The Sun.
London, England, 1851-03-12 00:00:00

WEDNESDAY EVENING,

had manifested for himself," wal adroitly taken ads an

•
'el;, ern. ,:se s .‘11,):e 'sae Fess.see e
ing, "consisting of burnt peas, dog-biscuit, powdered
earth, and other materials too horrid to mention," .
which, of course, if adulteration is to be per-
mitted in any shape, must also be tolerated ; yet,
this exhibition was met by an avowal from a re-
tail trader of his perfect contentment with the
system which permits such mixtures, while another
speaker also had just previously asserted that it leads to
an improvement in the strength and palatable properties
of coffee. Notwithstanding the uproar, however, with
which the small dealers listened to every condemnation
of .the evil, resolutions were eventually carried, that the
adulteration of coffee should be met in the same way by
the Government as the adulteration of any other dutiable
article; that the poor are at present imposed upon to a
most pernicious extent; that it is a precedent fraught
with serious evils to encourage such proceedings by a
legal sanction; and that an interview should be obtained
with Lord John Russell and Sir Charles Wood to urge
prompt and effective measures of prevention.
Meanwhile, the public should keep in view the actual
position of the question as regards the various interests
affected. The colonial coffee growers say that if chicory,
horse-chesnuts, &e., are to be recognized by the Go-
vernment as identical with coffee, then it must be unfair
to subject their produce to a duty of 4d. per lb., while
the competing articles are liable to no such impost.
With respect to the consumers the argument is, that
they should be allowed the opportunity of purchasing
any mixture they may ask for; but that if they ask for
coffee the dealer should not be allowed to substitute
chicory or horse-chesnnts, any more than he should
be allowed to substitute Britannia metal when he
professes to give silver. At the same time, if this
view be not taken, the dealer has a right to com-
plain that the Government is not consistent, and
that while he is allowed to vend substitutes for
coffee, he finds himself prosecuted by the Excise if he
introduces linseed into pepper or sloe-leaves in place of
tea. In his recent Budget the Chancellor proposed to
reduce the duty on coffee from 4d. to 3d ; but to be upon
a par with chicory, horse-chesnuts, and powdered earth,
it must be free from duty altogether. Without a pro-
hibition against one being substituted for the other,
this reduction, therefore, is merely an unworthy instal-
ment of an unanswerable demand. Few persons have ever
thought of asking for an excise duty on chicory equiva-
lent to the duty on coffee, yet two years ago the Chancellor
" warned" thechicory growers that he contemplated going
even to that extent if the adulteration should becontinued.
When it was shown that it had not only continued, but
had greatly increased, he announced that he had no
intention of taking any steps in the matter. Next he
intimated, on the authority of some grocers, that the
public were highly favourable to the practice (although
this was no answer to the claims of the cultivators);
end, lastly, it was asserted, in the face of a rapidly de-
clining consumption, that the substitution of the untaxed
for the taxed article, had actually increased the use of
the latter. It will be seen, therefore, that the points at
issue have been thus far met by nothing but centradice
teens, damaging alike to steady trade and to the national
character, awl that it will be impossible after the know-
ledge of the case which is now awakened, and the dis-
play on the part of the retail traders which took place
yesterday, that these can be any longer persevered in.
It may be desirable to mention that the tradesmen
who spoke in condemnation of the prevailing practices
were Messrs. Fortnum and Mason, Ridgway and Co.,
Mr. Twining, Mr. Payne, of Regent street; Mr. Quick,
of Fenchureh-street; and Mr. Deane, of Shore titch.
The two firms mentioned among the cases cited in the
Lancet whose coffee was found entirely free from adul.e-
ration were Richard Knight and Son, of Gracechurch-
street, and Mr. Bette, of Oxford-street. It must be
plain, however, that as things at present stand houses of
this description can have no fair chance against their
less strict competitors.— Times.

THE LONDON GAZETTE, March 11

BANKRUPTS.

