The Sun.
London, England, 1856-10-10 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY 44-'ff.isilNrG OCTO ER 10, 1851.

STAMPED EDITION OF " THE SUN."
The Latest Edition of The Sun, Stamped, in
time for Poet, may always be had from halk
past 5 till 'T o'clock every evening.
Subscribers in the Country will please to
observe that the heading " THIRD EDITION"
is always to be seen on the papers containing
the latest news. If any difficulty be experienced
'n obtaining that Edition, a communication to
l'he Sum Office will remedy it.
Sun Office, 112, Strand.

r(rt

illli,

LONDON, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 10, 1856.,

We have repeatedly called ma the tax-paying
community to adopt speedy and energetic means
to obtain a revision of the national taxation, so as
to levy the amount that must be provided for the
liquidation of the public liabilities and the sup-
port of the national establishments in the manner
least onerous to the great body of the people, and
at the same time most equitable to the contri-
butories in general. We have especially directed
attention to the unjust and oppressive apportion-
ment of the income tax, which is so unsound in
principle—so twtariehi in its operation—that, but
that it has been sanctioned by Parliament, and is
an existing fact, of which the middle classes are so
-frequently and so painfully reminded, it would seem
to be an act of Rupercrogation, a mere fighting with
shadows to adduce a single argument against it.
This iniquitous impost is, by a quibble, at which
an Old Bailey practitioner would blush, to be
continued, at the rate of ls. 4d. in the pound, or
61 per cent, until April, 1858. This result is
obtained by a literal interpretation of the Act for
doubling the impost, the clear intent and meaninc,
whereof was that the extra charge should termi-
nate at the expiration of the financial year, next
after the termination of the war, but as the words
used are " next after a ratification of a definitive
treaty of peace," the Government are doing that
collectively of which its members individually
would be ashamed, and which is neither more nor
less than a swindle on the nation. If the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer cannot spare so large a sum,
which would in round terms amount to nine
fninione sterling, let himbring the question before
Parliament fairly and honourably, and he will find
every disposition to provide all that he could
r "my require to meet the many claims on
the Exchequer ; but let hint' carefully avoid
anything that can by a possibility he looked on
o
as a " breach of faith,","r even the taking of an
unfair advantage of the people. Better relin-
quish the entire amount than submit to such an
imputation. Good faith, in the widest Accepta-
tion of the phrase, has hitherto been the charac-
teristic of every British Government, no matter of
what party. It would indeed be deeply prejudi-
cial to the nation and to the value of the publi;
securities, to remove that honourableprestige, and
to exhibit a disposition to take advantage of petty
points quit. opposed to the spirit of the enact-
ment.

Nor is it tho amount of the burden alone,
onerous as it must be considered that is the most
objectionable part of the transaction. In certain
districts an unusual stringe
y Is manifested in
the collection. It was, we believe, the invariable
practice when a party was in arrear to send notice
that unless the claim were liquidated by a
oertain day a return would be made to
the Com-
missioners, and measures adopted t) enforce pay-
ment. This notification almost invariably pro-
duced the money, without the addition of law costs.
This ordinary oourtesy has, however, been with.
damns The first information received is the

appearance of a broker armed with a warrant, and
attended by a man to be left in possession unless
the amount was liquidated at the first demand ;
and so strictly has this system been acted on that
in one case, when the broker was int.( rmcd that
th© master of the house would be back in half-an-
hour, and that the amount would then be paid,
lie refused to call again in that short time, but
made the distress, thus adding ss. 6d. costs
to the amount, which was paid within the half-
hour. It has been said by some of the sufferers
that the time is carefully selected at which the
responsible party is absent, in order to obtain the
opportunity of adding the additional costs, and
the same system is also pursued with respeot to
the house tax ; the broker facetiously hinting
while pocketing his charge, that it would be a salu-
tary lesson to teach the parties to pay promptly
without entailing the necessity of an application. We
can scarcely think that such proceedings can be
with the approbation of the Commissioners of
Inland Revenue. If not, they should resume their
former practice, unless they desire that the atten-
tion of Parliament should be directed to the sub-
ject.

