The Sun.
London, England, 1851-01-02 00:00:00

REPEAL OF THE DUTY ON PAPER.

A meeting of paper manufacturers was held yes-
terday afternoon at the Clarence Hotel, Se ring-gar-
dens, in order to conside r what steps amid be taken to
secure, in the course of the next session of Parliament,
the abolition of the paper duty. Mr. T. B. Cromp-
ton was called to the chair. Among the gentlemen
present were Messrs. J. Smith (Smith and Ingle),
C. Potter (C. 11. and E. Potter), Martin (Leeds),
T. B Parke, J. Bennett, Crook (Crook and
Knowles), Baldwin (Birmingham), J. hideout
(J. and T. B. Crompton), Holden, and Appleton.
The CHAIRMAN said that at a meeting held about a
month since, he was requested to ascertain, as far as
possible, the probability of getting, in the next session
of Parliament, an abolition of the paper duty. With
this view he had had interviews wieh Lord John Rus-
s,ll, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and a great
number of leading men, both in and out of Parliament,.
and of all political sentitu nts. The result of those in.
tervie,vs was aconvietion that on the exenions made by
the public and the trade, but emanating from the latter,
would entirely depend whether they were to succeed in
getting this obnoxious tax repeal( dor not. The next
step he took was to have a circular issued by the
" Association for the aboliti, n of the duty on
paper," which existed in London, and also himself to
issue a pamphlet on the subject. He did this becaine
he felt that they could never hope for success, unless
they informed the public of the true nature of the
paper tax, and the extent to which it affected almost
every individual in the community. He had that day
met with an individual who was consuming 1,0001
worth of paper yearly, but who said he "had not
the least idea that paper paid any very serious duty,"
and was perfectly astounded when he (the Chairman)
informed him that it paid not less than 40 per cent.
This was not all : some descriptions of paper were
taxed to the extent of 120 per cent. on the cost price.
He believed that if the public, now almost ignorant on
the subject, were made fully aware of the nature of
the paper duty, not only would they be able to secure
its speedy repeal, but, in fact, to make it a part of the
next budget. They would find in the public press,
he believed, a most powerful organ in aiding
their movement; and through the newspapers,
and other channels, the association in London
would take care that the bearings of the tax were
fully exposed to the public. The paper manufac-
turers were of course the first to feel the effects of
the tax. A man could not commence making paper
without first applying to an Excise officer to survey
his premises, to number every room in them, and also
to mark, by letter or by number, every implement
which be (the manufacturer) proposed to use. The
Act now in force, as amended by Committee, was
called " A Bill to consolidate and amend the Laws
for collecting and securing the Duties of Excise on
Paper made in the United Kingdom ;" it was passed
on the sth July, 1839, and contained 69 clauses, a
great number of which were penal. Section 3 re-
quired papermakers, before commencing business, to
make " a true and particular entry in writing" of
all their mills and premises, and every implement
they used in the manufacture, &c., "of paper of
any description, or buttonboard, millboard, paste-
board, or scaleboard," and to deliver the same
to the Excise officer in whose survey the mill
and premises might be situated ; in which entry
every " engine, chest, machine, vat, and press shall
be distinguished by a particular number or
letter, or number and letter or letters ;" in default of
which, for every unentered mill or implement, the
manufacturer shall forfeit 200/., " together with all
paper, button-board, millbcard, pasteboard, or scale-
board, and all materials found therein." A similar
penalty was imposed in case the marks upon the
several things mentioned did not. agree with the entry
given in; so that if the number or letters were erased
by accident, the excise officer could declare the pre-
mises as unentered, and enforce the penalty of 2001.
The chairman proceeded to read and comment upon
section 9, remarking that under it the labels issued by
the Commissioners of Excise, to be used in the tying
up of paper, were made equal in value to bank notes ;
as there was a fine of 101. imposed for every label de-
livered' to any manufacturer, " and for which a re-
ceipt shall not be given, or which shall be can-
celled, obliterated, or destroyed, sold or disposed
of, or improperly used, or not produced or ac-
counted for," when demanded by the Excise
officer. It was often necessary to entrust a working
man with 1,000 of those notes at once (representing
to the manufacturer 10,000/.), and the manufacturers
were, of course, always in danger, as some of the
labels might be destroyed or removed through malice,
or even through the slightest negligence or inatten-
tion. By section 15, a period of 84 hours was con-
sumed, after paper was ready for delivery into the
market, before the manufacturer could send it out,
in consequence of the notice required to be given prior
to, and to lapse after, the weighing and charging of
it with duty. This period, during which the paper
was kept in the mill, was a longer one than was re-
quired for him to buy the raw materials in Manches-
ter, send them to his mill, manufacture paper, and
transport it to any part of the kingdom, if he were
not interfered with. This regulation crippled the
consumption of paper to an almost incalculable ex-
tent. The chairman, after referring to other restric-
tive and penal clauses in the Act, pointed out the
extent to which, despite the vigilance of the Excise,
frauds were constantly being cemmitted, and said
that of this Government was fully aware, and ac-
knowledged the difficulty of collecting the duty.
Substitutes for paper were being continually produced,
so nearly identical in their nature, that excisemen
could not detect the difference, until told of it; but
all these were allowed to go duty free. He himself,
within ten days, bad placed in the hands of a Govern.
ment officer a specimen of a new material, which the
officer unhesitatingly pronounced to be pasteboard;
but he would not, nevertheless, dare to seize three
tons of it, although he (the chairman) told him where
it way lying. The chairman next referred to the
great number of persons who depended upon the
manufacture of of paper, either directly or indirectly,
and urged the immense advantage which must result
to them from the abolition of the paper duty. Mr.
Baldwin described the injurious operation of the paper
duty on the trade of Birmingham. The meeting was
afterwards addressed by Mr. C. Potter, and other
gentlemen ; and resolutions were agreed to for the
commencement of a subscription to aid the London
association ; directing the secretary to communicate
with all similar associations in the country, and urg-
ing paper manufacturers to solicit subscriptions from
their friends generally, and to endeavour to make
known the injurious operation of the tax complained
of. About 2001. was subscribed by those present at
the_meeting.—Manchester Guardian of Wednesday.

