The Sun.
London, England, 1866-01-12 00:00:00

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tax was a direct violation of every
ral and just taxation. It was a gla,
the farmer, because it was a tax upon tl _paw.
terial, at least in its first stage of manufacture ; and
it was a hardship to the labourer ; and on these
grounds he asked them to do their best to bring
about, by lawful and temperate means, a repeal of
the tax. (Cheers.) He trusted whoever had to
prepare the requisition to the Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer would remind him of the principles which
he learnt under his great master, Sir 11. Peel, and
which he professed himself, and which he (Sir F.
Kelly) admitted he had carried to a very great and
beneficial extent, and call upon him to carry those
principles still further—that, as he had done justice
to the rich, he would at last do tardy but effectual
justice to the poor and humble classes. The meeting
of Parliament was approaching, the time for action
at hand. In conclusion he moved the following re-
solution :—" This meeting is of ' opinion that
_the
continuance of the excise duty upon malt is a gre4t
injustice to the grower of barley, and is wholly, at
variance with the free trade policy of the country."
Other resolutions were passed, the speak.ers being
Mr. R. Haward, Mr. A. B. Johnstone, Mr. E. ,L.
Everett, Mr. J. Crabtree, Mr. Vincent, and Mr.
Garrould ; and

PRICE 4d.,
STAMPED 51'

and engineers, those corps on which, as I have stated,
O'Donnell places the greatest reliance. For therest
it is almostlaughable, as you walk past the barracks,
to see the poor penned-up men peeping out of their
windows like sheep, while a superior officer in a
cocked hat lounges before the door—a general keep-
ing guard on his own men. The regiment of Arpi-
les, one of the most insubordinate, which had to be
disarmed on Wednesday, together with other corps
—I believe those that came in on that same event-
ful day from Alcala—were marched to the station
of the Northern Railway early in the afternoon yes-
terday, and sent off by a long train, no one knows
whither. The mere fact that these troops have been
set at large, though far out of the way of mischief,
proves something like reviving confidence on the
part of the Government ; the same inference may be
drawn from the fact that the royal children, after
five days'seclusion, were allowed out yesterday in a
close carriage, drawn by six mules, for their custo-
mary airing. The Queen also drove out, but later
in the evening, and almost in the dark, enjoying a
relaxation that seems quite necessary to her, but of
which she had been deprived for the best part of last
week.

The CHAIRMAN, in responding to a vote of thanks
for presiding, wound up by declaring that his ser-
vices would always be ready to'promote any good
old Tory movement. (Slight hisses and laughter.)

Notwithstanding these symptoms of a partial re-
covery, the O'Donnell Government seems still a
prey to a variety of terrors. Somewhat easier on
the score of the soldiers, they seem more apprehen-
sive of outbreaks among the people. Yesterday and
the day before were holydays—Saturday especially,
Twelfth Day, an occasion for much wild rejoicing
among the Spaniards. We heard that there was
some disposition to riot in the so-called " Barrios
de Bajo," the lowest quarters of the town, down the
Atocha and Toledo streets, where the loosest and
most suffering part of the Madrid population huddle
together in wretched dwellings. To guard against
the chance of untoward events, the Government
added to their usual precautions, a measure hitherto
never resorted to—that of stationing soldiers, or
civil guards, in the apartments on the first floor of
the Palacio de la Gobernation at the Puerto del Sol,
those apartments which are taken up by the Home
and other offices. The masked balls which were an-
nounced for last night at the theatres were forbidden
by the authorities. Plays and the opera these last
days have been very thinly attended.
The Deputation of the Senate appointed to lay
before the House the assurance of the firm allegiance
of that body to the cause of the dynasty and of
order was received by the Queen yesterday at 0 in
the afternoon. The President, Marshal Serrdno,
Duque de la Torre, presented the address, and was
answered by her Majesty with a gracious assurance
of her gratitude.

We have had here for the last week Mr. Seymour
Fitzgerald. He had been in Madrid, and travelled
about Spain in the summer, and people, not un-
naturally, attribute his journey to some political or
financial motive. In fact, hardly an Englishman
is ever seen in Madrid without being taken for a
negotiator, or, in other words, a dun coming to
settle the great question of the Spanish Coupons or
Certificates.

Repeal of the Malt Tax.

