The Sun.
London, England, 1851-03-24 00:00:00

THE DUTY ON PAPER.

On Saturday a deputation of Members of Parliament and
paper manufacturers waited on the Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer for the purpose of pressing on his attention the pro-
priety of removing the present duty on paper. The deputa-
tion comprised the names of Viscount Bernard, M.P., Lord
Naas, M.P., Sir Lucius O'Brien, M.P., Captain Bunbury,
M.P., Lieutenant-Colonel-Dunne, M.P., Mr. Reynolds, M.P.,
The LO'Gorman Mahon, M.P., Mr. Keogh, M.P., Mr.
W. Fagan, M.P., Mr. Robert Keating, M.P..
Mr. E. B. Roche, M.P., Mr. O'Higgins, M.P., Mr. E. K.
Tenison, M.P., Mr. Magan, M.P., Mr. P. S. Butler, M.P.,
Mr. Cowan, M.P., Mr. S. Fagan, M.P., Mr. E. Grogan, M.P.
Mr. Martin, J. Blake, M.P., Mr. Fitzstephen French, M.P.
Mr. R. O'Flaherty, M.P., Mr. M'Cullagh, M.P., Mr.E. Corbally:
M.P., Mr. W. Goold, M.P.,Mr. John Cameron, Mr. Henry
Jordan, Mr. Ingram, Mr. ourtenay, Mr. Alexander Thom,
Mr. Wright, Mr. G. P. Barnes, Dr. Grey, Mr. Beaumont,
Mr. John Kaye, Mr. Robert Heron, and Mr. G. Huggett.
Mr. REYNOLDS, who introduced the deputation, explained
that it was not composed exclusively of Irish Members,
there being one Scotch Member present and some eminent
paper manufacturers from Ireland and other places. Since
they had the honour of their last interview with the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer, circumstances had arisen which
were:likely to involve the necessity of alterations to some
extent in the financial arrangements of the Government, and
they believed that the interval afforded them a favourable
opportunity of pressing pgain upon the Right Honourable
Gentleman the propriety of embodying in his Budget some
measure of relief for the paper manufacturers. It was
the strong and almost unanimous feeling of the Irish repre-
sentatives, without reference to politics, that there should be
a total repeal of the paper duties.—(Hear, hear.) He re-
ferred to the numerous and influential petitions that had
been presented from Ireland on the subject to the House of
Commons, and expressed his conviction that by the repeal
of the duty a great relief would be afforded to trade, and
employment afforded to a vast number of the able-bodied
population of Ireland. Ireland's poverty might, he said
be traced to the want of employment, and it was therefore
the duty of Irish Members to endeavour to remove every ob-
stacle that stood in the way of finding remunerative work
forithe mass of the people. The duty itself was difficalt to
collect ; it was out of the power of Government to prevent
smuggling to a large extent. He thought the people of Ire-
land were entitled to some relief, though they were not liable
to the assessed taxes, when so large a surplus of revenue
existed, and he trusted that the Chancellor of the Exchequer
would take the matter tnto his consideration.

