The Sun.
London, England, 1860-03-09 00:00:00

THE ARMY.

We believe it is definitively arranged that Lord
W. Paulet, C. 8., at present commanding the Ist
Infantry Brigade at Aldershott, succeeds to the
command of the south-west district on Major-
General Sir James Yorke Scarlett, K.C.8., entering
upon his duties at the Horse Guards as Adjutant-
General of the Forces. His lordship paid a visit
to the general at the Government-house, Ports-
mouth, yesterday. _ _ _

A special order was yesterday received' by the
heads of departments of Woolwich Arsenal from the
Secretary of State for War, to the effect that all
volunteer officers presenting themselves in uniform
may be permitted to see the Arsenal.
Col. R. Rumley, the newly appointed Vice Pre-
sident of the Council of Military Education, vice
Major- Gel'. Cameron, has returned from his Staff
employment at Gibraltar, and will forthwith enter
on the duties of his appointment.
Lieut. William Homily, 2d battalion of the 231
Regiment, has been appointed aide-de-camp to
Major-Gen. Sir J. G. Le Marchant, Governor and
Commander-in Chief at Malta.
The next examination of candidates for direct
commissions by the Council of Military Education
takes place at the Royal College, Chelsea, on Wed-
nesday, the 11th proximo, and .will terminate on
Tuesday, the 17th;
The whole of the officers and men composing the
4th brigade of Field Artillery yesterday mustered
in front of the barracks at Woolwich, for marching
past parade and inspection by Major-Gen. Sir
Richard Dacres, K.C.8., commanding the garrison.
A large detachment of drivers new enlisted were
yesterday ordered to be despatched from the depot
brigade to the encampment at Aldershott, and ar-
rangements are being carried out at Woolwich for the
reception of a large draft of service men from Al-
dershott and Shorncliffe, to complete the organisa-
tion of the 15th and 16th brigades, to be formed
during the ensuing month.
The36th Regiment, at Devonport, will on Saturday
next remove to the Plymouth Citadel, and occupy
the quarters recently vacated by the Royal Dublin
Militia. The 11th Regiment, from Aldershott, will
go to Devonport.
Several of the Alimstrong guns hsve been for-
warded from Woolwich to Portsmouth. Two of
them have been mounted at Fort Cumberland, the
head quarters of the Royal Marine Artillery, and
others have been placed on board her Majesty's
ship Excellent, Capt. R. S. Hewlett, C. 8., the
gunnery ship at the port.
The West Suffolk Militia will assemble at Bury
, St. Edmund's on the 30th of April for 27 days'
training.

TIE Pit PER TRADE-FACTS AND

.FALLACIES.

The following letters have been addressed to the
Editor of the Times :

Sir, —I am not " one of those who are called
growers of hops," neither am I a cutter of corks,
but I belong nevertheless to one of those " alarmed
and timorous interests" upon which the Chancellor
of the Exchequer has seized in the pursuit of " high
ideals," and which he seems determined to sacrifice,
not so much for the benefit of the country, as to
have it believed that his Budget was conceived
under the influence of inspired truth.
I am a papermaker, and, though as a trade we
may not rank among the great interests of the
country, yet in an humble way we have subserved
a useful purpose ; and, though under extreme cir-
cumstances it might be, justifiable to annihilate a
part for the benefit of the whole, the necessity for
such an extreme course should be made apparent,
and before this is clear I claim to be heard.

For a great many years, in addition to the duties
incident to our trade, we have had the duty im-
posed upon us of collecting a portion of the national
revenue.

