The Sun.
London, England, 1858-04-16 00:00:00

THE GOT'IRNMENT OF INDIA BILL.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SIIN.
Slit,—Observing that the Times and several of
your contemporaries are severe in their strictures
on Lord Derby's Bill for what they term shirking
the responsibility of the Indian Bill, it is desirable
that their attention should be called to the plain
fact, that the feelings of the present Government,
or these of any other on the subject, may be easily
understood, they have, no doubt, a due sense ef
their own moriteand think they can govern India
better than it was done before, and are not averse
to have the power and patronage of India placed in
their halide for this purpose, but they probably do
not much relish a council which will lessen their
power and patronage, and be a check on their con-
duct. The formation of an effective Indian Coun-
cil will only
into their
by the House of Commons
taking the bill their own hands. Wo want a
council that can act as well as advise, and have
sufficient power to throw a check upon incompe-
tence in an Indian Minister, to rec;:lillist
aier'smay
Governor-
General,f. to appoint Members of Caoillidncailppinoilnntdia,
r it is much to be feared that the jobbery and
patronage gi
interest
toefi
esiotm
and some fu
nottur to merit, e Ca te uet t
in-
competent scions of the nobility, wholly ignorant
of India, to the highest offices, as Secretary of
State, Governor-General, itee, whose gross errors,
jobbery, and patronage,tionege, may convulse, and even
lose India ; ate! consider how England will de-
scend in the rink of nations if it loses India. An
effectiVe council for India, such as I have proposed,
a Cebinet of Ministere will be in no hurry to intro-
duce. The lurlian Bill is evidently one which the
House of Commons should take into their own
hands. This the sound judgment of Lord John
Russell at once perceived, when he moved that it
should be discussed by resolutions in the house.
This bill should be proceeded with at once, as the
mutiny in India has strongly engros ed the public
mind, and at no future period will the subject re-
ceive so much attention and consideration as at
present ; in fact, if deferred, interest may die away,
and a bill be smuggled through Parliament. The
causes of the Indian mutiny may he easily seen
through. Lord Palmerston's arbitrary dis-
position, which led him to support unfit
officials—his passion for raising rows, cape-
malls for engaging in wars with potty States,
as China and Persia—what is vulgarly termed
humbug in Indian officials, which lead them to
manner
im po r theth a
t Bdeisn cgiVl
discipline
owyass
whollyin so extraordinary ;
hey
bably thought they would recommend themselves
to advancement thereby. Lord Ellenboreugh's
Indian Council is a very clever idea, and solves a
difficulty which seemed to be insurmountable
here. 'With the fullest power and responsibility in
the Minister, we have a perfectly independent
Council, in which he can exercise no favour or pa-
tronage, though the half of it is selected by himself,
as, by terms of selection, members can be only
chosen on account of qualifications, over which he
has no control. Whereas in Lord Palmerston's
Council he might have selected all the members
from his own supporters, however incompetent.
It is much to be hoped that the House of Parlia-
ment will give over party feeling on this bill, and
not obstruct the measures of Government for the
purpose of thwarting a Minister. What is the
utility of having a despot in power sure of a majo-
rity who can pass any measures or bill he pleases
Wars with petty nations, tie at last we had a Con-
spiracy Bill which would hive placed the whole of
England under the dominion of spies, and any
man's house might have been broken into upon the
accusation of any one who chose to accuse him of
whit was declared to be a felony. What did we
obtain from the cleverness of another popular
Minister, Sir It. Peel, but the income tax ? There
is one point upon which I hope the Government
wilt not shi'k responsibility, that is as regards
the lights of the creditors of the East India Com-
pany, to have a provision made for the payment of
their debts or claims that will pay them.—l have
the honour to be, your obedient servant,
London, April 14, 1858.

YERITAS.

TIIE COTTON QUESTION AND SLA VERY.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

SIR, —There being generally two sides to every
question, and as, I believe, The Suu wishes its
readers to be fairly and impartially informed on
any important question, I beg to forward you the
following on the Cotton question anti Slavery.
At a dinner of the Cotton Supply Association,
which came off last week, Mr. Ashworth said—
" The time was at hand when slavery would be
done away with. Beside, in America they could
not now manure their cotton-fields ; therefore we
must seek out new lands and countries to supply
us. The Americans would supply us it they could,
but he was convinced, from what he had seen, they
could not do it."

