The Sun.
London, England, 1834-10-30 00:00:00

providentially happen that such acts of injustice,
though productive of much misery to the objects of
them, seldom fail to recoil on the inflicters, as it does
in the present instance, by raising the price of labour
and the produce of labour. We have not space, how-
ever, further to pursue this part of the subject at pre-
sent, but we trust that we have shown that it is the
interest of every one in the country that there should
be a repeal of the malt tax. The Marquis of Chandos
has, we are glad to see, pledged himself to bring this
matter forward ; and let the manufacturer and the
agriculturist understand that it is a question in which
they are equally interested, and let some constituencies
we could name remind their apparently forgetful repre-
sentatives of their undertakings 'and promises at the
hustings with respect to this tax. Though we have
chiefly confined our remarks to the abolition of the
malt tax, we are of opinion that much more may and
must be done. The exigencies of the country require
that the Chancellor of the Exchequer should come for-
ward with some comprehensive, simple, and bold sys-
tem of finance—the ground-work of which should be,
we unhesitatingly repeat, the abolition of all imposts
on the necessaries of life of the productive classes.
Nothing less than such a system, we are convinced,
can relieve the country, and assuredly nothing less will
or ought to satisfy it.—Morning Herald.
The Privy Council yesterday concluded their exami-
nation into the facts connected with the statement of
Mr. Cooper, that he heard at Dudley, on Thursday,
the 16th, of the destruction by fire of the two houses
of Parliament, which took place the same evening only
a few hours before. The witnesses were examined at
great length, and the most complete and convincing
proof was obtained by their Lordships that Mr.
Cooper had mistaken the day, and that he only re-
ceived the information on Friday morning, after the ar-
rival of the London mail at Dudley with the news.
The information was so decisive as to satisfy every
one ; and if ever there could be a doubt on the subject
it is now removed. We hear from every quarter but
one account of the respectability of Mr. Cooper, as to
which, indeed, there can be no question ; but it is evi-
dent that he confounded Thursday with Friday, and
the evening with the morning. The cause of the fire
has been traced with a clearness and precision hardly
ever known in any similar inquiry ; and with the fact
of the burning of the tallies before us, it is superfluous
to inquire further. The public may, no doubt, be well
pardoned for expressing their surprise that an opera-
tion which so clearly accounts for the fire, should not
have suggested the possibility of any such consequence
b efo reh and.—Morning Chronicle.

GREENWICH PETTY SESSIONS.

THE POOR LAW AMENDMENT BILL.

William Want, a pauper, appeared at the bar. The man
seemed to be suffering from not having a sufficiency of food.
Mr. Alexander, one of the overseers of Greenwich, told
the Magistrates, that between seven and eight o'clock the
preceding night, the unfortunate man came to his door and
asked for relief. He said to him, that as he belonged to
Saffron-hill parish, London, he could not do anything for
him : he must first apply to the guardians and directors of
the poor.
Mr. Finch (the Magistrates' legal adviser), having al-
luded to the correspondence between the Lord Mayor and
the Magistrates of Lambeth-street Police-office, said that
there was a similarity in this man's case, who belonged to
Saffron-hill parish. He had been to the overseers of that
parish ; he had also been to the Magistrates at Hatton-
garden, who, in conformity with the new Act, told him
that they could not do anything for him. Such was the
poor fellow's statement.
Chairman—Why do you not stop in your own parish ?
Want—l have been to the overseer, and he turned me
out. He told me that I might do my best and do my
worst. I then went to Mr. Laing, at Hatton-garden, who
stated that he had no power.
Mr. Corbett, assistant overseer of Greenwich, said that
the man did not belong to Greenwich ; that they had main-
tained him for a considerable time, but finding that he be-
longed to the parish of Saffron-hill, they entered an action
against that parish for the expenses incurred by them for
his maintenance. The cause was tried at Clerkenwell
Sessions, the result of which was, that that parish had to
pay the expenses, which they did, thus acknowledging the
settlement to be there.

