The Sun.
London, England, 1857-02-16 00:00:00

THE 'PEA DUTY.—(Meeting this Day.)

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This afttruoc,n a public meeting of the importers of
and deal--r 3 in tea was held at the L•lndon Tavern,

Bishop,gae-,tre,,t, to protest against the proposed reso-
.utiou of the Chancellor of the Exchequer by which the

war-duty is to be retained upon that important ar title of
general consumption, contrary to the Act of Parliament
of 1855 ; Mr. Moffatt, 311. P., in the chair. There was
a very full attendance, considering the short notice of
the holding of the meeting.
The CHAIRMAN expressed regret at the short notice
of the meeting which had probably prevented many of
the large importt.ra of tea from attending it, but
he was enabled to state that they cordially agreed with
the object of the meeting. It was a case of great
emergency, as the whole question of the financial state•
ment of the Chancellor of the Exchequer would come on
for discussion that evening in the House of Commons.
Lie Expressed his astonishment at the resolution of the
Chancellor of the Exchequer, which broke the pledge
of the Government and threw over the act of
Parliament in reference to the tea duty which
would be as vexatious as possible to the trade, and in a
manner injurious to the revenue of the country. It un-
settled everything connected with the tea trade and
settled nothing.

Mr. GlLucca moved the following resolution :
"That the meeting has heard with extreme surpri:e
that the proposition of the Chancellor of the Exchequer by
whichthe war duty is to be continued upon tea, contrary to
the pledge involved in the act of Parliament of 1855, upon
the faith of which all existing contracts in that important
trade have been made ; and while protesting against
this breach of public faith, this meeting expresses an un-
qualified reprehension of the manner in which this in-
fliction is propoied to be levied, as being alike disadvan-
tageous to the interests of the revenue, the trade, and
the public."
The hon. gentleman, in moving the resolution, said that
the money that had been taken cut of the pockets of the
people by the unsettled state of the div y was incalculable
and the vexation to the trade had been no leas. The
Chancellor of the Exchequer had shown himself no man
of business, or he would have given encouragement to the
trade. So far from the stocks of tea being small thei •
were 87 million lbs. in this country ; but it was true
that the quantity on the way to this country was very
small.

Mr. LOWCOCK seconded the motion, and said that the
changes made in the tea duty during the past Luis years
had upset the arrangements of the trade, and bad mei t
materially interfered with the interests of the country
traders, who had purchased largely, on the understand-
ing that at the end of the war the duty would be re-
duced to ls. 3d. per lb.
Mr. Alderman SIDNEY suppof bed the resolution, and
said that if the tea trade was better represented in the
House of Commons the Chancellor of the Exchequer
would not have dared to take such liberties with the
trade. The change proposed by the Chancellor of the
Exchequer would add 4d. in the pound to the duty in-
stead of reducing it 21 as he had state I, because by the
act it should have been reduced from ls. 9d. to ls. 3J.

per pound, now the war was at an end, whereas the
Chancellor of the Exchequer only proposed to reduce the
duty from ls. 9 1. to le. 7d. per pound.

Mr. TWINING moved the next resolution :

"That a committee be appointed to confer with the
Chancellor of the Exchequer upon the subject of the
meeting, and to take such steps as may t e deemed re'
csssary to obtain a more equitable and less inconvenient
arrangement."
The meeting had shown that the arrangement of the
Chancellor of the Exchequer failed in equity and
convenience, and he saw no reason why the tea
trade should be made the scapegoat t) carry off
some imaginary deficiency of the Chancellor of the Es
chequer on his proposed concession on the income
tax. The consumers of tea would be in reality
the greatest sufferers from the unsettled state
of the trade, owing to the alterations in the tea dutY.
He moved the committee as follows :—Messrs. Moffatt,
Rowson, Gilmour, Ashton, Chapman, Sidnsy, Abber-
field, Thompson, Ewart, Cassel, Twining, Smith:
Harrison, Lowcock, and Langton.
90} Mr. RAwsoN seconded the motion.

Mr. WALKER said that the resolution wai not strong
enough ; it ought to call on the Chancel'or of the EV
chequer to carry out the provisions of the act of Parli2
men t.
The CHAIRMAN said that the committee had considered
that, and would act on it ; but half a loaf was better
than no bread.

The resolution was then carried unanimously.
Thanks were voted to the chairman, and the meeting
adjourned til! 12 o'clock to-morrow.

LLOYD'S SHIPPING.—(This Day.)

LONDON, Feb. IG.—Wind this day at noon N.E.-"
Light breeze and fine weather.
PORTSMOUTH, Fab. 15. Wind E.S.E. Arrived-'
H.M.Str. Dee, from Wcalwich.
PLYMOUTH, Feb. 15.—Wind E.S.E.—Arrived—Afgnss
from Havana ; True Britain, London, for Melbourne ;
refordsbire, London, for Sydney, N.S.W.
FALMOUTH, Feb. 'ls.—Wind E.S.E., strong.—Arrived
—Kron Princesse, from Samarang, for fanaburg. Off the
port—Nlercator from Sourabaya, for Seliedam.
PETERHEAD, Feb. 14.—Wind S.W.—Sailed—Arctiet
for Greenllnd.
SOUTHAMPTON, Feb. 15.—Arrived—Marquis of Chan'
c'O;, from Quebec. Sailed—Leopold 1., for New York.
PILL, Feb. 15.—Wind E.—Sailed—Magna Bona, for
Melbourne ; Victoiy, Africa.
DOVER, Feb. 15.—Wind E.S. E.—Sailed—Moses Tail'
lor, for Madras.
CARDIFF, Feb. 14.—Wind E.N.E.—Sailed—Prince
of Wales, for King George's Sourd; Maria, St. Thomas;
Coquette, Havana.
TORBAY, Feb. 15.—Off the port.—Slade, from Been°
Ayres, for Antwerp ; Mary Ann, Berbice.
CLYDE, Feb. 14.—Win1 W.—Sailed—Ann Buckle, A°
Bombay ; Rise, Valparaiso.
BETA' IST, Feb. 14.—Wind lid' fidt
Baltimore.