We rejoice to see that an association is in course
of formation, for the purpose of obtaining the speedy
reduction of the tax, now that the War has
closed, from 16d. to Id. in the pound, and also
for obtaining a more equitable apportionment of
the charge on income. A preliminary meeting
was held at the London Tavern, Ludgate-hill, on
Wednesday evening. With the views there ex-
pressed, which appeared in our impression
of yesterday, we fully and cordially con-
cur. There is indeed a great distinction
between income arising from accumulated and
realised property, and that obtained by physical
or intellectual labour. The position of a fund-
holder possessing 10,0001. in the Three per
Cents. is very different indeed frem that
of a hard-working barrister, clergyman, medi-
oal practitioner, or tradesman, realising pro-
fits to the extent of 3001. per annum, or rather
assessed at that amount. We have frequently
pointed out the vast difference, and yet all
would have to pay the same amount, viz., 201.
a-year. We trust the association will persevere
in their labours. It only requires to have the
full extent of the grievance fully exposed to in-
duce a pressure from without that must be felt
within the walls of Parliament.

"Orthodoxy," quoth a worthy divine, "is my
dozy; heterodoxy is any body else's dozy." The
City of London Gas Company adopt the senti-
ment, to all appearance, seriously and to the
fullest extent. They are right, and everybody
else who differs from them must be wrong. Com-
forting doctrine truly, especially when holding
it coincides with one's material interests. Em-
brace it, and there is no Gordian knot with folds
intricate enough to puzzle you and throw your
energies to waste. Like the sword of ALEXANDER,
it cuts right through. Some men have passed
their lives in bondage because of scruples of con-
science thrust upon them' which they lacked
the resolution fairly to dissect, lest the re-
sult should prove antagonistic to their wishes.
Pity they had but taken up the doctrine in ques-
tion at the outset, and stuck steadily to it. What
a worla of mental uneasiness it would have saved
them ! How easily would they have surmounted
difficulties which, for the lack of it, proved wel
nigh insuperable ; and what towers of strength
would they have been could they have persuaded
their neighbours of the soundness of their belief.
To be sure, as a celebrated political economist once
insinuated to an inveterate " infallible" whom she
encountered in America, the neighbourhood of
such an oracle is likely to be a little dull, there
inevitably being nothing for the good folk, if it
all reasonable, to contend about. Fortunately or
unfortunately, however, for the world, let the
reader determine which, society is perverse, and
prefers to entertain opinions of its own rather
than adopt the opinions of " infallibles," more
especially when the latter, in all likelihood, owe
their origin to personal considerations.
The policemen on the Whitefriars beat, and the
respectable inhabitants who have given evidence in
the inquiry, are all in the wrong. Instead of being
a nuisance prejudicial to .health, the City Gas
Works are rather a fountain of health as well as
of wholesome dividends. The Company always
believed this, and they believe so still. That a
nuisance exists in thp neighbourhood is not de-
nied, but the Gas Works are not that nuisance.
It will be found elsewhere. Possibly P. C. 844,
went on to his beat, as he says, in perfect health,
and immediately lost his appetite, became ill, and
had to be removed from his beat because of the
offensive exhalations he there encountered.
Sergeant KNIGNT, too, notwithstanding his sturdy
constitution, may have had to submit to a com-
pulsory evacuation of the stomach from the same
cause. The complaints of other policemen, and
of the respectable inhabitants of the neighbour-
hood may not be without some foundation. Brandy
may be kept in stock at the works for the relief of
sufferers from the same cause. But what does
all this amount to as against the City Gasworks ?
Absolutely to nothing at all. The witnesses,
every man of them, unlike SLA.WHENBEROILTS, stand
convicted of being born without noses, or rather
noses of discrimination—noses that can distinguish
between things or odours that differ. The noxious
smells that turn the policial stomach topsy-turvy,
and play " old Harry" with the inhabitants, don't
come from the City Gasworks at all. Their origin
will be found in the Fleet Ditch ! The company
are martyrs to nasal ignorance
Infortunately the policemen stick up for the
detective qualities of their beaks, and insist on the
City Gas Works being the veritable forts ma/orum,
and net the venerable ditch. The respectable
inhabitants do the same. How is this to be ac-
counted for ? It is not said, but possibly the
police inherit a partiality for the Fleet, while the
inhabitants of a business locality in the heart of
the great metropolis may be anxious to have it
thought they can " smell their way." Besides, there
is the• evidence of Mr. CHILDS, the surgeon of the
police force, who has statistics to show the health
of the men on the beat where the gas works are
situate is not worse than the health of the men
on other beats. Unluckily for the company,
the vagaries of a certain class of the profession
are too notorious to serve their turn, and Mr.
CHILDS neither disputes the veracity of the men,
nor entertains a doubt that the smells they de•
scribe would produce the effects they have deposed
to. Was there ever an affair more farcical ? The
effluvia from gasworks are none so faint and un-
distinguishable as not to be recognised, even if
the Fleet Sewer be forgetful of the proprieties.
The dullest hound of a nose, if it has any scent
at all, could not be tempted by the latter from
its track. The policemen, we make bold to say,
whatever the configuration of their noses, have
been on the right scent, and really " nosed him
in the" City Gas Works. What further proof
of this could be desired than the fact of the
compassionately revived
ibition of brandy by
resolutefrom
e x b
adiei
st et
icot ir:ebsy
bethiengexh
the servants of the company, and their being dis-
missed without a word being said to them about