The Chairman—We have enough of poor of our own to
support. You have no business here. The question is,
you must be sent to Maidstone gaol, where you have been
before. lam afraid your conduct is not as it ought to be,
I must commit you as a vagrant.
Mr. Finch—Why do you not do in your own parish as
you do here ? Why do you not lay at the door of the
overseer ? You will then soon be heard by the Magis-
trate. Mr. Smith, the Magistrate, has relieved him
repeatedly
By Mr. Corbett—Want said that when he applied to
the overseers they first gave him a truck to draw ; they
then gave him a board to carry ; after that he was provided
with half-a-crown, and told to go about his business.
The Chairman—Why do you not go away ? Want—l
cannot starve in the streets. _ _

Mr. Finch—The Magistrate has no power to help you.
The Chairman—He must be discharged.
Mr. Alexander—You ought to give us some security
that we shall not be annoyed by him.
Mr. Corbett would apply to the Board to-morrow to see
what was to be done with him.
The wretched man then left the office.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.

MANSION-HO USE.

THE POOR LAWS.—Yesterday an elderly woman ap-
peared for the purpose of complaining against the parish
officers of St. Botolph's, Aldgate.
Mr. Tyars (one of the Common Council of the Ward,)
the Churchwarden, and the Overseers were in attendance.
The Complainant stated that for some time the parish
officers had allowed her half-a-crown a week towards the
support of the illegitimate child of her daughter, who con-
tributed as much as she could from the small earnings of a
servant to lighten the burden to the parish. The officers
had, however, because, she supposed, the new Poor Law
gave them the power to do as they pleased, determined not
to give her a farthing henceforward. They were now act-
ing upon that principle.
The LORD MAYOR-Cannot they lay hand upon the
father of the child and make him contribute as lie ought ?
Complainant—l have often told the beadle where the father
worked, but there was no use in it. No notice was taken
of what I said. My daughter gives all she can, but as she
is in service and has no more than 91. a year, she can give
very little assistance.
The LORD MAYOR—Why have not the parish officers
compelled the father to support his child ?—The beadle did
not know where to find the man.

Complainant—They never would touch him when they
could find him, but I dare say there would be no difficulty
if they would take the trouble.
Mr. Tyars—We are willing, my Lord, to take the child
under our care and to send it to Norwood to be nursed,
but we cannot consent to make any allowance out of doors
for its support, for we find that the mother is able to sup-
port it herself.
The LORD MAYOR—Is the child able to walk? Com-
plainant—Almost, and. I can bring it up if they continue
the half-crown a week.
The LORD MAYOR (to the parish officers)—This child
was not born under the new Act which so completely alters
the humane system, and inflicts such rigorous punishment
on poor creatures of the other sex, who are ruined by ours.
You must continue the allowance, it is but a trifle.
Mr. Tyars—God knows we do not wish to aggravate her
punishment, but we are bound to act for the benefit of our
parishioners, many of whom are extremely poor. It is too
hard to press upon the poor industrious people who abound
with us for the maintenance of bastards, when their own
children are suffering privations ; and we have ascertained
that the mother is able to support the child herself.
The LORD MAYOR—If you want to lighten the expense
upon your parishioners, you can't do it by taking the child
into the house. The expense will be much greater.
Mr. Tyars—That's not the point. lam convinced that
out-of-door relief gives encouragement to bastardy. When
the other course is tried the mothers take away their chil-
dren and support them themselves. In nineteen cases out
of twenty, the mother turns up her nose at the workhouse.
In fact, all they want is the pecuniary relief, which, except
under very peculiar circumstances, they must not get.
The LORD MAYOR—Mothers will do a great deal before
they will consent to a separation from their children. They
will, by the wise decree of nature, undergo the most severe
afflictions and privations before they will submit to that ex-
tremity. What I reprobate in this proposal of the parish
is that it goes to break up the intercourse between mother
and child, and, of course, to interfere with the ties of affec-
tion. Under the care of the grandmother, the child will
meet with no impediments to the growth of natural attach-
ment which must be smothered in a workhouse, and no-
body with a heart in his bosom could countenance such a
violation.
Mr. Tyars.—The children who are brought up by us at
Norwood are taken the utmost care of. We are not
chargeable with inhumanity.
The LORD MAYOR.—I do not say that you are. I
know you to be a very humane and worthy man ; but those