The Sun.
London, England, 1834-08-27 00:00:00

POLISH PATRIOTS.

There are now remaining in this city but thirty-six of
the exiles brought out in the Austrian frigates, and they
are exceedingly desirous 'of going on to the land lately
granted them by the Congress, but are entirely without
the means of doing so. The grant of this land is all
perhaps that the nature of our Government permitted
Congress to do for these gallant men, but it leaves the
unfortunate refugees no better off than if nothing of the
kind had been done—unless the good feeling of our citi-
zens furnishes the means of reaching the spot. Will those
means be withheld ? Will the limited amount necessary
to enable the little band nuw lingering among us, to avail
themselves of the bounty of Government, be refused ? We
trust not. We trust that this last appeal which they will
ever urge upon the citizens of New York, will be responded
to with a cordial and efficient liberality. The true Po-
lender is too proud to urge such an appeal for himself.
There is that in the heart of a highminded soldier which
revolts at the idea of asking charity, however pressing the
necessity, and however high and honourable his claims to
public sympathy. We must be allowed to ask it for them,
and we do ask it. We ask our fellow citizens to remem-
ber that these brave men are the countrymen of Kosciusko
—that they are the remnant of that heroic band of pa-
triots who fought the enemies of their country and the
enemies of human freedom, with a valour and a devoted-
ness that have few parallels in human history—that they
were driven from their country only when the most un-
daunted and indomitable efforts were overpowered by in-
exhaustible hordes of Russian barbarians—and when every
footstep through their unhappy land was encrimsoned by
the blood of their murdered relatives ! We ask only that
New Yorkers will remember this, and well we are con-
vinced that our object is attained !—New York Paper.

CASE OF SCHUPS, THE LAST CRIMINAL
CONDEMNED TO DEATH IN BELGIUM.

The criminal Schups having previously been convicted
of acts by which he became liable to imprisonment for life,
murdered one of the keepers of the prison where he was
confined in order to effect his escape, and succeeded in his
object. He was, however, afterwards retaken, and it then
became a question whether he should be executed or not.
The Procureur-General, who sends in his recommendations
to the Government in the same manner as the Judges do
here, strongly urged his execution, on the ground that if
his sentence was commuted into imprisonment for life, he
would receive no additional punishment for having killed
one of the keepers of the prison in cold blood. In reply to
this the Administrator of Prisons (M. Soudain), and the
Inspector of Prisons (M. Ducpetiaux), addressed the
Ministers of Justice in favour of mitigation of the punish-
ment ; and the Minister of Justice applied to the Minister
of the Interior for his opinion on the case. The following
is an extract from the reply of the latter :
" I have read with attention the observations of the Procu-
reur General, those of the Administrator, and those of the In-
spector of Prisons, and it is to the opinion of the two last that
I think it my duty to add mine. Whatever may be the cir-
cumstances of the odious crime of Schups, I cannot see any
necessity for his execution, nor do I think it would be of any-
utility whatever. Since the revolution, and for several years
previous, there has not been a single execution; the number of
capital crimes has not increased : and I greatly fear that to cut
off a head in a public market place would be considered by a .
great number of persons on the present day a useless cruelty.
It is an opinion which I have already taken the opportunity of
setting forth in the Cabinet on many occasions."
The punishment of Schups was accordingly commuted
into that of travaux Arch a perpetuite accompanied by
some aggravation of discipline.

