The Sun.
London, England, 1859-10-21 00:00:00

Upon the motion of Mr. VALLANCE, the following
motion was agreed to nent. con., viz. :—" That it be
referred to the Committee for Letting the City's
Lands to ascertain and report to this Court whether
any and what alterations or improvements are neces-
sary or desirable, and can be made in the court-house
and offices of the Sheriffs' Court, and if any such
alterations or improvements arc necessary or desir-
able, at what time, in what way, and at what ex-
pense, they can be effected."
TIIE LICENSED VICTUALLERS' SCHOOL.
Mr. Deputy HOLT presented a petition from the
governor and committee of the Licensed Victuallers'
School, and from the chairman, trustees, and gover-
nors of the LicensedVictuallers' Asylum, for the use
of Guildhall, on any day after the 9th, and not later
than the 18th, of November next, for the purposes of
a ball in aid of the above charities."
The prayer of the petition was agreed to.
THE LOCAL DUES.
Mr. Alderman CUBITT moved as follows, viz. :
" That having regard to the early termination of
the Acts of Parliament for regulating the vend and
delivery of coals, and the possible earlier expiration
of some of the duties now collected on coals, it is
desirable that the subject should be considered by
the Corn, Coal, and Finance Committee, with autho-
rity for them to confer thereupon with her Majesty's
Government if deemed advisable, reporting from
time to time to this honourable court previous to any
proceedings being taken." In support of his motion,
the Alderman said that portion of t he coal tax known
as the " Nincpenny Tax ' would very shortly expire,
and the corporation would then derive no revenue
from the tax except its own fourpences. lie thought
it highly desirable that the whole of the tax, as
now existing, should be maintained; for the "nine-
pence" had been solely devoted to the accomplish-
ment of great metropolitan improvements ; and
there were many such improvements in different
quartors of the metropolis which public convenience
imperatively demanded. The pressure of the tar,
generally speaking, was exceedingly light, for the
whole amount which fell upon the consumer did not
exceed one-halfpenny per hundredweight; and,
therefore, the domestic consumers could not be said
to feel the tax oppressively. In fact, when the pur-
poses to which the tax was devoted were taken into
consideration, it was impossible for any tax to fall
more lightly, so far as the domestic consumer was
concerned. With regard to the manufacturers,the
tax might be regarded from a different point of view,
since it might act adversely to their interests when
they had to enter into competition with other
manufacturers living beyond the district liable to
the tax ; and there might, consequently, be some
ground for acceding to a reduction in their case.
The retention of the tax, however, in a modified
form, he held be essential to the accomplishment
of great metropolitan improvements ; and as the
tax would very shcrtly fall in, he thought they
should at once enter into communication with the
Metropolitan Board of Works, so as to enable them,
together, to get at the Od., which, would otherwise
soon cease, and which, if at once actually ceased,
it would be exceedingly difficult to revive. There
might be other public bodies with which, also, it
might be advisable to communicate ; but, at all
events, he hoped the court would accede to his
motion, and refer the inquiry to a committee.
Mr. ABRAHAMS moved an amendment to limit
the power of the committee simply to inquiry.
Mr. DE JERSEY seconded the amendment.
After a lengthened discussion, in the course of
which several hon. members expressed, a decided
disinclination to allow the committee to confer with
the Government without first making a precise
report to the court,
Mr. Alderman CUBITT explained that delay
would be dangerous, since although they were
secure of their '° fourpence" until 1862, the nine-
penny duty had been so,public as to be likely to
precipitate its extinction at least two years earlier.
The charges upon it would, he said, all be defrayed
within a twelvemonth, and then the ninepenny
duty would necessarily fall in. There was, there-
fore, no time to be lost.
and' he
agreedamentdom; eanntd wthaes etohpetnt pu t fradjourned.the chair,

THE SCOTCH PIG IRON TRADE.— The number of
furnaces now in blast is 120. :At the commencement of the
year the total was 132. The shipments now being made
from Se..,teh ports are slightly below 10,000 per week.