John Barnard Warcup, ironmonger, Deptford, to sur-
render March 20, at one, and April 24, at twelve, at the
Court of Bankruptcy. Bell, official assignee, Coleman-
street-buildings; rayler, Adelaide.place, London-bridge.
• Charles Driffield. draper, Beverley, Yorkshire, March
21, at one, and April 28, at twelve, at the Court of
Bankruptcy. Graham, official assignee; Ashurst and
Son, Old Jewry.
William Buckle, ship owner, Pall-mall, March 28, at
eleven, and April 29, at one, at the Court of Bank-
ruptcy. Edwards, official assignee, Sambrook-court,
Basinghall-street; Towne, Devonshire-square, Bishops-
gate.
George Parker, carpenter, Coventry, March 31, and
April 26, at half-past ten, at the Birmingham District
Court. Valpy, official assignee, Birmingham; Browctt,
Coventry.
Henry B!akesley, brick and tile dealer, Castle Brom-
wich, Warwickshire, March 27 and April 29, at twelve,
at the Birmingham District Court. Christie, official
assignee, Birmingham; Harrison, Birmingham.
Edward Smith, hop merchant, Worcester, March 26,
and April 23, at twelve, at the Birmingham District
Court. Whitmore, official assignee, Birmingham; Reece,
Birmingham.
Stephen Thomas Walker, horse dealer, Grantham,
March 21, and April 25, at twelve, at the Birmingham
District Court, Nottingham. Bittleston, official assignee,
Nottingham; Swan, Gray's Inn-place, Gray's-inn.
. _

Manuel Jones, cheese factor, Wrexhatis, March 24,
and April 14, at eleven, at the Liverpool District Court.
Morgan, official assignee, Liverpool; Evans, Liverpool.
Robert Wade, grocer, Plymouth, March 17, at two,
and April 24, at eleven, at the Exeter District Court.
Hernaman, official assignee, Exeter; Edmonds and Sons,
Plymouth; Stogdon, Exeter.
Thomas Kinten, furniture broker, East Stonehouse,
Devonshire, March 17, at two, and April 24, at eleven,
at the Exeter District Court. Hernaman, official assig-
nee, Exeter; Little and Billing, Devonport; Stogdon,
Exeter; Sole and Turner, Aldermanbury.
DIVIDENDS.
At the Court, Basinghall-street.
J. Murray, Gracechurch-street, Manchester ware-
houseman and wholesale linendraper, April 1, at twelve—
J. N. Harlow, Ramsgate, wine and spirit merchant, April
3, at half-past two—J. Saunders, Basinghall-street, and
Bradford, Wiltshire, woollen mAnuficturer, April 1, at
one—Elizabeth M'Knott and J. Glass, Belvidere-road,
Lambeth, and Blackfriars-road, coal merchants, April 3,
at one—T. Nokes, een., Upmin,ter and Stifford, Essex,
miller, April 3, at eleven—E. May, Oxford street, iron-
monger, April 1, at twelve—J, Peachey, Middleborough,
Colchester, coachmaker, April 3, at twelve—J. R. Ptd-
ding, George-yard, Lombard-street, and Finchley, mer-
chant, April 3, at twelve.
In. the Country.
W. Miller, Liverpool and Bootle, wine and spirit mer-
chant and brewer, April 3, at eleven, at the Court,
Liverpool.
NOTICES OF CERTIFICATES.
At the Court, Basil:Than-street.
R. Hills, Downham, Isle of Ely, grocer and flourseller,
April 1, at one—S. Berns, Houndsditch, importer or
French goods, April 2, at two—J. N. Harlow, Rams-
gate, wine and spirit merchant, April 3, at half-past two.
In the Country.
R. N. Jones, Liverpool, merchant, April 4, at eleven,
at the Court, Liverpool—W. Randall, Manchester, calico
printer, April 4, at twelve, at the Court, Manchester.