HARTLEPOOL, Feb. 15.—Wind W.S.W.—Sailed
Queen, for Charente and Montreal.
HARWIC H, Feb. 15.—Wind E.S.E.—Sailed—Pomons'
for Havana.
CHERBOURG, Feb. 14.—The Ballochan, No. 2, from
Honduras, for London, which put in here with damge,
is leaky aid will discharge to repair.
MESSINA, Feb. 9.—La Belle Barbari, of London. ford
Galatz to Queenstown, foundered on the Ist inst., in lat.
37 N. lon 18 E.; crew saved.
FAvir„ Feb. 4.—The Willington, from Prince Edward's
Island to Liverpool, put in on the 19th Jan., leaky, and i 0
partly discharging to caulk hor topsides, when she will 1•
load and proceed. The Chins, from Liverpool to Balti-
more, more, has put in very leaky, bas discharged nearly the
whole of her cargo. and now only leaks four inches Per
hour. The New Orleans will be repaired.

(PER ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH.)
SOUTHAMPTON, Monday, 10. a.m•
Wind E. ; fine.

Arrived--Clara, C tledonia, Nancy, Atalanta, and Diaf
quis of Bute, from Sunderland ; Star, Guernsey; Aqu'''
London; Marquis of Chandos, Quebec; Le Coq, Cher-
bourg.

Sailed—Leopold 1., steamer, from New York.'
Wind S. LIVERPOOL, Monday Morning.
Sailed—Gauntlet, for Gibraltar; Caroline Brown, Si"
Michael's; Oacanaita, Callao; Trio, Dunkirk; Lucifers
Trieste.
QUEENSTOWN, Feb. 14.
Wind S.
Arrived—Regard, from Lataka ; Altantic, Honduras.

(BY SUBMARINE AND BF TISII TELEGRAPH.)
GRAVESEND, Monday) 9.39 Ain*
Wind S.E. ; four hours' ebb ; fine.
Arrived, Feb. 15—Henry, from Drobak.
Sailed, Feb. 15.—Joanna AlbertaP, for Batavia; nark'
away, New Zealand.
DEAL, Monday, 9.30 a.m•
_ .

Wind southerly and light.
Passed, Feb. 15—Justitia. from Hull, for Carthagent;
Island Queen, Shields, Odessa ; Mirage, London, Pr
Michael's; Julia, Aberdeen, Plymouth.

---
A lodging has been taken in Piccadilly for Ferulth
Khan, the Persian ambassador.
In military circlss the belief gains ground that d
militia will eventually be organised so as to form a re'
serve for the standing army.
A deputation respecting the Ministers' Money Tat'
Ireland, bad an interview with Viscount Palmerston, °II
Saturday.
Her Majesty's sloop Bittern was exposed to publi°,,
competition on Saturday, the 20th inst. 2,0501. sca'
offered for her. It is understood the limit placed 11P°13
the vessel was 3,oool.—Hong Kong Register of Dec. a
Rear Admiral Sir 11. Stewart has again struck 1310
vacancy Reportatthe
Asadysmtihraelrtey
flag on board the Indus, 78, at Devonport, and 111.,4
miralty. °'
ceeded to London, where he was summoned by the AL,:
isboaarddiffiocccualtsyionined by t
fillingl:4l
the;
appointment of Rear Admiral Richards to a conaroi''
sionership of Greenwich Hospital.
GOVERNMENT APPOINTMENTS —The Lord Chancellor
has a •
ppointed the Hon. and Rev. S. Waldegrave t°
the sia 1 at Salisbury, vacated by the Bishop of RIOT/
Henry James Ross, Esq., has been appointed CI&
Justice of St. Christopher and Nevis. ' Hugh ilenwooch
Alexander Bain, and Chrles Alexander, E qe., "re
appointed members of the legislative council of Grenadll
J. Brumell, Esq., has been appointed Registrar-Genurft
of Population and Property of the Colony of British
Guiana ; and J. T. Vaughan, G. Tighe,{C. A. Flernirg,
R. S. Turton, W. S. Johnston, and W.. 7. Jeffrl
Esqs., are appointed district registrars of the 83031'
colony.—Observer.
ROYAL BRITISH BANK. —We learn that within
t _
last few days it has been determined to appeal to tb;
House of Lords against the adjudication of bankrupt:l
in this ill-fated corporation. Mr. Marcus, the origio._,
petitioner, has instructed Messrs. Harrison and Levvt!F_
of New Boswell-court, his present solicitors, to take.:
necessary steps to get the appeal heard this sessi
The point raised will be the validity of the act of bolt°
ruptcy. At the Court of Charcery, on Saturday, leav
was granted to give notice of motion fur Tuesday next.
re.
We understand that the Spanish Government Las _
moved the duty upon the importation of rice, owing tr
the high price of grain in that country.