THE GOVERNORSHIP OF THE NEW TOTHILL-
FIELDS PRISON.—On Saturday last Mr. Nodder, the Governor
of the old Tothill-fields Prison, sent in his resignation to the
Magistrates, which was accepted. On account of Mr. Nod-
der's health this event has for some weeks past been expected,
and numerous candidates have been in the field for the appoint-
ment, which is said to be worth 6001. per annum. Out of the
number the Magistrates have selected three approved candi-
dates, viz., Mr. Vine, Mr. Fellowes, and a Lieutenant in the
Navy ; and the Governor will be chosen from these in the
course of a few days.
CONSUMPTION OF SUGAR IN FRANCE.—In the
" Journal of Transactions," published by the French Society
of Universal Statistics, we read the following extract from a
discourse held by the Secretary General to the Society in the
last General Meeting:__' We have been furnished by M.
Cesar Moreau with statistical researches on the consumption
of sugar in France, by which it appears, that under Henry IV.
sugar was so scarce in that country that it was sold by the
ounce in apothecaries' shops, in the same manner as bark is at
present. In 1700 the total consumption in France did not
exceed 893 tons ; the relish for this article increased to such a
degree in the eighteenth century, that in 1789 the consumption
was 20,539 tons. The revolutionary wars, and the exorbitant
duties laid by Napoleon on foreign sugars, reduced the con-
sumption in 1812, for the whole of the French Empire, which
consisted at that time of 44,000,000 of inhabitants, to 6,251
tons. After the peace, in 1823,:the consumption had already
risen to 14,288 tons ; and successively to the year 1822, rose
to 49,115 tons. In ! 823, the war with Spain having raised
the price of sugars, the consumption was for a time reduced to
35,720 tons ; but it soon got up to 54,473 tons ; and in 1831
it rose to 71,440 tons; France having then 32,500,000 inha-
bitants, being about five pounds avoirdupois weight for each
person. Notwithstanding this rapid progression, we are far
from consuming as much as the United States, whose con-
sumption amounts to ten pounds weight for each person ;
England, that consumes fourteen pounds each person ; and
the Island of Cuba, where, as reported by Mr. Humboldt,
those who have not seen what enormous quantities of sugar
are consumed in South America, will be surprised to learn that
the whole of France requires, for her own necessities, only
three or four' times as much sugar as the Island of Cuba, the
population of which does not exceed 340,000 inhabitants."
THE INITIATED AND UNINITIATED FISHER-
MAN.—BehoId him (the veteran fisher) now at the river side
—quick as thought his tackle is fixed, and with elevated arm
and long taper line .floating extended behind him, he com-
mences—light as gossamer falls the fly, and sweeping gently
across the stream it is withdrawn and again thrown. Observe
that whirling eddy—the fly falls exactly on it—a heavy rolling
plunge follows—hark to the music of the clicking reel—now
the victim flounders near the bank—the net is under him--he
is secure. Observe the uninitiated fisher on the opposite side
of the stream—he stumps sturdily along the bank, and ever
and anon thrusts his head between the openings of the bushes
which line the margin of the brook, scaring its timid tenants,
who hurriedly rush in all directions—now he throws his line
—listen to the snap of the fly as he advances his rod ere the
line is fully extended behind him—see how wavy falls the line
upon the water, raising wide spreading circles upon its surface
—and lastly falls his fly, a huge bunch of feathers, large as a
humble bee. He allows it to float down the stream before the
very nose of the latent trout, who suffers it to pass with the
utmost indifference 2 • again and again the manoeuvre is re-
peated, until the fly deserts the line, or the wily fish. annoyed
by the continued thrashing, gently turns his tail and proceeds
down-the stream. Turn again to the veteran—he seats him-
self in a shady spot, and opening his pannier, therefrom he
takes the wherewithal to compose his meal ; see how carefully
laid out on sedges he deposits in his pannier five or six brace
of spotted rogues, none under fifteen inches.—New Sporting
Magazine.