lalie H. JORDAN said, that the paper manufacturers claimed
the abolition of the duty on very strong grounds—viz., that
many years ago a Committee of the House of Commons re-
commended the taking off the duty on leather, paper and glass.
From the experience of the glass trade he augured a large
increase in the manufacture of paper, and in the employment
given to the people when the duty thereon was removed..
The trades dependent on it, such as printing and bookbind-
ing, would also be greatly increased, as well as the manufac-
ture of papier nutche, which could be employed in a great
variety of ways. They claimed relief not only on these
grounds, but also on account of the vexatious and anomalous
regulations to which they were subjected in the manufacture
of an article which was an essential necessary to the social
progress of the country.—(Hear.)
Mr. Cot:it-ref:ay reminded Sir C. Wood that of all the
manufactures carried on in Ireland that of paper was the only
one that had maintained its ground—the woollen and cotton
manufactures having given way. It was the more important
to Ireland, because it went hand in hand with the flax trade,
in which there was a movement at present to encourage its
growth. Both combined would be the means of affording
employment to a large additional number of persons. It
was supposed, because all the rags were consumed at present,
that the manufacture could not be increased ; but straw had
been extensively used, and one man had arranged all his
machinery to manufacture paper from straw, but would not
take out a patent till the law had been repealed. Turf could
also be employed for the same purpose, but the manufacture
from turf had been discontinued—not because it had not
been found to suit, but because a duty according to weight
was heavier upon turf than upon the finest tissue paper.
Mr. l'aGaw stated that in the county of Cork the expense
of watching the manufacture cost more than the amount of
duty paid, and he believel that in many other parts of Ire-
land the same thing occurred. He alio drew Sir C. Wood's
attention to the amount of smuggling carried on.
Mr. E. B. ROCHE, M.P., said that the refuse of flax could
now be worked up so as to be manufactured into very good
paper. Tow, which at present was only worth 41. per ton,
would thus become worth 301. per ton. They were now cul-
tivating flax very extensively in the south of Ireland, and
anything that would encourage that very important product
was deserving of great consideration. Many of the paper
mills were shut up from the extent to which smuggling was
carried on. In consequence of the repeal of the corn-laws,
the Irish millers had resolved on abandoning that trade,
being undersold by the French, and thus a number of mills
worked by water power would be thrown idle. What was
required for the manufacture of paper was good water and
good orate-rpower, and these existed in Ireland to an un-
limited extent.
Mr. W. Gooep, M.P., said that at present the chief supply
of rags to the papermakers came from Spanish South America,
but if the flax movement in Ireland succeeded, they need not
ge to a foreign country for that supply.
Mr. GROGAN, M.P., informed the Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer that a new process for manufacturing a substitute
for paper had been discovered which did not ccme within the
,thtehseergefeonrtel,emfreene
hoef
rdeugtuyl.atiLaswohfatthpeeEsixiceins7
therefore,
mand
wouldw as
placed who, with every desire to obey the law, were placed in
competition with the patentee of this invention ?—(Hear.)
Viscount BERNARD, M,P., said that, notwithstanding the
great distress existing in Ireland for the last few years, none
of the taxes repealed by the Legislature had afforded her any
relief, while she had suffered from the operation of free trade
much more severely than England.
Mr. COWAN, M.P., pointed out to the Chancellor of the
Exchequer that the permit system, which had been abolished
so advantageously in the spirit trade, still existed and was
found very objectionable in that of paper ; the manufacturers
were made responsible for every label issued to them, and the
detention and expense they occasioned were a very serious
impediment to the manufacture. Where paper was ex-
ported all the regulations about labelling and numbering
had to be gone through a second time, and the result was
that the export trade in low descriptions of paper was
also annihilated. (Hear, hear.) A French manufacturer
aacture!
had recently shown him a piece of paßeer,frsehma d
pstraw. lintallwass
chest, which he called a cuirassc,mad
strong and
e ssubstantial,ueh aru cet and thegbh_h showedtehad no wthisehvatO.
h paper miht be applied. lie
riety of purposes to w
ft a np
paper
r boxes,iest:
do. f
fwla
wood.ich great The
dvarietiesw
ewerehowever,
QT,
Illneaeddeoanblyroaidnos
upon straw imposed anadditiaonnd
he
frieoOaredortBhrt
if some
on
the cost of the raw material, . steps
were not immediately taken the Americans would Supply
notOnlitE lliu
theiorco,s,lonieS, but neutral markets.—(llear.)
Mr.
before the deputation withdrew, observed
that they confined themselves to urging the repeal of the
paper duty, without expressing any opinion on the propriety
of removing the stamp and advertisement duties.
Viscount BERNARD, with reference to the number of Irish
Members present (25), observed, that there would have been
no difficulty in obtaining the presence of 100 of them, had
their other engagements permitted. The assizes were now
going on in Ireland.
The CHANCELLOR of the 17
—XCHEQuEP.—WeII, gentlemen,
I am happy to listen to anything you have to say, but I have
nothing to say to you, as
you must know.—(Laughter.)
The deputation then withdrew, Mr. RETNOLDs thanking
Sir C. Wood for the patient attention with which he had
received them.

THE LLLNGHARNE POISONING Csszs.—Elizabeth
Gibbs, late cook in the family of Dir. Severn, of Llangharne,
was tried at Carmarthen on Wednesday, on a charge of
having poisoned her fellow-servant, Rebecca Uphill. She
was acquitted of this charge, but was detained to take her
trial on an indictment charging her with having poisoned
her mistress, }Sirs. Severne, but the evidence being of a pre-
cisely similar character, she was again acquitted.
At the Marlborough-street Police-court on Friday,
Richard Douglas, of 6, Belgrave-terrace, who has also passed
as Captain Douglas and as :- ir Richard Douglas, was re-
manded on a charge of obtaining goods under false pretences.
IE3 two sons have been for some time in custody, charged
with offences of a similar character.
OUNDLE ;UNION BREWING COMPANY.—On Satur-
day there was a meeting before Master Richards, when Mr.
Croxton sought to have a claim of I,oil allowed as a debt
against the estate. From the statements of counsel, it ap-
peared that Mr. Crexten had become security for the com-
pany in the sum of 1,0001., for which a suit was subsequently
instituted against him, and he was compelled to pay it, and
likewise the costs of the action ; these together amounted to
1,0511. Mr. Roxburgh, on the part of the official manager,
Mr. Hutton, resisted the application. The Master dis-
allowed the demand as a debt, on the grounds that the deed
did not confer upon the directors power to borrow the
money; and that the constitution of the company could
not afterwards be altered by a mere majority among the
shareholders.