The Sun.
London, England, 1861-04-10 00:00:00

THE CAPTURE OF THE PEIIIO PORTS.

(Fro;a the Gazelle of last evening.)
ADMIRALTY, APRIL G.
A despatch, of which the following is a Copy, has been
received from Vice-Admiral Sir James Hope, K.C.8.,
Commander-in-Chief of her Majesty's ships and vessels on
the East India and China Station.
CENTAUR, SHANGHAE, JAN. 22.
My Lord,—You will be pleased to draw the attention of
the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty to the following
clerical error in the marginal note annexed to the sixth
paragraph of my letter of the 27th of August last, No. 287,*
detailing the capture of the Peiho Forts :
For Commander Aplin, 3d Squadron of Rocket Boats.
Commander Hire, 4th Squadron of Rocket Boats.
Read Captain Willes, in charge of Rocket Boats.
Commander Hire, 3d Squadron.
Commander Day, 4th Squadron.
From which they will observe that Captain Willes and
Commander Day were employed in the attack of the
enemy's forts, and Commander Aplin was not.
(Signed) J. HOPE,
Vice-Admiral and Commander-
in-Chief.

The Right Honourable
Lord Clarence Paget, C.B. M.P.

* Gazetted on the 6th November, 1860.

THE PENNY TAXES.

The following memorial to the Chancellor of the
Exchequer suggesting the abolition of the new taxes
"in aid of charges for collection of revenue," was
presented yesterday :

To THE RIGHT HON. THE CHANCELLOR OF THE
EXCHEQUER.

" London, March, 1861.
" Sir,7-We the undersigned merchants, brokers, and
traders of the port of London, beg leave to claim your atten-
tion to the results of certain new taxes imposed on the trade
and commerce of the country in the last session of Parlia-
ment ' in aid of the charges for collection of revenue.'
" Many of your memorialists were opposed to these new
taxes at the time of their creation, upon the generally re-
cognised principle that the main object of taxation is to pro-
duce the largest amount of revenue with the least possible
inconvenience to its payers, neither of which conditions are
fulfilled by these new imposts, while they cause great
trouble, obstruction, and delay, both to merchants, traders,
and revenue collectors, for which the extremely slender
financial results offer no adequate bompensation.
" These new taxes have now been in operation for a
period sufficient fairly to test their pecuniary value, as well
as the consumption of time, clerical labour, constant delays
arising from error in calculations, unavoidable in the in.
tricacy of many of the items, and the immense multiplica-
tion of figures which have thus been created.
" Thus the tax of per cent. on the Customs revenue is
equivalent to little more than a fee of Is. upon every entry
for payment of duty in the United Kingdom. Payment of
all such fees was abolished about 25 years since, as being
alike unwise and impolitic ; but the tax as now levied re-
quires special calculation for every entry, and the employ-
ment of a series of figures which, under the existing form
of business, have in each case to be repeated several times.
thus causing an immense number of varying calculations
for an income of little more than £50,000,
" The one penny stamp on units of entry is yet more in-
tricate, vexatious, and obstructive, owing to their varying
and complex application—in some cases including many
packages in one unit, in others, dividing one package into
several units ; so that it has been found necessary to esta-
blish a tariff of units' Thus, while large sacrifices of
revenue have been made to establish simplicity and freedom
in the national tariff, the tax has engendered the necessity
of establishing a small tariff, which brings its irritating and
hindering powers into action upon every article, however
unimportant or insignificant, of the imports or exports of
the United Kingdom, frequently stopping the delivery and.
clearance of cargoes, involving delays, consumption of
time, and obstructions to commerce, for whieh:the revenue
of £130,000, raised upon the entire commerce of the coun-.
try, is an utterly inadequate compensation.
"Again, the' penny stamp on delivery orders has 'amen
prolific in delays, contention, and difficulty of collection,
raising nice points of law as to ownership, and from its
nature constantly open to variation in its application ; it is
believed that this tax yields little more than £5,000 per
annum, while its application has given rise to more annoy-
ance and discontent than any other source of Customs
revenue.

" The threepenny tax on warrants (which appears to yield
the small sum of £9,000), although not liable to many of the
objections which exist in regard to these other taxes, yet is
found to be extremely pal tial in its application, being mainly
paid in the port of London, in consequence of such docu-
ments being little used at the other ports ; tending also to
the gradual disuse of a most valuable commercial document.
So also the tax on bills of lading proves in practice unequal,
troublesome, and inquisitorial.

"Your memorialists respectfully suggest that whatever
taxation the State may require should be raised in the mode
least onerous and annoying to the class from which it is to
be obtained, and they earnestly hope that provision may be
made for the abolition of these small vexations duties he
the forthcoming financial statement, as being alike annoy-
ing and obstructive to trade and commerce, without equiva-
lent advantage to the revenue."

THIS DAY'S iIAit.KETS.

_--- ,--.tom --~•

CORN EXCHANGE.

The arrivals of English wheat to this morning's market
were somewhat on the increase, for the most part in fair
condition. For all kinds the demand was in a very inac-
tive state, at fully Monday's decline in the quotations of
ls. to 2s. per quarter.

Sales progressed heavily in all descriptions of foreign
wheat, ani previous rates were with difficulty maintained.
The imports are rather large, viz., 14,680 quarters.

Floating cargoes of grain were much neglected, and
prices had a erooping tendency.

- The demand for barley ruled heavy, at Monday's reduc-
tion in value.

Malt attracted very little attention, for the quotations
were unaltered.

The oat trade was in a very sluggish state, at fair the
late decline in prices.

Beans and peas, however, ruled firm, at extreme sullen"
des.

The transactions in flour were of a limited characters
and in some instances the quotations
favour were decidedly in
of buyers,

ARRITALS Tins V7V3X•
Wheat Barley. Malt. Oats. Flour.
Iringlissh ••• •• 1,130 86 2,190 I 850 I 920
F • 1,600 `
14,580 7,010 61,820 f atteks
1210 brio.