The Sun.
London, England, 1856-02-14 00:00:00

ries; about half a million of.it goes to charges for
superannuations and compensations.
The Customs employ 11,292 persons, and the pro-
posed expenses of the depaitment, exclusive of
superannuations, amount to 1,326,0001. Of this
sum 840,0001. goes to the Customs proper ; the re-
mainder to the Coastguard. • In London alone more
than 2,000 men are employed in the service of the
former department, and the expenses of the different
establishments amount to 383,0001. In Liverpool
844 men aro required, and the charge is 115,000'.
After Liverpool, the port that employs the greatest
number of men is Hull; the number is 170, and their
expenses are 18,000/. Exclusive of London and
Liverpool, the number of Custom-house officers at
the different ports and creeks of the United Kingdom
is 2,584 ; their salaries are 267,000/. ;and, includ-
ing salaries, the whole expenses of the establish-
ments are 326,0001. Inclusive of London and
Liverpool, the number of Custom-house officers is
5,564. The Coastguard employs a still greater
number-5,728, at an expense of 486,000/. Of this
sum the annual charge for 51 revenue cruisers is
70,0007., or 1,5001. a-piece, if we include some
minor charges, such as 3001. for a superintendent
of cruisers' repairs. 'On. the whole, then, if we add
to the last returns of the Customs, which were
20,987,0001., the charges for working the depart-
ment, it would appear that the gross receipts are
mere than 22,500,0001., and- that the expense of
collecting this revenue is about 7 per cent.
The expenses of the Inland Revenue depart-
ment are (excluding superannuations) 1,522,0031.,
and the service employs 6,987 men. Of course, a
great part of this sum is expended not iu salarieS,
but in rent, in buildings, in postage, in rates. The
new buildings at Somerset-house 60,0001. Our
tax-gatherers pay rents, rates, and taxes, amount-
ing to 12,0001. The postage and carriage of books
parcels come to 23,000/. The expenses of the cabs
of London are 11,0001. Printing and gumming the
little receipt and draught stamps, together with the
price of the paper, cost 10,0001. Copies of wills cost
10,0001., and if they cost theßoard of Inland Revenue
- that sum—query, what do the public pay ? State-
carriage plates and allowances for checking state-
carriage journeys amount annually to 2,0001. The
Excise returns for the last year were 16,389,0001.;
and, adding these charges together with the super-
annuation allowances, the gross receipts amount to
18,130,0001.; and this is collected at a charge of
abmit 10 per cent.
But afar inure interesting department than either
of these is that of the Post-office, which gives em-
ployment to 22,748 individnals, which requires an'
outlay of 1,740,4831. (exclusive of superannua-
tions), and which affsords a clear revenue of
1,137,0001. The .General Post-office in London
costs 355,8001.; in Dublin, 37,300/. ;in Edinburgh,
25,4277.; and then, deseenditig still lower in the
scale, Liverpool costs 20,9001.; . Manchester,
16,8001.; Glasgow, 13,8001. i Birmingham, 10,300/.
London employs 1,879 sorters, letter-carriers, .and
messengers, at an average pay of 691. ;' Dublin,
178, at an average pay of 671. ; Edinburgh has
141, at an average PeY of 00/. The clothing for
the London letter-carriers cost last year 3,6007.,
and is to cost in the current year 5,000/. The dif-
ference in Dublin is not so great ; it cost last year
256/., and ti is new estimate is 307/. But in
Edinburgh the difference. is very extraordi-
nary. It cost last year 321. (surely a mistake),
and the new es innate is WO/. In other
words, the clothing •of 141 letter-carriers,
in Edinburgh is to cost considerably 'more
than that of 178 in Dublin. To proceed,
however, the Money-order office in London costs
23,0001. ; iu Edinburgh (including the account-'
ant's office)' 5,837/. ; in Dublin (including a simi-
lar office), 6,8571. AU is mentioned with great
minuteness. The policemen and firemen in Lon-
don receive 1,157/, ; and these who are curious to
know how much the stamper at Norwich is paid,
how much the clerks at Belfast 6e-et, and how many
letter-carriers they have at Cork, may very. soon be
satisfied by dipping into' these estimates. The
London and North-Western .Railway Company
obtains 56,5001. a-year for the conveyance of mails
-7-the largest sum given to any one railway com-
pany. The Great Southern and Western in Ire-
land seems to receive the next largest stun-
33,000/. In all, 343,000/. are 'given' for the. con-
veyance of mails by railway through •England ;
and, as a sign of the times, it is interesting to
cornpaie this sum with : the,; charge for conveyance
of 'mails, by mail coaches-2,0921. See the differ-
ence in a single year ; last year it was 2,497/.
Another interesting item is that of the manufacture
of postage stamps. The total amount required for
this manufacture is 30,000/.—C, little fortune.
The cost of the paper atone for labels and enve-
lopes is 13,5001. ; the printing and gumming cost
4,5001. more. The superintendent of the perfora-
tion gets 100/. a-year. In all, 'adding together
the net revenue and the expenses of working
the department, ti; gross receipts of
.the Post-
office would appear tb 'be 2,900,0001., and this
revenue to be collected at a charge of 601. per cent.
—a very large percentage, no doubt, if we regard
the Poet-office simply as it source of revenue; but
it is much more than a source of revenue ; it is
the instrument of a great public service, and it
would [become intolerable if it sought the °nor- 1
mous gains of a public tax.

lIUNT v. HUNT--ADULT EBY.