the Fleet Sewer? Then was the time to dis-
abuse their minds on the subject, if they were
abused, and not after an inquiry was instituted.
Depend upon it the sewer would not have escaped
detection a moment longer than could be pre-
vented on the receipt of such information, pro-
vided the polieial nose testified to its being
reliable. Setting, however, this particular case
aside, we are decidedly of opinion the existence
of gas works in crowded neighbourhoods is in-
compatible with the public health, and that on
inquiry it will be found the weight of authority
is on the side of those who think with us.

Shall our Farmers have railways ? We mean,
shall purely agricultural districts have them ? The
question was suggested to us by the report of a
railway meeting at Lynn, or rather a meeting to
promote a railway between Lynn and Hunstan-
ton, in Norfolk. The loyal borough of King
JOHN is well enough known to our readers ; and,
if Toryism be loyalty the old town has preserved
its loyalty to this day, although the high and dry
of that class certainly caught a Tartar in electing
Lord STANLEY for their member, while his Lord-
ship was studying Democracy and Voluntaryism
in the United States. Perhaps half England has

known the name of Lynn better since it chose a

member who speaks at public meetings, on Agri-
culture and Church Rates, on Law Reform and
Reformatory Schools, on Education and the Maine
Liquor Law, on anything, apparently, where
social action is the chief requisite. To how many
places has not Lord STANLEY carried with him
the name of Kings' Lynn, when the committee's
advertisement and placards have given the full
style and title of their Lion for the occasion. But
Hunstanton—who ever heard of it t Every one
knows far more of half the Tillages on the
Danube, or in the Crimea. And no wonder. It
lies, by road, some seventeen or eighteen miles
to the North side of Lynn, and the Royal town
itself is the end of that attenuation of a railway
called the East Anglian ; at any rate, having got
thither you must back out again, and may then
start off crab-wise to Norwich, one way, or to
Wisbeach the other. But Hunstanton—eighteen
miles off the fag-end of a most quiet railway,
who should know where it is ?

