The Sun.
London, England, 1834-07-23 00:00:00

heard of an association like this, where all the...work is
to be done gratuitously—work of an enduring and fa-
tiguing kind—and none of those who perform the la-
bour to derive the smallest remuneration for their ser-
vices, and no bond of union amongst them, that we
can find out, but their concurrence in a certain theory
of colonization. Now, enthusiasm may do well
enough to bring people together, but it seldom keeps
them together long. It is a fortunate conductor where
it happens to exist, but it is a feeble binder; and yet
on what else, according to their own account of them-
selves, do the Australian speculators depend for their
cohesion or for the success of their scheme ? Is this,
however, so ? Have all dealers in abstract proposi-
tions of necessity no interest in propounding them be-
yond that of truth itself? Colonel Torrens was par-
ticularly earnest in maintaining some of the abstract re-
solutions which were passed at a certain meeting in Exeter
Hall ; but had the gallant and philosophical gentleman
no " speculation in his eye" beyondthe establishment of
a mere conclusion in political economy ? Why it turns
out that he is to be governor of the new colony; and
to have his salary paid, no doubt, from the proceeds
of some of those ingenious loans for the discharge of
which the said colony—that is (failing every other
security), the land, purchased at so much per acre,
and held out as so capital a bargain—is we presume to
be mortgaged. How many more of the political eco-
nomists engaged in the business of puffing this mag-
nified enterprise are to be personally promoted or be-
nefitted through its consummation, we, not being in the
secret, cannot so much as guess. But without diving
into the motives of such advocates, we shall just repeat
that it nowhere appears on the face of their proceed-
ings by what bond the portion of the company, or
" society" (if they like the word better), who remain at
home, are to be kept together, through what induce-
ment or obligation they are to be permanently influenced
to devote their time and efforts to the perpetual busi-
ness of maintaining " the proportion between capi-
tal and labour," by carrying on the enlistment of
labourers wherever they are to be had throughout the
United Kingdom, or how those labourers are to be
tempted to Spencer's Gulf in preference to other colo-
nies. When we objected some time ago to the folly
of assuming that purchasers would be preYailed on to
buy land in the new wilderness, knowing that if they
thought fit they might obtain it in other colonies for
comparatively nothing, we were answered that the
practice of giving away land by his Majesty's Govern-
ment had ceased, and that in truth it could not be
procured anywhere on easier terms than on Spencer's
Gulf. Now see how this statement bears upon an-
other branch of the calculations of these gentlemen.
They tell us that there is no getting, or at least no. re-
taining, labourers in the other colonies of the crown
of England, because no man will remain a labourer
when he can be a proprietor for nothing, and there-
fore that the system of taking out redemptioners, as
they are called—that is, labourers apprenticed for a
certain term—can never be enforced in the old colo-
nies. Then let us ask if, as the Australian sages
have affirmed, it be quite as difficult to become a
proprietor in the old colonies as in that which
is under consideration, why should the indented
labourers (or redemptioners) in those colonies be
more difficult to retain in the service of their masters than
in Southern Australia, or, to speak more directly, how
can the emigrant labourers to Southern Australia be
prevented from quitting their masters and setting up
for themselves, and thus defacing the scientific pro-
portion between capital and labour more effectually
than the same class of emigrant labourers to Canada,
Van Dieman's Land or the Cape ? There is nothing
cheaper than a fine-spun theory ; the brains of your
political economists exhibit an absolute diarrhoea of
that description. But who is the better for it ? Their
booksellers doubtless, for we are sorry to say, that
trash which nobody would be at the trouble of testing
by experiment is sure of sale among certain- circles—a
sale as creditable, though not so extensive; as that of
Mirrerva-press novels in the last generation. The
public has hitherto been kept in the dark upon some
important points of the present venture. Who are to
have the charge of selling the lands ? Who are to
have the handling of the money ? Who are to have
the patronage and government of the colony ? Who
are to determine the sort of constitution by which it is
hereafter to be regulated ? We should like to be in-
formed on these points.—Times.

EXCISE REVENUE.