From the time of Queen Anne to the present day
the papermaker has been made the medium of col-
lecting from the public an Excise duty on paper,
sometimes different in amount, but for many years
past lid. per lb., and since the Russian war lid.
and 5 per cent., has been the duty charged upon
every pound of paper, and the amount now realised
from this source is about one million and a quarter.
This duty is now to be abolished, and, as it was
put on without our consent, and from motives of
public policy, if from motives of public policy-it is
thought right to decree its extinction, we have
nothing to say by way of objection, and indivi-
dually I have no desire to do so, having for many
years advocated its removal; but, though, we may
not question the expediency of the act itself, I
think we are entitled to ask that it should be
done ou principles of justice, and that the
change should be effected with as little injury
to us as possible. We say that the Chancellor
of the Exchequer, having taken the honey, has no
right to kick the hive over and destroy the bees ;
and my object is to show that in the course he is
adopting he is inflicting a most gratuitous wrong,
such as can be defended on no principle but that
of—

"The good old plan,
That he should take who has the power,'
And he should keep who can."
Mr. Gladstone has informed us that after a cer-
tain day in July the Excise duty on paper shall
cease, but he tells us at the same time that he will

not allow us any drawbacks upon our stocks on hand.
Anybody who has ever been in one of the ware-
houses of a London wholesale stationer will be able
to form some idea of the magnitude of the stocks
which are required to conduct a business of any
extent, but he will not be able to form the remotest
notion of the variety of weights, size, colour, and
quality of which that stock consists, all neces-
sary to meet the ever-varying and contingent wants
of the consumer.

Upon every pound of this stock 13d. and 5 per
cent. has been paid in Excise duty, and the propor-
tion which the duty bears to the whole value of the
stock, taking all qualities into account, will be 25
per pent. ; so that a papermaker or stationer hold•
ing £20,000 of stock will be made to pay a penalty
of £5,000.

It is of no use to say that the future price or
paper will not be reduced to this extent. Sooner or
later it must be so ; otherwise what becomes of the
policy which proposes to sacrifice so large an amount
of revenue? If this be not the result, what be-
comes of those eloquent invectives which have been
hurled at this impost as obstructive of everything
that is good, by impeding the cause of education,
cramping the energies of a rising cheap press, and
ruining deserving publishers, who are intent upon
the benevolent object of educating the masses ?
If I am able to understand my own language, the
reeduction of the price of paper has been the one
end and aim of Mr. Milner Gibson, and those who
have been associated with him, in their efforts to
obtain the removal of this " last of the taxes on
knowledge." Whether in its incidence it will have
all the effect Mr. Gibson prognosticates upon the
moral condition of the people—whether they will
obtain their literature any cheaper, is a question I
cannot answer, but it is clear to my mind that the
papermaker will not be allowed to put .the duty
into his pocket. Such being the case, I ask any
man endowed with ordinary perception of right
and wrong if such a proceeding as that of with-
holding the drawback on stocks on hand can be
defended. Is it not, I ask, confiscation—down-
right Why are
le a w
the
rnieg hfateltwhorobbery
in collecting this duty, now that it is deemed right
to put an end to it on grounds of public policy—
why are we to have a forced contribution levied
upon us? If the change is for the public advan-
tage, who so fit to pay for it as those for whose
benefit the change is made ?
And as though this were not sufficient to make
us remember Mr. Gladstone in our prayers, he pro-
poses to abolish the import duty of ld. per lb. on
foreign paper, although by the action of the prohi-
bitory laws over almost the whole of Europe the
material from which this paper is made is nearly
half the price of that of the English papermaker.
Mr. Gladstone has had it pointed out to him that
German paper is now coming into this country pay-
ing ld. import duty, mad at a price lower than it
can be made for in this country ; and in the face of
this fact he proposes to remit this id. in favour of
the foreigner, who, by prohibitory laws as regards
the export of the material, and a comparatively
small demand arising out of the restrictions on the
press, enjoys the exclusive possession
of material,
and in such abundance as to enable him to pur-
chase it at something. like half the cost of our own.
But it will be said this state of things can only be
temporary; the effect of an English demand for
paper will have the effect of raising the price on the
Continent and depressing it in England. Naturally
this is the effect to be anticipated; but when it is
remembered that England is the one country to