Yet is this said Hunstanton a very pleasant

little place on a summer's day ; a kind of Brigh-
ton, to its Metropolitan at the mouth of the
Ouse. It is well known to the sailor, for on its
cliff stands a lighthouse, the first shore light as
he enters the Wash. It is known too to the
geologist, for its said cliffs are the most beautiful
on the east side of England ; black and yellow
sandstone below, and overhanging crags of red and
white chalk above ; huge slabs of the latter form-
ing a romantic debris at the bottom. Indeed
one might imagine that an earthquake had caused
the wild confusion ; it is the work, however, of
winter's wet and frost alone. The antiquary
also knows the place, and we of the fourth estate
ought to know it too, for its old Hall was the
family seat of the VESTRA.NOES, who are said
to have come over with the Conqueror ; and Sir
ROGER, L'ESTRANOR, an author of several works,
was appointed, after the restoration, Censor of

the Press, and brought out himself, so early as
1665, a newspaper, called The Puilie Intelligencer,
a circumstance duly commemorated in one of the
family pictures. Hunstanton, humble as its
inhabitants may be, is not, therefore, to be de-
spised, and we can testify from personal know-
ledge to its pleasantness as a place of escape from
our smoke and noise ; the former is not to be seen
there ; and of the latter, all you hear is the roar
of the waves, and the scream of the sea gull. At
present it furnishes the charms of solitude—one
excellent hotel, a mile from even a cottage, being
the only accommodation for visitors ; a railway
might change all that. If the place were known
to those excursionists who like a hundred miles
run, it might become a ♦ery attractive spot to
many of the daily toilers within the sound of
Bow bells.

We should not have thought, just now, how-
ever, of Hunstanton and the L'ESTRANIFFA, but
for the report we have referred to. We lately

travelled in the district, and when we saw in a
local paper the heading Lynn and Hunstanton
Railway we certainly did open our eyes. Re•
freshing our memory by a good map of Norfolk,
we found but six or seven small villages between
the two places ; the largest of them numbering,
perhaps, a thousand inhabitants, the rest not more
than a few hundreds ; on one side of the present
road, the sea only separated by two or three miles
of fields or pastures; on the other, again, but few
villages, and those small and mostly distant ! If
the Lynn and Hunstanton Railway be to succeed,
then it will be a fair test of how far agriculture
can support the rail, and we confess that on that
ground alone we should like to see it tried. The
loss, if loss it should turn out, will not be ruin-
ous ; responsible partiee hare offered to construct
the railway, and hand it over complete for
80,000/., but a trifle over 5,0001. per mile !
Should this be done, it will, if we remember
aright, be cheaper than any railway yet completed
in England. We should not think the district
remarkably favourable for railway engineering !
It would scarcely be wise to keep to the
level low lands, near the beach, and
leave all the villages too much on one
side ; and if it went inland the line must go
through the undulating, though not high, chalk
hills of the uplands ; there would be many cut-
tings, though no tunnellings.
We have not seen the details of the calculations,
but Mr. SIMBSON, of the East Anglian, is fully
satisfied with the prospective result, and we must
leave that to him and the good burgesses of
Lynn. It would seem that the promoters of the
railway have subscribed more than half the
required amount among themselves—a fair guaran-
tee for the earnestness of their convictions. On the
grand point, however, which interests us—agri-
cultural railways—we have a remark or two to
make. Let it be understood of what kind the
district is, agriculturally. Exeept a strip of good
marshes adj scout to the Wash, it is a highly cul-
tivated light land arable district. Much of it
within living memory was open sheep walk ; and
heaths, to which Hampstead-heath is but a heath -
plot, yet remain. It it; nearly all now enclosed,
let on long leases, and well tilled by an intelligent
tenantry ; and it is one of the best barley districts
in England. Lovers of the best London porter
owe not a little to it. Every kind of crop is,
however, diligently cultivated, for the land being
naturally poor relies upon green crops and artifi-
cial manure, and the number of sheep and oxen
grazed is very considerable. The delivery of this
produce at the port of Lynn and carriage back of
oilcake and other artificial manures must be, we
suppose, the chief reliance of the projectors,
though they may fairly include in their calcula-
tions the pleasure trips froel a town of 20,000
inhabitants, and the increased visits of the rural
population to the town. Nor should we be sur-
prised at all if, some day, the little village at the
terminus should become as much of a resort from
the metropolis as Yarmouth or Lswestoft. Its
sea coast is far more beautiful than either. The
only peculiarity is the vast distance to which the

low tides leave the shore. Even this, however
to those who spend the day there, is no objection,
while the firmness of the uncovered sands renders
them perfectly agreeable to walk on, and the
amusement is ample to amateurs in the con
struction of marine aquariums. We must wish
the little project success, though we cannot pre-
tend to be judges of the probability of it. Were
the business in the hands of parties able and
willing to make the country terminus as alluring
to us jaded Londoners as it easily might be, we
should not doubt that it would even pay well, if
constructed at the proposed cost.