We are happy to observe, that the reports of the Com-
mission appointed last year to inquire into the revenue of
excise, have been presented to the House of Commons.
The reports actually presented are but seven in number,
though they include the eighth, the seventh not being yet
quite completed. The important subject on which they
treat, and the numerous changes which they recommend,
will sufficiently prove the necessity of a much more sifting
inquiry into the Excise than could by possibility have been
conducted by the Treasury alone ; and the number of wit-
nesses examined by the Commissioners will show that
they, on their part, have not been negligent of the trust
confided to them. Much yet remains to be done ; but
as we have reason to believe that other reports are in great
forwardness, we may anticipate the conclusion of the
inquiry in the course of the next session of Parliament.
In the mean time, we think our readers will be inte-
rested in a short detail of the reports already pre-
sented. They are as follow :-1, tea ;2, wine ;3, sum-
mary jurisdiction ; 4, beer ; 5, stone bottles and sweets ;
6. tobacco ; 7, spirits (not yet presented) ; 8, starch. The
first, second, fourth, and sixth reports treat of those arti-
cles which are under the survey of the Excise, although
they receive no duty from them, and the Commissioners
of Inquiry recommend that this survey should be wholly
discontinued in all these cases. The reasons that have
induced them to adopt this conclusion seem to be well
grounded, and rest principally upon the little benefit which
results from the survey, as compared with its positive
expense, and its serious inconvenience to the public, and to
the traders. It appears from the showing of the excise
officers themselves, that a saving of 100,0001. might be
made in their expenditure if these four surveys were to be
abolished. The third report treats of the jurisdiction which
the excise exercises, not only over the traders subject to
their laws, but also over all other persons who, by fraudu-
lent proceedings, may injure that branch of the revenue.
The Board of excise are at present judges in their own
cause, and sit in their own court. The Commission of In-
quiry has recommended the abolition of this anomalous ju-
risdiction, as well as of a Court of Appeal consisting of three
or four commissioners, who have enjoyed complete sine-
cures for the last twelve years. The fifth report, on the
subject of the duties on stone bottles and sweets, exposes
the absurdity of these two miserable sources of revenue, and
recommends their repeal. The seventh report, on spirits,
which is not yet presented, is of the greatest importance,
and we shall refer to it on a future opportunity. The
eighth report relates to starch, and the repeal of this duty
is also recommended for various and very sufficient reasons.
The mischiefs it has produced will, we think, be apparent;
when we state that the quantity of starch consumed in
Ireland, where there is no duty on that article, is equal to
that which pays duty in Great Britain, where the popula-
tion is more than double, and certainly much richer than
that of the sister country. The ninth report, which relates,
we believe, to vinegar, has not yet been presented to the
House.

The Commissioners of Inquiry report to the Treasury,
and their reports are then presented by his Majesty's com-
mands to the Commons.

PITILADELPHIA.—On the evening of the 7th inst.
I was called out by a neighbour to witness a phenomenon in
the sky, which—as it was uncommon, and likely to be seen by
many—l expected would have been noticed by some of thy
very intelligent correspondents ; but not having seen anything
upon the subject, please accept the following description of it
as it appeared to me :—ln the south-west a bright white light
appeared, streaming up towards the zenith, quite narrow, and (as
one who saw its first rising said) like a jet of water from a hose
pipe, and very rapidly extended, nearly in a north-easterly di-
rection, entirely across the horizon ; after it had attained to an
elevation of about 40 to 45, it separated into three or four
streams, faintly blended together by their edges, more dense in
their middle parts, but not so as to obscure the stars, which were
visible through any part of it during the whole time ; the north-
eastern extremity appeared eradually to move about two points
northward. The brightness of the light continued about fif-
teen minutes, gradually fading away, and disappeared in about
half an hour. The day had been cloudy, with slight dropping
of rain, the thermometer ranging from 50 to 74, the evening
was clear and pleasant, and, particularly after the disappear-
ance of the light alluded to, was remarkably fine. The ap-
pearance of the light was much like those light clouds that are
often seen in summer, and most probably was a narrow stratum
of the electric fluid, passing at a very high elevation, and had
it appeared from the north, would no doubt have been viewed
as a splendid display of the aurora borealis. Not professing to
much science, I should be pleased to see from an abler pen
some account of a phenomenon, the sight of which was calcu-
lated to excite those emotions of admiration and wonder which
the works of nature, whether common or extraordinary, always
produce in a contemplative mind.—New York Daily News,
May 31.