This suit, which was heard in the Arches Court yes-
terday, was one instituted by Mr. William Yate Hunt,
of Bell Broughton, in the county of Worcester, against
Mrs. Catherine Mary Huer, for a divorce, on the ground
of adultery. Ou the part of Mr. Hunt a libel had been
given in, pleading the marriage of the parties in the
month of January, 1845, at the churCh of St. John Bed-
wardine, in the county of Worcester; that his wife, then
Mies Farley, was at the time of their mai-rim-Ybe a minor,
and that he was several years her senior. The libel then
pleaded cohabitation :tied censummation of the marriage;
that in July, 1850, the husband formed an acquaintance
with the Hon. Maurice Berlielsy Portman, at that time a
youth of 17 years of age, which connection ripened into
a very intimate acquaintance ; that in the summer of
1852, Mr. Portman, accompanied by Mrs. Hunt and a
feinale friend, went to the Foley Arms, Malvern, where
Mr. Portman entered their names as follows :—" Tee
Hon. Maurice Berkeley Portnian and Mrs. Portman and
Miss Fraser," nod that on the 221 of July, in the same
year, Mr, Portman once more visited the Foley Arms,
with Mrs. Hunt in her carriage., s It aileged that on this
occasion the parties were alone, and a waiter having oc-
casion to enter the apartinent found the door bolted or
locked and the window-blieds drawn down, and subse-
quently, when the bell rang, he found the sofa removed
from its place and in a state of disorder. It further
asserted that Mr. Portman gave the waiter half-a-crown
and said, "Mum's the word, waiter." It alleged that.
Mr. Poitman, being a pupil of the Rev. Mr. Denning,
the head' master of the Worcester Collegiate School, had.
lodgings in Edgar-street, in Worcester, where he was
occasionally visited by Mrs. Hunt, sometimes alone and
sometimes in company .with others ; and that on such
occasions the: blinds were peresived by the neighbours
to be drawn down, souieti:nes by the lady .herself. It
was pleaded that the parties on one occasion visited the
Talbot Inn, where, after being locked in a room toge-
ther, the, apartment was found, to be in much disorder
and a button of a coat and, a hair-pin were afterwards
picked up. It alleged that Mr. Hunt at length remon-
strated with his wire upon her too great-familiarity with
Mr. Portman, and it was agreed -upon her suggestion
that a temporary separation should hike place. The hus-
band and wife thereupon parted on 22d February, 1853,
but it was pleaded that shortly afterwards:Mr. Hunt was
induced by the'rumours abroad to place the matter in
the hands of his legal adviser for investigation, and that
the result was an action fer trim: con. It assorted, in
conclusion that the case haying game on for trial in the
Court of Exchequer at Westminster, "on the 4th June,
1854, the jury awarded 50/. damages. On the part of
the wife a responsive allegation had been given in, in
which she denied that any adulterous intercourse what-
ever had taken place between Mr. Portman and Mrs.
Hunt, and alleged, that although she lived with her hus-
band from and after their marriage, Mr. Hunt never.
-consummated the marriage,•and a certificate was pleaded
of Doctors Frere and Farre as a proof that she was still
a virg6 intacta. It further alleged that Mr. Hunt was
constantly aed habitually away from home, engaged in
hunting and other amusements, and whilst at home was
careless and negligent of the conduct of his wife, and
allowed her to drive and remain out at inns and other
places in the neighbourhood' of hie own house, .with,
aril' to. visit, .at his house or lodging, the Hon.
Mr. Portman ; and it denied that Mr. Hunt
ever cautioned her against her intimacy with that
• gentleman ; that .Mr. lifunt always encouraged
such intimacy ; and on one occasion, having been
spoken to upon the subject of his wife's riding out
with Mr. Portman, he replied, " I have spoken to Mrs.
Hunt, and told her that if they want to drive out, they
should do it in the country, or in the lanes, and not up
and down Worcester,"or to that effect. And on another
occasion he remarked, when his attention was celled to
the subject, " Oh, let them go on ; I will get a divorce."
It pleaded that when the parties were at the Foley Arms,
in the summer of the year 1852, as asserted in the libel,.
Mr.. lluut was present at the tune, and was aware that
Mr. Portman had madeehe entry in question, and never,
.objected to it ; and further set forth that the subsequent
visits of Mr. Portman to Mrs. !tint were well known
to, and allowed, by he'r hnsband. It is also alleged that
Mr. Hunt, from a period commencins, about two years
subsequently to the marriage, and throughout the seve-
ral following years, down to the separation in February,
' 1853, was in the habit of occasionally absenting himself
from home till a late hour, and at times for the whole
night and for several days together, and that during.
such periods he carried on adulterous intercourse.with
different. females at Birmingham, Worcester, London,
and other places, and that he had confessed as much to
several persons, in conclusion itpleaded that no evidence
was taken in the action, by Meleflunt, in the Exchequer
of Pleas, against .Mr. Parttime, as alleged in the libel,
and that the verdict therein referred to was for 501.
nominal damage) ; that .et such time Mr. Portman
was in Mexico, and- bad been, nsestated by his coun-
sel in court when the verdict; was given, sent abroad
by his relatiobs before the atetion was brought, and
that the verdict was zjveh by celkient of that gentle._