Mr. Russell, in his work on " North America
and Cotton," at page 134, says—" Guano has beau
applied to many of the worn-out lands (in Mary-
land) in raising wheat, with highly satisfactory re-
sults." Page 165—" The soil being so poor upon
which sea-island cotton is raised, that most of it is
manured with a compost of cow-pen manure and
vegetable stuff from the swamps. Guano has also
been applied to a considerable extent in raising
cotton." Page 203—" Until the institution of
slavery be weakened, as it was in Europe, by the
redundancy of the predial population, I have as
little hope of slavery relaxing its grasp in the
United States for many years to come, as of people
denying them,elves the luxuries of cotton, sugar,
and tobacco. I have failed to discover a single ele-
ment in active operation which points to a different
conclusion. At a moderate estimate, the slaves in
the United States are worth at present (1856)
450,000,0001. No scheme of emancipation has
been proposed that would not be attended with a
sacrifice of property, which it is in vain for us to
expect to be made. Thus slavery, I fear, will not
loosen its grasp till labour, which is at present ob-
tained by coercion, can be otherwise obtained
through the force of circumstances." Page 228
"Au able-bodied slave is worth from 401. to 501.
sterling more in Louisiana than Cuba, though the
climate of the latter is greatly superior to the former
for the ,growth of sugar-cane."
Mr. Stirling, in his " L tters from the Slave
States," at page 174, says—" There are some
400,000,000 acres of available cotton-lands in the
South. Of these 28,000,000 only are cultivated,
the rest a desert, there being no hands to till it."
Page 182—" I believe that cotton growing in the
Gulf States can defy all competition."
Mr. Olmsted, in his "Our Slave States," at page
55, says—" The cash value of a slave for sale above
the cost of rearing it from infancy to the age at
which it commands the highest price, is generally
considered among the surest elements of a planter's
wealth. . . . In the States of Maryland, Vir-
ginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Missouri, as
much attention is paid to the breeding and growth
of slaves as to that of horses and mules, and that it
was estimated that a negro baby was worth 200 dols.
the moment it drew breath."

1 am, sir,
THE OTHER SIDE OF THE QUESTION.
Aprill4, 1858.

The mail which will bring full particulars of tto cap-
ture of Lucknow and the flight of the 50,000 rebel
Sepoy.., will be due in London on Monday next.
The camp of Chalons is to be exclusively composed of •
troops of the line to the number of 50,000 men.
The French Council of State has postponed the Pro-
ject of Law modifying the tax on railroad shares and
other such public securities to next year.
Letters dated Carlstiamm, A pril 9, describe the
c efi had coin-
south of Sweden are open, and that the traffic wea-
ther as very mild, and state that the harbours in the
menced to be brisk.
F. Cobden, brother
DEATH OF MR. F. COBREN.—Mr
of Mr. Richard Cobden,
has died
brother, and a desire to
at Danford, Midhuret,
it is believed, one of the
aged 53. The afffction of
sufferings which have
now
be with him during those tt
been terminated by withdrawn from
reasons for which Zifr.
T A fuaunaa
.PALAeIt HORSES Ilkt
death,codwerLas lately
public life.
Yesterday mcrntng at
beloipigarinagdetdo trheeuanbdovhe,
12 o'clock forty
REDGluss7slYpAr„.
of the stud of hotre e
were
erigaenulte'sdeppalarkee,
of entertainruen
American car. The park was thronged with
drawing' an
spectator,.
Thehorses, which had been conveyed up
rute lots to the starting point, viz , the North-
gJu3te, New-road, adjacent to Trinity Church, were at-
tached to the car ten in length and four abreast, Mr. J.
p. Paul taking the reins, and there being seated behind
and tail.
him twenty musician;, with soerlet cats.. Th
were all of a cream colour, with wlaite maim' ane
They were driven round the park twice (about six miles),
and on the cavalcade leaving by the same gate it had
entered it was loudly applauded.
THE CASE OF TIIE REV. S. SlllTll.—Sitne Mr. Smith's
emtinement his appearance has considerably altered,
and we understand that a medical examination, which
has b€en wade since his conviction, has resulted in the
discovery that he is suffering from consumption, which
has destroyed one of his lungs. The high sheriff
and some of the magistrates, therefore, propose to me-
morialise the Home Secretary either to commute his
sentence or to send him to Bermuda, the climate of
which is favourable to the disease under which be
laboure. Mrs. Smith was liberated on bail on Wed-
nesday, her sureties being, we believe, her husband's
brother and hie cousin, an artist at Gloucester.
She visited her unfortunate husband on Wed-
nesday and Thursday in the prison. We hear that Mr.
Smith bears up manfully against his misfortune!, ntlandhopes that successful efforts will be made to obtain his
removal to a colony. There is no doubt that a petition
will be got up at Gloucester for remittin; his sentences
and that it will be numerously signed is a matter of cer•
tainty.—Chatothani EXCLMinfr.

DUTY ON PAPER.

