidence in these papers that the anticipations they then
expressed had been fully realised. Parliamentary re-
Oro show that tobacco Pow constituted fivel9yQutni of

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DECEMBER 7, 1846.

PRICB SD.

IgBh3lasi9t2wSfsaansislhowdoallsars per mille r 1 0001bs
growth and in England. In 1820, the price at Zante
wwhalleasinhi
15 Spanish' °dollar; er"
milk,. In 1821, in London, the wholesale price of
currants reached 1151. per ton, which is believed
to be the highest rate they have ever realised, while
in 1843 they were sold as low as 404 per ton. Within
the last twelve years, the duty on currants has been
twice reduced by the British Government—in the first in-
stance from 44/.65. Bd. per ton to 221. 3s. 4d., and next,
from 221. 3s. 4d. to 151. per ton, which, with the addi-
tional five per cent. imposed on duties by Lord John
Russell, and which has not been removed, makes the
present duty 151. 15s. per ton. A very considerable
revenue is annually derived by our Government from
the duty on currants, and which has increased since the
reduction in duty, the consumption in the United King-
dom having materially increased. Although the con-
sumers is this country have certainly benefited by the
reduction in duty to a certain extent, the cultivators of
the fruit abroad have been much greater gainers thereby,
and during the last three years have realised such profits
as to lead to the cultivation of further tracts of land for
currant grounds. During the official year of 1845, the
actual consumption of currants in the United Kingdom
exceeded in quantity any preceding year, and it was
an unprecedented fact that when the first cargo of
new currants reached London in September last, there
were no old currants on sale in first hands, the stock of
old at that period usually averaging nearly 2,000 tons.
From the 22d of September to the 25th of November,
forty-four vessels have arrived in London alone, with
entire cargoes of new currants, the total quantity of
which cannot be less than 7,000 tons. Of these vessels,
43 were British and 1 Greek. The quickest passage was
made in 29 days, and the longest in 77 days.
The price opened, on the 22d of September, at 565. per
cwt. for Patras currants, and on the 6th of October at
545. per cwt. for the first arrival from Zante. Since then
the prices have continued very steady at 565. for Patras,
and 555. for Zante and Cephalonia fruit. Quite a new
, feature in the trade was that seven or eight of these car•
goes were sold by the Greek consignees to London
grocers and speculators while they were afloat, to be de-
livered on arrival.
Nevertheless there must be at least 3,000 tons of cur-
rants now in London for sale. part of which will no
doubt be put up to auction. Witla the forty-four car-
goes already arrived, and a few more on the voyage to
London, there can be no fear of a scarcity of currants,
even for the most inordinate wants that may arise for
Christmas. A great many cargoes have also reached
Liverpool, Bristol, and other outports.
The total crops of currants this season in the Morea,
Zante, Cephalonia, and Ithaca, are estimated to have rea-
lis.d 49,000,000 weight, or about 21.875 tons. This is the
largest total crop of currants ever before produced, and
it is stated that about three-fourths of it would come to
this country. The general quality, owing to rain
damage, is not fine. It is a singular fact that the coun-
tries which produce this enormous quantity of currants
do not themselves consume a hundred tons. What
would the poor Greeks and lonians do if John Bull was
by any chance to discontinue the use of currants? Why,
they and their Government revenues would be ruined,
as the growers could not find any other market for all
their produce, and the treasuries would be minus the
chief source of their assets, the duties levied amounting
to about 18 per cent. on the export value.