The Sun.
London, England, 1856-12-26 00:00:00

litZLAtiil.

DUBLIN, DEC. 24.
A special meeting of the corporation was held
this day, for the purpose of taking the subject of
the income tax into consideration, and of petition-
ing parliament for its repeal. The Lord Mayor
took the chair, and the meeting was an unusually
large one. Alderman John Reynolds moved the
following resolution :
Resolved—That the income and property tax, when im-
posed in 1853, fell with peculiar and unequal pressur-
upon the people of this country, and that its increase
from 7d. to is. 4d., however justifiable by the necessities
of war, becomes impolitic and unjustifiable upon the
restoration of peace ; that to charge mercantile, pro.
fessional, and other casual incomes, the same amount p-r
cent. as is charged upon income derived from landed,
funded, and other settled property, is manifestly unjust
towards those who live upon the fruits of their labour
and industry. That the conditions upon which the in•
crease was granted oy parliament in 1854 pre-suppoEed
its discontinuance after the termination of the war, the
act of 1854 declaring tbat the increase was to continue
in force during the war, and until thd s:h of April next
after the ratification of a definitive treaty of peace ;
and that, according to the provisions of that act, the
increase would cease on the sth of April, 1857. That
its further extension in the act of 1855, by the intro-
duction of the words " until the sth day of April after
the expiration of one year from the ratification of a
definitive treaty of peace," thereby in the present case
extending it virtually to more than two years from the
conclusion of the treaty of peace, which took place on
the 30th of March, 1856, is impolitic, and comprehends
more than a year beyond the period usually limited in
the case of war taxes, and that a petition to the House
of Commons from this council be adopted, praying that
from and after the sth day of April, 1857, the income
and property tax may totally cease and determine.
Alderman Reynolds, in his observations in sup-
port of the resolution, attacked the principle upon
which the tax was levied, and denounced it as un-
just, impolitic, and unsustainable.
Mr. Maunsell suggested that it would be better
to ask only the abolition of the war portion of the
tax—namely, lid. Seeking to abolish the entire
tax, without providing a substitute for it, was cal-
culated to injure the question.
No amendment was proposed, and after some
discussion the resolution. of Alderman Reynolds
was carried stern. dm.

Five noblemen—the Marquis of Breadalbane, the
Duke■ of Argyll, Athol', Sutherland, and Buccleuch—
are said to own one-fourth of the laud in all Scotland.
SECRET SERVICE MONEY.—No less than 49,4171. was
expended twit year for secret service-10,000/. for home
and 39,4171. for foreign secret service.
PUBLIC EDUCATION IN GREAT BRITAIN.—The slam of
376,5001. was expended last year on account of public
education in Great Britain.
At a recent wedding in Newport the bride and bride-
groom bore the same names before marriage, and at the
breakfast out of the thirty who sat down only two "did
not" bear the name of Morgan or Jones.
The Wheeling Times records the discovery, at East
Wheeling, of the bones of a man, which, when put to-
gether, were ten feet nine inches in length ! The jaws
and teeth were almost as large as those of a horse.
It is remarkable that ❑o female has ever been a good
composer of music. They have excelled in astronomy,
chemistry, and other sciences, but no one ca❑ point out
a good original musical composer amongst them.
At least 20 tons of mistletoe, gathered in this county
and Herefordshire, were forwarded to ten other districts
from the Gloucester rail way statio❑ during the past
week.—Cheltenham Examiner.
THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE POOR LAWS.—The ex-
pense of the estahliahment for the administration of the
p, or laws in the year ended the 31st March last was
162,451/.

DAMAGE TO A SHIP BY LIGHTNING. LIVERPOOL,
Thursday.—Last night the ship [Alias, laden with coals,
bound for Savannah, was struck by lightning during a
severe thunderstorm, and was considerably damaged.
VALUE OF WOUNDED FEELINGS.—A man named
Win. Dick, a farm servant in the county of Fife, brought
an action for breach of promise of marriage a few days
ago, against Harriet West, a servant on an adjoining
farm, and obtained 10e. damages.
It is reported (says the Bury Post), that St. John's
College, Cambridge, has already met and determined
upon the abolition of all restrictions : the college to be
open to every one who is a British subject. This is a
great step at once in a college hitherto considered as the
academic strenghold of antiquated prejudice.
GOLD ROBBERY ON A FRENCH RAILWAY. —The
Moniteur de la Cote d'Or of Dij states, that at the
be.,;inning of last week a parcel of 16,0001. in specie,
which was being transported from the office of Messa-
genie Generates to the railway station, disappeared
before arriving at the latter. Three individuals sus-
pected of the theft have been since arrested.
CHRISTMAS GEESE FROM CAITHNESS.--On Tuesday
(says the Northern Ensign), the Duke of Riohtnond
carried away boxes' hampers, and baskets, containing
Christmas geese to the number, as was supposed, of
ab“ut 1,000, and in the wiek previous nearly as many.
Of late years the demand for geese for export purposes
has greatly increased, and prices have in cousequenco
risen from 60 to 76 per cent.
A MAN DROWNED IN SIX INCHES OF WATER.—On
Tuesday night last a man named Ridley, a hawker of
pencils, paper, and other salad wares, was drowned in a
mill stream called the " dog beck," which runs through
the northern portion of Peurith. It appears he had been
drunk and had lest his way. His intention was to go to
the To .n Head, instead of which he got on to Wether-
icks-lane, and had fallen into the " beck," near the
bridge, and was too far gone in liquor to recover him-
I
self, He was drowned in About six inches of water.—'
Carlisle Patriot.