We may just remark that agricultural railways
must depend for success on agriculture having
assumed its best form in any district. Manufac-
turing neighbourhoods can always support a line
through them, not only on account of the number
of persons travelling, but from the goods traffic
also, which is becoming increasingly remunera-
tive. In proportion as agriculture becomes more
of a food manufacture, and is carried on with
mechanical and scientific appliances—in proportion
as it approaches to what is doing at Tiptree Hall,
or even to what is attained in the Lothians and
in the well-tilled parts of Norfolk—will be its
capacity to support railways. When the cultiva-
tion cf England shall have reached its highest
perfeotion, and have approximated to horticul-
ture, and when the towns and the country shall
have arranged to apply our sewerage to its proper
use, it will then pay to carry—single lines
at least—to every district ; and landlords may
even find that small branch lines to each im-
portant farm will pay good interest in the shape
of increased rent.

LATEST NEWS

CANADA.

LIVERPOOL, FRIDAY MORNING.

The screw steamer Canadian has arrived with
the mails from Quebec and Montceal of the 28th

ultimo.
The advices contain no news of interest.
Comtnereial affairs were quiet.

NAPLES, OCT. 4.

The political trial which has been going on for
some time past is concluded, and the following
sentence delivered :—Mignona has been con-
demned to banishment for life, Mauro Dangelis
for twelve years, and the priest Decicco for two
years. The monk Roggero and another have
been set at liberty.
The King and the Duke de Calabria arrived
here from Gaeta on the 30th ult. Gen. Martini
has been received by the King, and at the con-
clusion of the conference a council of Ministers
assembled.

MADRID, OCT. 8.

By a royal decree, published in the Gazette of
this day, M. Tassara is named Spanish Ambas-
sador at Washington. Preparations are com-
menced for sending to Africa nett spring a con-
siderable amount of naval and military forces.

A letter from Vienna, in the German Journal
of Frankfort, says :—" The Austrian war steamer
Elizabeth has received orders at Trieste to go to
tk• Bay of Naples, not to make a demonstration,
but to station there. It is certain that in his com-

munications with Baron Hubner, King Ferdinand
did not reject the good counsels of Austria and
France, and he has even allowed them to a cer-

tain extent, but he refuses to cede to the demands
of England, and Russia encourages him in his
resistance. It was in. the Athens journals that
the late Russian circular was first published, it

having been first communicated to the Govern-
ments of Greece and Naples."

A letter from Vienna of the 4th, in the Pint
Ampt Gazette of Frankfort, says :—" The circu-
lar despatch of Prince Gortschakoff was, it is said,
in the hands of the King of Naples on the 6th
September, that is to say, three days before the
arrival of Baron de Hubner."

A private letter from Bucharest, of the 29th cf
September, contains news which will hardly fail Is
create some little sensation in the West of Europe.
Prince Alexander Ghika, the Kaimakan or
Stadtholder of the Porte in the Principality of
Wallachia, has not only re-organised the Cabinet
and made great changes in the political admi-
nistration of the province, but he has entirely
broken up the supreme and second courts of
justice. The words of the correspondent are,
" The Kaimakan has just dismissed all the em-
ployes forming the courts of supreme justice and
of appeal.