A deputation of the association for promoting
the repeal of taxes on knowledge, and also of the
paper manufacturers in the West Riding of York-
shire, waited ox Lord Derby yesterday at his official
residence in Downing-street, to memorialise his
lordship on the subject of the total repeal of the
excise duty on paper. The deputations were intro-
duced by Mr. T. M. Gibson, M.P., and amongst
those present were—Mr. Ayrton, M.P.; Mr. H.
Ingram, M.P.; Mr. E. H. J. Crawford, M.P. ; Mr.
John Bright, M.P. ; Dr. Watts, of Manchester ;
Alderman J. Towle, late mayor of Oxford ; Aid.
Baldwin, of Birmingham ; Messrs. T. Fletcher, of
Newcastle ; W. Kent, of London ; T. Bentall, of
Bedstead ; R. C. Rawlins, of Wrexham ; W. Wick-
ham, T. Wilson, R. Moore, C. H. Elt, C. D.
Collet, J. Hyde, E. Wolhouse, M. Garnett,
Mellor, Waddington, W. Wilkes, W. A. Smith,
Jr. Morris, solicitor, F. Fowler, and Murray.
Mr. GIBSON said the reason the deputations
waited on his lordship as the head of the Govern-
ment was that the question was not merely one of
taxation. If that had been the case, they would
have gone to the Chancellor of the Exchequer ; but
beyond its financial bearings the subject on which
they sought .the present interview involved an im-
portant question of public policy, the tax on paper
having a most injurious effect not only on the ma-
nufacturing interests, but on the educational con-
dition of the country. He would go no further
into the question himself, because the secretary had
prepared a memorial which treated the subject very
fully, and which he would now read to his lordship.
Mr. COLLETT then read the memorial, which
stated that the objections—
"To the paper duty,
and to the other restrictions re-
snaining on the press, are not so much a question of reve-
nue as an interference with the literature, the manufac-
• nres, and the commerce of the country. We have
been gradually abolishing restrictions on foreign
importation—the paper duty is a restriction on our
internal trade ; we talk of the freedom of the press, and
we tax its raw material ; we pay money out of the taxes
for schools, and we tax the books which convey instruc-
tion. The paper duty impedes instruction, it hinders the
extension of the manufacture, and ruins the small manu-
facturer. In 1838 an addition of three-tenths of a far-
thing per lb. was made to the paper duty. By the end
of the year 1340 63 mills had become extinct. The
paper made in 1138 was 93,464,2401 h ; in 1856,
171,209,2951 b. The number of mills in the United King-
dom in 1838 were 525 ; in 1856 393. The paper duty is
also a loss to the revenue. In the 11 years which elapsed
between 1841 and 1852, there was a balance of taxes
repealed 7,284,3751., the remaining taxes increased in
productiveness 12,410,6071., leaving a permanent im-
provement of 5,125,7121. A return of exemptions showed
in what a hopeless condition any financier would find
himself who aimed at continuing the paper duty. The
drawback on envelope cuttings made by the domestic
envelope manufacturer is granted, because the mill-
owner, who is charged with duty only on the finished ar-
ticle, has an unfair advantage over the man who buys
hie duty-paid paper, and thus pays on his waste. But
since this concession a similar one has been refused on
the waste cuttings of writing paper, though the case is
precisely the same.
" The most remarkable ground of exemption is that
assigned to papier-mache boards—namely, that it is
important that no restrictions but such as are absolutely
necessary fur the protection of the revenue should be
imposed upon the manufacture of an article already so
largely used as papier-mache, and one of which the ap-
plications are likely to become so numerous and so
valuable.' We have only to read paper for papier-macbC;
the duty is not necessary for the protection of the re-
venue, since the revenue would ultimately benefit by the
abolition of the duty.
" But there are other restrictions which affect the
press exclusively, and which have no connection with
revenue. It is now five years and upwards since we
had the honour of addressing your lordship on this sub•
ject. On that occasion you expressed your concurrence
with ns so far as that the law ought to be defined, and
that it ought to be enforced. At that time the press was
labouring under three restrictions—the newspaper stamp,
to which was added the inability to know what was a
newspaper, the advertisement duty, and the security
system. In 1353 Mr. Gladstone brought in a bill which
repealed the advertisement dnty, and a'l the provisions
which protected it. In March, 1855, he brought in a
bill which repealed the newspaper stamp and the Regis-
tration and ,iecurity Laws. In repealing the stamp Mr.
Gladstone proposed to repeal all the provisions for pro-
tecting the stamp; and, as the security system had never '
been enforced without the stamp, he proposed to abolish
the security system. Bat Mr. Gladstone having retired
from office, Sir G. Lewis brought in a bill to repeal the
stamp, leaving unrepealed all the harassing regulations
whose object was to protect the stamp, and retaining
also the security system.
"The Act of 60th Geo. 111 , requiring recogni antes
in the sum of 3001. from printers and publishes' was for
37 years enforced only upon newspapers taking out
stator, and so brought under the cognisance of the
Board of Inland Revenue ; but in April, 1857, a notice
was sent out to several unstamped newspapers, desiring
them to register and give security, and stating that this
was done under the authority of the law of e,ra of the
Crown, who had advised the Board that it was their
duty to enforce the law against newspapers.
"The discrimination in favour of pamphlets by the
Board is an unfounded in reason as it is in law. No bet-
ter illustration can be given of the anomalous system at
present carried on than that the pamphlet on tyrannioide
now under prosecution, althoug strictly within the Act,
and precisely of the kind against which the Act was
aimed, is tee(' of a class from which securities have never
been demanded.
" We call upon your lordships either to repeal the 60th
Geo. 111 , or else to enforce it, not against newspapers
only, bat against all pamphlets and other papers.' Bue
(to use the words with which we conclude our address
to your lordship in 1952), whatever your decision may
be, there is one opinion in which all loyal subjects and
good citizens must concur, and that is, that obedience to
the law is a habit which ought to be inculcated upon all
classes of the community, and that a Government cannot
perform this duty while there are laws in the statute-
book which it has neither the firmness to enforce nor
the grace to repeal.'"
Mr. GARNETT then road a memorial from the
paper manufacturers of the West Riding of Tork-
ehire setting forth :
The fact that the present Excise duty on every de-
scription of paper is 10. per lb., and S per cent. addi-
tional, which practically is unequal in its operation—
being equivalent to a charge of 20 per cent. on some
kinds of paper, and more than 100 per cent. upon many
other descriptions.
"That during the last few years the price of paper has
gradually decreased to such an extent that writing and
printing papers, which are the staple product of the trade,
have fallen more than 20 per cent. in value, exclusive
altogether of the Excise duty ; and, notwithstanding this
great depreciation in price, the coat of materials and the
expense of manufacture have not lessened in any percep-
tible degree.
"That other fabrics, without restriction, are now
allowed to supersede the use of sheathing and roofing
paper, made frcm precisely the same materials, and pass-
ing, in their manufacture, through very similar processes,
via—that the one is made in a wet and the other in adry
state. Toe latter the Excise authorities have deemed it
right to exempt from the payment of any duty whatever,
while the former is subject to a duty of 14,. 9d. per cwt.,
or 80 per cent. on cost price.
"That, were the duty on paper totally repealed a
largely increased production and consumption would re-
sult, at the same time additional employment
would be
given to many thousands of the working
classes.
"That it is a notorious fact that theexisting Excise
regulations have been found insufficient to prevent the
revenue being defrauded and the memorialists ask for a
total abolition of the duty and restrictions upon the
trade."

