The Sun.
London, England, 1858-09-25 00:00:00

AMERICA.

SOUTHAMPTON, SATURDAY MORNING.
The North Star has arrived with the American
mails and advices of the 11th inst.

She brings specie for France of the value of
195,000 dollars.
The commercial advices from New York are anti-
cipated.
At New Orleans on the 10th, the cotton market
closed with an advance.
At Mobile, sales of cotton dull.
Flour throughout the States dull and quiet.
Philadelphia stocks heavy.
The fever is still prevalent at New Orleans.
A frightful railway accident has occurred on th©
Indiana Railroad.
The Asia has arrived out.
Later dates from Salt Lake City are unimportant.
The quarantine excitement is beginning to de-
crease.
Advices from New Mexico state that the dif-
ferences with the Indians are still unsettled.

EAST SURREY AGRICULTURAL
- ASSOCIATION.

MR. ALCOCK, M.P., ON CHINA.

The annual ploughing match took place on
Thursday at Croydon, where upwards of forty
ploughs competed for the , various prizes. In the
afternoon a dinner was held in the King's Arms
Hotel. Mr. T. Byron, president of the association,
occupied the chair, and Mr. Alcock, M.P., and a
number of the gentry and agriculturists of the
district, were also present. The health of the mem-
bers for East Surrey having been drunk,
Mr. ALCOCK, M.P., responded. He regretted
that his lion. colleague, Mr. Locke King, had been
prevented from attending the meeting. For about
two months Mr. Locke King had been dangerously
ill from a fever caught in London while attending
to his parliamentary duties, in consequence of the
bad state of the River Thames, but he was happy
to state that at this moment his hon. friend was
gradually recovering. (Cheers.) Since the last
meeting of the association peace had been concluded
with China upon terms highly favourable to this
country. (Cheers.) He thought we were justified in
expecting great advantages from the resumption of
our intercourse and commerce with China. (Hear.)
Up to the present moment our commercial relations
with China had been exceedingly limited in extent.
With one or two exceptions, tea was almost the
only article which we obtained from that country,
and though the exports from the United Kingdom
to the world at large amounted to about
£115,000,000 annually, only about one and a quar-
ter million went to China, notwithstanding that
that empire formed more than three-eighths of the
entire universe. (Hear.) He trusted, and he thought
it not unlikely, with a man of the original ideas of
the present Chancellor of the Exchequer, that advan-
tage would be taken of the altered state of our re-
lations with China to reduce the duty on tea
so as to extend our commerce, and to render an
article which had now almost become one of the
necessaries of life more accessible to the humbler
classes of society. (Hear, hear.) At the present
moment tea was more heavily taxed than almost
any other article of general consumption. The duty
was no less than ls. 9d. a pound, though the price
of tea itself in bond was only Is. 4d. a pound. Con-
sequently, a duty of about 140 per cent. was levied,
and the result was that the consumption of tea was
much more limited than its importance as an article
of general consumption required. If the duty were re-
duced to one-fourth of its present amount, he believed
the consumption would increase so enormously,
that in a very short time the Exchequer would lose
nothing whatever by the reduction. (Hear, hear.)
As an instance of the effect which the present high
rate of taxation produced he might mention that in
the United Kingdom the annual consumption of
tea was about 21,1 b. per head, while in the colony
of Victoria, in consequence of the absence of taxa-
tion, it was 101 b, per head. (Hear, hear.) He
had been induced to make these observations
simply because he wished to point out how much
good might result from the improved state of
our relations with China. Hitherto we had regarded
China as a barbarous country ; but he trusted
that every year, as our intercourse with that em-
pire extended, such a stigma would be more and
more removed. (Hear.) The hon. member noticed
one or two other subjects. He hoped to see the
system of turnpike tolls, now so loudly complained
of, especially in the neighbourhood of the metro-
polis, entirely done away with. In Ireland turn-
pike tolls were already got rid of, and as the expe-
rience of that country proved that no harm resulted
from their abolition he saw no reason why they
should not also be done away with in this country.
(Hear.) But the abolition of turnpike tolls was
not the only instance in which Ireland was before-
hand with us. Twenty-four years ago great dis-
satisfaction was expressed at church rates in Ire-
land, and in a much less number of months than
the church rate abolitionists in this country had
been figliiin
satisfaction of both' they were got rid of to the
Churchmen and Dissenters.
g years.
(Hear, hear.) The question of church rates ought
to be settled some way or other in the course of the
ensuing session. The hon. gentleman then briefly
adverted to several topics of local interest.

Ad.viees.from Messina of the 13th state that the
English frigate Curacao with. Lord Stratford de Redcliffe
on board, was obliged to put into that port on the previous
day from stress of weather. The Misene, Neapolitan cor-
vette, saluted her with 21 guns, which were duly returned.
Four English, Neapolitan, and Greek vessels had recently
been lost near Gioja and Bagnara. The Meteore, French
steamer, which saw their danger, was unable to render as-
sistance from the violence of the storm, which obliged her
to run for Messina.

The marriage of Count de Meaux with Madlle.
de Montalembert, daughter of the distinguished orator, was
celebrated at Paris a few days ago with much simplicity.
The Rev. Father Lacordaire officiated, and delivered an
eloquent address.