The Paris correspondent of the Times (second
edition), in his letter dated yesterday, says :--
" The latest adviees from Naples as yet an-
nounce no change or modification in his Majesty's
determination. To the first steps taken by the
Western Powers the King responded by the open-
ing of the present criminal proceedings. To the
ultimatum, if ultimatum bo intended, the same
amiable sovereign will probably reply by the exe-
cution of the sentence on such of the prisoners as
have been convicted. A note is still spoken of
on the part of the French Government, but it is
hardly believed that the fleet will be despatched
at the same time to enforce its demands. Indeed,
there seems to be nothing yet decided respecting
the lent, though it is probable that the Ambas-
sadors will be recalled."

FRANCE.

PARIS, TIIURSDIY EVENINe.

The Moniteur says :—" The speculation of
sweating and melting down coins, in order to ex-
tract therefrom any value they may contain above
their ordinary currency, is an injury inflicted on
the public fortune, and constitutes a misdemeanour
e sstt
which cannot be tolerated. The French govern-
ment is resolved to repress this practice by all the
b a andc
Empress,"eaj says s
wore means placed in its hands by the laws."
he
an Sport,
ele-
gant
" went on a shooting excursion in the Park of St.
Clo"uTdhe Emperorays k. Her Majesty
two
d
costume of green cloth, composed of .a skirt
and jacket, ornamented with gold buttons and a
round hat with a plume of feathers. Two sub-officers
of the Chasseurs of the Guard attended ou the Em-
press to carry her fowling -pieces. Her Majesty killed 9
pheasants otttof 53 shot during the excursion. There
will be hunting and shooting matches alternately
every five days at Compiegne until November.
The carrousel which is to figure in the series of
•
fetes at Compiegne will have this particularity, that
all the horsemen will be mounted on Arabian
horses of the samo size and colour. They aro a
greyish-white -
,• h white and belonged to the
old regiment of
the 4th Chassours, now transformed into a regi-
ment of the guard."
Colonel Pelissier, of the Marine Artillery, has
been named member of the Council of Naval
Works, in the room of Colonel Frohault, removed
to other functions.
General Gyulai, who is still in Paris, will be re-
ceived to-morrow or the day after, in private
audience by the imperor. It was rumoured that
M. de Solignac Fenelon was recalled from Berne ;
the rumour is unfounded.
M. de Benkendorf, who is the bearer of a letter
from the Emperor of Russia to the Queen of Spain,
leaves this euening for Madrid.
The arrivals of corn at Toulon since Saturday
last have been 90,000 hectolitres. Prices have
slightly declined.
" Iu the month of April last," says the Moniteur,
" the Joune Dieppois, French merchant vessel,
was attacked in the neighbourhood of Cape Tres
Forms, by the pirates of the Riff. That i•-ct was,
on the part of the government of the Emperor, the
subject of the most energetic representations to the
government of Morocco, and his Majesty's consul-
general at Tangiers, in conformity with instruc-
tions sent to him, also demanded from the Court
of Morocco an equitable indemnity in favour of the
owners and crew of the pillaged vessel. The
Moorish Government has just acceded to this
claim, and the Governor of Tangiers has informed
Viscount do Castillou that a sum of 7,000 pias'res
(35,000 f.) was ready to be paid to him. There is
no doubt that the Government of Morocco will
cause the payment of this indemnity ultimately to
fall on the guilty parties ; and it is already an-
nounced that a force is being collected to march
into Riff. The result obtained by our consul-gene-
ral is the more remarkable that it is unprecedented.
Up to this time, the Government of Morocco has
never paid auy attention to remonstrances, even
the most legitimate, unless in presence of an armed
demonstration, and we have the more reason for
congratulating ourselves ou the result of our appli-
cation, that by determining the Government of
Morocco to accept the responsibility of the acts of
the Riffites, we have imposed on it the obligation
of providing for the security of its coasts."
BOURSE, OCT. 9. —The following were the last
quotations :

_
Cash. tr. e. End of bfontb,
41 por Cents CO 65
—f.
3 per Cents 66 70 66 80
New Loan 66 35
Bank tiharos ......... 3,80') Roman
Credit Mobilier ...... 1,500 Austrian
ilel'ian Fives
...... " Spanish Threos —
Pieamontese(s) ...... 80 Homo Debt