The Sun.
London, England, 1857-01-14 00:00:00

country would make it imperative on Parliament to take
this view of the subject. The objections to the tax, how-
ever, were not confined to the war portion of it, and he
was glad that it could not be imputed to him that it was
from any momentary objection that ho concurred in the
opinions that had been expressed concerning it. Those,
opinions he had on former occasions publicly declared in
the House of Commons when he had the honour of holding
an office in her Majesty's Government, and when. Lord
Derby's Government had desired to see the inequalities in
the tax rectified. He concurred with Mr. Priddei tha
the owners of houses, and, ho would add, of land, paid
great deal more than their proper proportion ; for the
paid on.the rack rent. They not only paid on the revenue
derived from the property, but also upon that which svai
never realised. Then he was also ready to admit that that
tax pressed harshly on those classes which were the
possessors of life incomes, whether arising from trade,
or professions. He would, for instance, assume that an
individual was in possession of an income of 500/. a year;
either from land or from money in the funds, and `another
derived a similar income from his trade or professioni,
Both paid the same amount of tax, but in the first case tho
taxpayer when he died left his land or his funded, prd-
perty to his children, while in the second the profe+
sional man or tradesman left nothing behind him. It wah
clearly the duty of the professional man or tradesman to
save something for the benefit of his family, or to insu
his life with the same object, and the amdunt taken fro
him in the shape of income tax would go far to effect this.
He had always thought and avowed his cons lotion, which
he continued to uphold, that if it could possibly be dope
some adjustment of the tax ought to be effected. He was
aware that the answer to this was, that it would be irle.
possible to arrange the tax so as to meet every case ; br
that was no reason why no attempt at all should be ma e
at a more equitable adjustment. Having thus expressed
his general concurrence in the objecteof the meeting, lie
could not refrain,from adding some further observatiohs
upon the subject. He trusted they would make allowasari
for the position in which he stood as their representatisfei
and for the duties which le owed not only to his consti-
tuents of Droitwich, but to the country at large, whence
said he thought it was right that he should not fetter hi •
self by any distinct pledge with regard to the coarse wh cb
he should take in the coming session of Parliament on so
important and difficult a subject as the raising of thehte•
venues of the country. They would all agree with cc
that Parliament was about to meet under circumsta+l
of considerable anxiety. It was happily true that the star
with Russia in which this country had been involve I al
at an end. It was also true that those questions which n
si
fortunately—whether culpably or not he would not now a:
—had been left unsettled, and which might have involve c 4 u
in a renewal of the European war, had been brought t a
satisfactory termination by the last conference at Paris. DI
hoped,-therefore, , they might feel a confidence that thin(
was no dangerof a renewal of a European war. On the o e
hand, however, they could not regard with indifference he
fact that they had lately become involved in fresh hos ili
ties with two different parts of the world. He referre t•
the war lately broken out with Persia, and to the unfo to
nate collision with the Chinese nation. On these subjec it
would be the duty of Parliament to demand explanation o
im (Sir John), having no man
the Government. Those explanations, no doubt, her a.
jesty's Ministers would be ready to give, and therefo it
hwfo
informationuld b e
beyond unbecoming i
tnh he
public newspapers, to co i
himself to any decided opinion upon these important at
ters which he might not be at full liberty to revoke o ri
consider; but he could not forbear expressing his appre er
sion that there were grave doubts as to the policy w is
had led to the war with Persia, and as to the justice o of
attack upon the Chinese. These were subjects which us,
await further information. The war with Persia was the
subject of the most serious and threatening aspect, au was.
the one, moreover, on which they had theleast info ma
tion. They were not informed, fer instance, whether tie
war was the result Of the Folioy of our Indian Govern ea
or of her Majesty's Government, or whether its cos wi m
to be defrayed from Indian revenues or from the rev
1
of England. Whichever it might be, he would folio or
the saying that " England cannot afford to have • tt'
wars." With regard to our attack on China, we had acce
to the fullest information through the published corn
spondence which had passed between our plenipoten►Aar
at Hong Kong, the Chinese Commissioner, and the Br iti
Admiral. He (Sir John Pakington) had carefull?re,
that correspondence, and he had read it with the der.,
pain. He could not recollect any Parliamentary pers
connected with public affairs which he had read wit such
feelings of sorrow as those. He wished to be under tood
that he abstained from committing himself to any d finite
opinion upon this subject, for further explanation ight
yet be offered ; but he hoped that on the meeting of sarlia-
ment some satisfactory explanations would be given,' and
that if we were to be involved in costly and bloody v+re ia
distant parts of the globe we should be satisfied in England
that we had the cause ofjustice on our side. He refrained,
in the present condition of affairs, from offering any deicided
minion, and would not give expressions, as he othelrwise
should do, to the indignation which he should feel if it was,
found that we had been involved in the cruel act of bom-
barding a peaceful city, destroying a number of its tinha-
bitants, and stopping its trade for causes which, as far as
the despatches showed, were utterly unjustifiable. Whe •
ther these acts on our part were wise and just or not, they
might have arisen from the indiscretion of officers at'a dis-
tance, involving us in complications which the Govern-
ment at home might find it very difficult to oxiricate itself
froth. These matters, they must see, had a bearing upon
the question of the mode of raising the revenues of the
country. He admitted it was his duty as their represen-
tative, and the duty of every man who had the honour of
sitting in the House of Commons, to see that no unneces.
easy taxation was imposed on the people, and above all,
to see that there was no unjust taxation. (Cheers.) But
the members of the House of Commons had another duty
to perform, rmfr,oim u.e.e, tor ae
see that
Queenthewhennecessary h
they
plies were not
withheld were
neces-
sary to the security of this great kingdom. (Applause.)
The following resolution was next put to the meeting,
and carried unanimously :
" That the preseet income tax laws are mischievously
constituted, and so fallacious in principle, that injustice and
oppression must be the necessary result ; and that if direct
taxation is necessary it may more readily be levied with a
nearer approach to absolute justice by means of a small pro-
perty-tax."
A resolution adopting a petition to Parliament for a
total repeal of the income tax laws was then passed, and
Sir John Pakington, at the request of the meeting, con-
sented to present it to the House of Commons.
A vote of thanks to the chairman concluded the pro-

ceedins.