The Commissioners of Excise Inquiry (Sir H. Parnell,
Mr. H. Berens, and Mr. H. L. Wickham) in their seventh
report (which is on British spirits, and dated July 25,
1834,) speaking of the obvious necessity, for the purposes
of revenue survey, of various regulations, thus speak of
excise taxation, and some of its consequences, as regards
the interests of manufactures, and the inducements to en-
terprise and experiment :
" The disadvantages to the manufacturer of conducting
his business under such a system of interference and regu-
lation as compared with the free exercise of his ingenuity,
skill, and resources at the times and in the manner best
suited to his own convenience, do not require to be enlarged
upon ; but we may briefly allude, as amongst the most
prominent of these disadvantages, to the discouragement to
all attempts at invention or improvement, which must arise
as well from the interference of the proscribed rules with
any change in the management of the process, and from
the obligations imposed upon many manufacturers of obtaining
certain amounts of produce from given quantities of ma-
terials, in prescribed times, as from the circumstance that
the person who makes any experiment or attempt at im-
provement is, by the necessary publicity given to every part
of a process conducted under excise regulation, debarred
from the private or exclusive advantages which should be
the reward of a successful invention. Under this system
the manufacturer is also prevented from giving effect to the
inventions or improvements of others, for which his manu-
facture may furnish the means, if for that purpose he shall
be obliged to depart from the mode proscribed by law for
the conduct of his business. We have met with repeated
instances of this species of inconvenience during our recent
inquiries, and would especially refzr ;13.,6tut ement made to
us in the course of our examination-of the plate-glass ma-
nufacturers at Newcastle, whieh was confirmed by the evi-
dence of the engineer and secretary to the Commissioners
of Northern Light-houses at Edinburgh.
" In the course of some recent scientific researches on
the refraction of light, it had bedasuggested that a lens or
a series of lenses of a peculiar construction, called a poly-
zonal lens, would possess the power of refracting light to
an extent much beyond any glass or other contrivance which
had been hitherto applied to the use of light-houses. Un-
der the sanction of Sir D. Brewster's recommendation, the
Commissioners of Northern Lights applied to the manufac-
turers of Newcastle to prepare specimens of the proposed
lens for the purposes of the experiment. This order, it ap-
pears, would have been immediately complied with but for
the restrictions of the Excise, it being found that the glass
for the lens would require to be cast of a thickness much
beyond what was allowed by the existing regulations, and
that the manufacturers would thereby become liable to what
they considered as an excessive rate of duty ; under these
circumstances, the manufacturers stated that they felt them-
selves compelled to decline the order, after having prepared
models, and made other, arrangements for carrying it into
effect, and we were informed, that unless a relaxation of the
Excise regulations was obtained, the order would be trans-
mitted for execution to a manufactory in France.* The
consequence was, the suspension (at least) of an experiment
which promised results of the most unquestionable public
utility, at the precise season of the' year when any increase
to the power of light may be said to have been of the ut-
most public importance.
" This instance of the injurious interference of the Ex-
cise Laws with the pursuits of useful science, becomes the
more worthy of attention from the fact, which we believe
can be equally well established, that another most important
branch of the same manufacture,—namely, that of lenses
for the superior kinds of telescopes, of which at one time
England had the supply of all Europe,—has, within these
few years, been transferred to France and Italy, entirely in
consequence of the prohibition in this country against con-
ducting the necessary series of preliminary experiments.
A further disadvantage attending the application of
fiscal regulations to processes of manufacture, arises from
their compelling such processes in many instances to be
carried on in a less economical and productive manner than
would be practised if the manufacturer were left unre-
stricted in his mode of conducting them ; statements of
instances in which a waste of materials, time, and labour, is
by these means occasioned, will be found in the examina-
tions to which we shall hereafter have to refer your Lord-
ships in our reports on the several duty-charged commo-
dities. It may be sufficient here to mention an instance
also arising in the manufacture of glass, which was brought
to our notice by the glass manufacturers at Newcastle,—
namely, the loss and inconvenience which they sustain from
being compelled to work up the whole quantity of the ma-
terials or metal contained in the furnace or arch in which
they are fused, and to pay the Excise duty on the whole of
the quantities so worked up, although it is well known that
a considerable portion of those materials cannot be in a
state fit to form a part of the manufactured article ; and that
they must, after being thus unnecessarily brought into the
state of imperfect glass, be broken up and thrown again
into the melting-pots. As this superfluous process is ne-
cessarily gone through every time the furnaces are opened
or drawn, the aggregate loss of time, labour, and materials
in an extensive manufactory must obviously be very great ;
in addition to which there is the manifest injustice of re-
*frig duty to be paid more than once on the same por-
ticin qtmaterials.
"Instances of a similar kind might be adduced from
nearly every one of those manufactures which are classed
-by the excise as belonging to the growing duty trade ; and
with respect to that which is more peculiarly the subject of
our present report, although the nature of the process and
of the article produced is not such as to render the official
interference of the excise so extensively injurious, as it is in
other manufactures which require a more complicated pro-
cess and machinery, there can be no doubt that this inter-
ference must be looked upon as a serious disadvantage to
the manufacturer ; and so highly is this disadvantage rated,
that it will be seen that one of the deputation of London
distillers whom we examined, states his conviction that, as-
suming as a preliminary that the duties should be fully and
effectively secured, it would be well worth his while to pay
3,0001. per annum, for the privilege of exemption from..ex-
cise interference.±
" In referring to these injurious effects upon the manu-
facturer or traders, it should be recollected that they must
also be felt in an accumulated degree by the public, who
are the consumers, against whom the tax operates by the
addition made to the price of the commodity, not only by
its direct amount, but by the necessity of compensating
the manufacturer for his advance of capital in defraying
it, and also by the increased cost of production arising
from the unnecessary additions to the expenses of manu-
facturing to which we have alluded. It may be observed,
that the enhancement in the price of an article of gene-
ral use, when such enhancement is produced by insti-
tions peculiar to any one country, at the same time
that it checks consumption, and thus diminishes the
employment of industry and capital in that country, has
the further effect of giving direct encouragement to foreign
competitors in trade ; and instances might be adduced in
which the supply of articles in general demand has been
partially or entirely transferred from a native to a foreign
market through the effects of internal taxation. In the
course of our recent inquiries in Scotland, these conse-
quences were strongly illustrated by the circumstances
brought before us in our examination of a case to which
much attention had been drawn, relating to an improved
process for the manufacture of potato-flour. An establish-
ment upon a large scale had been recently commenced for
this purpose in the neighbourhood of Glasgow, the prin-
cipal object of which appears to have been to supply the
weavers of that manufacturing district at a cheap rate, with
a substance well adapted for preparing the paste or size
with which their yarns are moistened previous to the process
of weaving. The article generally employed for this purpose
is stated to have been paste made from American wheat,
for which it was naturally thought desirable to substitute
an article of home growth, the produce of the districts in