PARLIAMENTARY APPLICATIONS FOR
THE ENSUING SESSIONS.
Yesterday, from the retures made by Mr. Hawes, Re-
gistrar of the Private Bill•eflice of the House of Com-
mons, of the applications in connexion with joint-stock
undertakings, deposited in the House of Commons. up to
Tuesday, the 31st December, the last day allow( d by the
Standing Orders, it appears that the total number of ap-
plications to Parliament for the ensuing session, for all
classes of Bills, amount to 216, about one-half being
for railways and the other half for miscellaneous com-
panies, showing that the joint-stock enterprise of the
country is by no means daunted by the dramas now
daily enacting under the Joint Stock Companies Wind-
ing-up Act. There are the following applications tor
new water companies :—Metropolitan Water Supply As-
sociation for the control of the representative body;
Wandle Water and Sewerage Company; London (Wat-
ford) Sp:jog Water Company; Metroiolitan Watt r works
(Henley-on-Thames and London aqueduct); East Lan-
cashire Waterworks; Cambridge Waterworks; Leices-
ter Waterworks and Sewerage; St. Helen's Waterworks;
Whitby Waterworks; East Stonehouse Waterworks;
making four applications for the metropolis and five for
the provincial districts. There are five applications
for new electric telegraph companies, viz.—The United
Kingdom Electric Company (Allen's patent); the Euro•
peen and American Printing Telegraph Company (Jacob
Brett's); the Submarine Telegraph Company, between
Great Britain and Ireland (Brett's); the Submarine Te-
legraph Company, between England and France; and the
Magnetic Electric Telegraph Company. The Electric
Telegraph Company also apply for amendments of their
present Acts. There are several applications fur the
municipal and other improvements of Liverpool and
Manchester. The Great Central Gas Consumers' Com-
pany apply for an incorporation of their company.
There are several applications for local gas companies.
To supersede the "Smithfield nuisance," measures aro
proposed, called the Railway Insurance Cattle Market,
and the Metropolitan Cattle Market, the object of the
latter being the removal of Smithfield and Newgate
Markets, and the prohibition intrancurally of slaughter-
houses. Tho maintainers of Smithfield as it is also have
a Bill, entitled " Smithfield Enlargement," one of the
objects being the removal of the dead meat market from
Smithfield, and the levying of tolls, stallage and dues fur
the proposed purpose.

DEATH FROM THE ACCIDENTAL DISCHARGE OF A
GuN.—An inquest was held on Tuesday at the Anchor
AnKinvor,
Ann, Whittington, in the parish of before T. M.
hillips, Esq., Coroner, on the body of Isaac Starling,
about 22 years of age, a boatman, who on the previous
Saturday was killed by the discharge of a gun whilst
steering a toat along the Worcestershire and Staffordshire
Canal, near Whittington Horse Bridge. It appeared from
the evidence that the young man had been shooting at
rooks as be passekelong the canal, and that suddenly the
man who was driving the as which was drawing the
boat heard the repou of a gun, and on looking back towards
the boati saw the decea.e_l'a hat fall over the boat into the
water. The man who was driving made an alarm, and on
going aboard the boat he and another boatman Inlaid the
deceased lying on the floor of the cabin with a double-
barrel gun under him. They then discovered that Etarling
had received a dreadful fracture on the left side of the
skull, and that be was quite dead. The driver stated in
his cvidence that there were two steps from the spot on
which the deceased stood to shoot and steer down into the
cabin, where the deceased put the gun after shooting, and
he (witness) believed that the hammer of one of the locks
must have struck against one of the steps whilst the deceased
was in the act of going down into the cabin with the butt
end of it downwards, and accidentally discharged it. It
appearing also from the evidence that Starling was a happy
contented-minded man, the jury returned a verdict of
Accidental Death.— Wolverhampton Chronicle.