DESTRUCTION OF OLD ROCHESTER BIiIDGIE,

ROCHE,TER, JAN. 13.
The destruction of the first portion of old Rochester
bridge by the Royal Engineers was successfully nem.
plished this afternoon, under the general dirt ction of
Colonel H. Sandham, Director of the Royal Engineers'
establishment at Brompton Barracks, Chatham, in the
presence of Lieutenant-General Sir Charles W. Pasley,
K.C.8., Major-General Sir Harry D. Jones, K.C.8.,
and a large number of engineer officers belonging to that
garrison, as well as several scientific gentlemen, who
were anxious to witness the destruction by gunpowder
eT such immense works.
As soen as the demolition of old Rochester-bridge—
which has steel upwards of four centuries—was decided
upon Colonel Sandham made application to the proper
authorities that the Royal Sappers and Miners and
the East India Company's Engineers might be em-
ployed in its destruction, as it was considered that
the rare occurrence of removing such a huge mass
of masonry was one admirably adapted for practising
the officers and men of the Royal Engineers in destroy.
itnhgatgbrreaantch of theworks, serviceespecia blly as the troops belonging to
ad given such successful evi-
dence of their skill in the demolition of the immense
docks at Sebastopol. The authorities immediately
granted the application, and on the 24th .of November
last a body of Sappers and Miners, under the command
of Captain H. Schaw, Royal Engineers, who has ever
sh ceveryably superintended the undertaking, com-
mencedmaking the necessary preparations for destroying
the bridge. Fos this purpose the engineers commenced
sinking three shafts on different piers, which were
excavated to the respective depths of 24 feet, 21 feet,
and 15 feet, it being found impossible to sink them any
deeper owing to the constant breaking in of the water.
Each shaft had a mean diameter of 4 feet. As soon as
Ithe shafts had been completed to the required depth the
working parties commenced driving a series of galleries,
leading in horizontal directions from each shaft, in which
portion of the old bridge destroyed
to deposit the gunpowder used in blowing up the
tstnr.uelcaty7wea on
structure.
s Thee of the large piers, near the Strood side,
from which the arches and superstructure bad been
previously removed by manual labour. This pier wan
36 feet in length, 21 feet wide, and 13 feet in depth, and
was calculated to contain considerably more than 12,000
cubic feet of masonry, weighing 800 tons. From the
shaft which had been excavated in this pier sprang six,
galleries—viz., two of 10 feet in length, from the extre-
mity of each of which branched at right angles another
gallery of 3 feet in length ; there were also two other
galleries diverging from the central shaft, each 4 ft. 9 in.
in length, the galleries being each 4 feet deep by 3 feet
in breadth, to enable the Sappers and Miners to traverse
than. The weight of gunpowder required to be used in
destroying this pier was 3001 b., consistieg of four charges,
each of 601 b., and two lesser charges, each of 301 b., one
charge being placed in each gallery. The powder was
contained in tin cases enclosed in wooden boxes. The
Royal Engineers were engaged at the old bridge
during the whole of last night in preparing
the galleries, after which the powder was deposited
in the places selected. The operation of "tamping"
then commenced, which ctinsisted of surrounding the
charges with materials to render the explosion more

peffective, and stopping up the bead of each of the galle-
ries with wet clay. The wires for firing the charges
were laid in wooden troughs, to prevent accidents, and,
Ia communication having been effected with each gallery,
the charges were exploded simultaneously by means of
the ♦oltaic battery, which was under the direction of
Captain C. E. Cumberland, Royal Engineers. The wire
used for conveying the galvaric spark was the same as
used by the Sappers and Miners for blowing op the
,Royal George at Spithead.
The effects of the explosion were most satisfactory, and
the destroction of that part of the old.bridge most com-
plete, the large blocks of stone of which it was composed
being rent asunder and hurled into the river, the only
sight yisible to the spectators being a violent upheavii,g
of the water and the disappearance of the large pier.
Notwithstanding the immense number of spectators pre.
sent the operations passed off without the slightest
accident.
There will be another explosion of a still larger por-
tion of the bridge by the Royal Engineers on Thursday
afternoon, on which occasion there will he four charges
fired, two of 2501 b. each, and two of 150113. each. His
Royal Highnes-, the Duke of Cambridge is expected to
be present on that occasion.
Col. H. Sandham, commanding the Royal Engineers,
has published a " memorandum" to the troops, in which
be offers his best thanks to Mr. Wright, the engineer of
the bridge works, for his ready concurrence in the whole
of the proceedings, and also for the valuable assistance
he has rendered the troops duri,.g the progress of the
operations.
The whole of the troops belonging to the Royal En•
gineeis and East India Company's service, as well as
those of the Provisional Battalion at Chatham, were pre.
sent to witness the operations.
•