On Tuesday evening a meeting to promote the
reduction or repeal of the malt tax was held at

lialesworth, Suffolk, Sir E. Gooch, a young gentle-
man who has just attained his majority, in the chair.
Sir F. KELLY, M.P., in moving the first resolu-

ion, recapitulated the principal points in his recent
speech at Ipswich. Looking at the terms of the re-
solution he was about to propose, the first question
which arose was, whether really and truly, upon
the principles of free trade, they were entitled as a
matter of right and justice to call upon the
Government to repeal this tax. (Cheers.)
Sir R. Peel, who brought forward those great
measures which led to the extension of free trade
nearly twenty years since, was a Conservative at
heart and in action. Although he did not under-
value the assistance they might derive from those
who took another view of politics, yet he could but
remind them that the Conservatives of the king-
dom, especially those who were members of Par-
liament, had for a great length of time honestly
and strenuously exerted themselves to bring about
a repeal of this most odious and unjust tax. It
was a Government which called itself Liberal,
which professed liberal principles, supported by a
Liberal majority, that had alone opposed the re-
peal of this tax. (Partial cheers.) But let him
do justice to men of all parties ; and the learned
gentleman proceeded to remark that in 1842, when
the duties on a great many articles of consump-
tion were reduced, not only Sir R. Peel, but every
statesman of eminence•on both sides the House of
Commons, agreed that if ever the time should
come when the corn laws were repealed, the duty
upon malt must follow.—(Cheers.) The repeal
of the corn laws, however beneficial that repeal
might have been to the community in general,
had inflicted a great, grievous, and lasting injury
upon the owners and cultivators of land ; and he
asked why was it, that, although 14 or 15 years
had elapsed since the repeal of the corn laws, they
should be denied that justice to which they were
entitled in the immediate repeal of the malt tax?—
(Cheers.) . If there be a tax which was so laid
as to cause complaint, that was the malt tax.
What was the fact ? Last year *the State derived
something approaching £6,000,000 from the malt
tax, but by the time the malt was converted into beer
and was retailed to the consumer, it would beno ex-
aggeration to say that the amount of the tax paid by
the consumer of beer was fully one-third more than,it
would be but for this tax. It was supposed by the
best authorities that the sum paid by the consumers
for beer was about £60,000,000 a-year. He was
aware that this sum had been controverted, and he
had been involved in a controversy in the Times upon
this very subject. Let them not be alarmed—he
was not going to inflict upou them a statement which
he should make known through the Mites itself.
When he spoke of £60,000,000 being the amount
paid, he was at a great distance from London, with
no books of reference at hand, and he was obliged
the authorty of a publi t.
to leave the question undetermined till he got to Lon-
don ; but he would now remark that he spoke then,
ca ion
whichsh
eeh didwa
was
underow , u
thepon superintendence of the late Mr.
ithe Treasury, and who had
andthe
gr theeaEconomistnw sp
ea p was
aWccilessosn;oBaellertehtearY to
official documents relating to the
e rc called
an
ed
the Times.
authority even
finances of the
b e te rt h
n;
If £60,000,000 was paid for all the beer
consumed in the year, he (Sir Fitzroy) undertook to
satisfy them that one-third, or £20,000,000 sterling,
was paid by reason of the malt tax, and only some
five or six millions passed into the Exchequer. Go
back to the times of James 1., and they found, upon
unquestionable authority, that the price of barley
was 16s. per quarter, and of a quart of the best ale,
as retailed at the inns, only ld. He would call upon
any one who disputed the great effect of the repeal
of the malt tax upon the
price of beer to the con-
sumer, to say why, if barley was at 16s. per quarter,
with no malt tax and Excise restrictions, and beer
could be retailed at a penny per quart, should not
beer now be brewed and sold at twopence a quart ?
Barley might be said to be 325. on an average, and
why should not beer now be sold at twopence a
quart ? (Cheers.) He put that question, and de-
fied any man of candour and intelligence to answer
the argument. With the duty off and the power of
brewing without fetters and restrictions, instead of
getting that half-poisonous and adulterated stuff,
the farmers and labourers and all who desired
could brew a little good beer, and it would infalli-
bly happen that the great brewers and owners of
inns would be obliged to brew a good whole-
some beer, instead of the stuff they sometimes got.
(Cheers.) , lie believed a repeal of-the tax would be,
advantageous to the brewers by increasing the de-
mand ; for the same reason it would also increase
the trade of the =Raters, The continuance of the