* We understand that since the period of our examination this
relaxation has been obtained under a Treasury order.
t The following is from the document, No. 94, in the Appendix
here referred to : .

" How does the comparison stand with regard to the science of
distilling. do you consider you have carried it further here than
they have done in Scotland and Ireland ?
" Mr. Atlee—l believe I have made as many experiments as any
man in England. I have been in business upwards of fifty years.
many experiments have failed, bnt that has given information to
me, and I do not wish, under the new Bill, to expose to every ex-
cise-officer what my system is.
,‘ Has much progress been made in the art of distilling?—Very
considerable.

" Do you consider it capable of much further improvement?—
That we cannot tell.

" Are the present regulations in the way of improvement ?—I
think they are.
" Mr. Currie—The competition, since the new law was made,
has done more than anything else to teach us our business.
" What regulation of the existing law do you allude to as inter-
fering with the improvements?
" Mr. Octavius Smith—The regulations increase immensely our
expense of manufacture ; for instance, I would willingly pay 3,0001.
a year to be exonerated from the jurisdiction of the Excise, provided
the duty could be truly collected, and I am satisfied that I should
be a gainer by it. The restrictions are also inconvenient and an-
noying.
" Mr. Smith—Under this new Bill any officer of Excise may
come into my distillery to direct me how to brew."