Dr. WATTS then proceeded to point out various
instances in which the Excise laws operatedpreju-
dicially to the manufacturers of paper, One great
impediment was that the manufacture of paper
must take place in a separate building. The paper,
as it came from the mill, was in a fit state for the
printer, and yet it was illegal to use it for printing
purposes on the same premises. Indeed, so nu-
merous were the hindrances of the law that not an
hour passed at any day when some of its provisions
were not broken, and it was only by the conniv-
ance of the exciseman that the manufacturer was
not at any moment ruined.
Mr. GARNETT said lie was a papermaker, and he
mentioned a case which had occurred to himself
that illustrated the hardship under which the tied&
sufferiad. He, in September last, sold a quantity cf
paper for 3001., for which be received a billl for
—h d
ex-
change. One half of that sum—namely, 400. a
been previously paid by him to the Govern mentmo-
for
duty on that paper, and yet up to the present
ment he had not received one farthing of the pur-
chase money. He calculated his loss in the shape
of interest on capital paid for duty in advance at
not less than 5001. a-year.
Alderman TowLE said be had made paper from
straw for many yeats but it had almost ruined
him, for if the paper happened not to be worth its
duty he was not at liberty to disp se of it as he
could, but he must burn it, otherwise the excise-
man would demand of him 151. a-ton for that use-
less paper. The whole of the trade in Oxfordshire
had been ruined
b
laws. 'There was a y the operation of the Excise
description of paper manufac-
tured. on which
tbeE xcise oflicers would not c,,11.ct
and this
the revenue,worked most injuriously to
those who made pa
per on which the duty was

Lord DERBY—Then your
purpose would be an-
ewered if the Excise-office were a littl
Ald. TOWLE—it would be ur,retftier' more active ?
Mr. Monnis called his lordship's a'ttenet?rtainly.
ion to that
part of the memorial which set forth the injustice of
enforcing the security from newspapers, and suf-
fering pamphlets to escape.
Lord DERBY—I understood you to say that the
statute is applicable as well to pamphlets as to
newspapers ?
Mr. Moititis. —Yes ; but it is not enforced in
the case, of pamphlets. The regulation was co-
existent with the newspaper stamp, and then no
difficulty was experienced ; but the stamp duty
having bead abolished, the retention of this portion