The Sun.
London, England, 1850-02-07 00:00:00

EQUALIZATION OF THE LAND TAX.

Yesterday, at one o'clock, a deptation of gentlemen,
comprising delegates from several metropolitan pariaker,
nominated for the purpose of obtaining an equalization
a' the lane-tax, waited upon the Chancellor of the E.
chequer, by appointment, at his official residence in
Downing-street; with the view of urging upon the con-
sideration of the Government a more equable arrange-
ment of the above impost.
The deputation, which was accompanied by General
De Lacy Evans and Mr. Charles Lushington, the Mem-
bers for Westminster, was composed of delegates from
the following districts: —The Liberty of the Rolls, St.
Paul's, Covent-garden; St. Andrew's, Holborn; SL Cle-
ment Dayei; S'. Mary-k-Strand; St. Anne's, Soho;
St. James's, Clerk,uwell; Christchurch, Newgate-
street; St. Saviour's, Southwark; and St. Stephen's
Walbrook.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer was accompanied by
Mr. John Wood, the Chairman of the Board c.,f Inland

:eventie.

Mr. MILLER, of the Chancery Bar, actedas tho'spokes-
man of the deputation, and showed the excessive ine-
quality a the present tar, and urged that if -no general
meant; e could be brought forward, the Government
ought at least to reire ly the present defective state of
the law with regard to the mode of assessing the tax.
The CHANCELLOR i f the EXCHEQUER in reply said, that
as to the general equalizrtion of the land tax, that was
too large r. question for him to express an opinion upon,
particularly after tte manner in v. Welt the tax had been
dea!t with at the time the Redemption Acts were passed,
Mr. Pitt having treated the quotas then fixed as
perpetual, leeause the Government wanted money
fur war purposes. With regard to tLe partial
relief sought, it did not appear to him that the party
who appeared in the Holborn divibion had executed all
the remedies given to him by the Act, and he con-
sidered there was no valid reason fur coining to Parlia-
ment fir fri sh powers until that had been dune. In.
Lord Aylei.f ,rd's casP, i ecrred to in Me. Wood's evi-
dence before the Agricultural Committee in 1830, it
was laid dung tt.at it the Commissioners did not mces
together and make an equal rate, a power was given to
apply t..) the Court of Exchequer in order to compel
them to du so.

Mr. MiLLEa said that with regard to the rcmedy sug-
gested by the Chancellor against the Commissioners,
the point had been considered by the most eminent coup•
sel, all of whom had advised that the decision of the
Commissioners was fit al, and that the parties appealing
were without remedy.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer made no further
ob:e. vation on the subject ; and the deputation, ift:r a
few moments' hesitation, retire] from the MiniEter's
presence.

INDIAN RIVER STEAM NAVIGATION.—A party of
.gentleruen were assembled yesterday evening to dinner
alhe London Coficc-hotne, Ludgate-hill, whose in-
terests are enlisted in carrying out a project for the ea-
lishment of steam navigation upon the rivers .4 India.
4Pbc author of the project is Mr. Bourne, a civtkengi-
neer, who has male the accamplishmeat of the peided
end the subject of especial and careful study. Owilto
the peculiar character of the Indian rivers7tvgich in the
dry sraion become extremely shallow, and full of shoals
and sandbanks, insurmountable difficulties are opposed
to the iutroducticn of steam navigation by ordinary
methods. Mr. Bourne has, howevtr, devised a system
by which these obstacles can be surmounted, and the
rivers rendered navigable at any season of the year.
Ho proposes to use a train of Hit-bottomed barge:, arti-
culated to each other by circular jointp, and drawn
through the water by a aramer, by which means a
considerable cargo can he conveyed at a good speed,
and with a draught of water so small as to meet all
Via exigencies of the minimum depth obtained during
the dry :e %son The chair was occupied by
Mr. J. M`Gr.gor, M.P. After the usual loyal and pa-
triotic toasts, the important subject of the evening was
introduced, and the advantages of the intended pr, ject
were ‘Na-snly and eloquently supported by Mr. Byrne,
late Deputy-Governor of Bengal, Mr. Duncan,
Sir John Campbell, and Mr. J. 0, Walker. The entire
al):ience of a.iy constant and efficient means of commu-
nication was held cut ai the great evil under which
India suffered, and by which its almost unlimited re-
sources were crippled in their development; and it was
urged that, should the present scheme come into opera-
tion, the exchange of our ruanufaotured goods agaiust
the cotton and other products of the interior of India
would speedily reek ire a rapid iropetus. Towards the
close of the proceedings Mr. Bourne, upon his health
being proposed, entered into a detailed statement of the
various Natures of his proposed system cf navigation,
which was listened to with marked interest and approba-
tion. The meeting altogether was a most satisfactory
one, and the strong argument§ elicited in favour of the
proposed scheme were such as to give every hope that
it would ere long receive a fair trial.

RAILWAY BILLS ON STANDING OllDERF.—Yester-
(bay, tle inquiry into the ease of the North Kent Conti-
nuation Company was concluded, and the Bill on the
several points of non-compliance referred to t'.e Select
Cotninittec on Standmg Orders. Since the commence-
ment of the inquiry the promoters have intimated their
intention to abandon that portion cf the proposed rail-
way diverging at Rucheiter, and terminating in junction
with the South-Eastern Railway at Maidstone. The
standing orders were declared to be complied with in
the following casta:—Lam ashire and Yorkshire Rail-
way, who propose to alter their tolls, and to receive 63.
for express and first-class passengers, 4d. for second-
class, and 2J. for third-Ass; the South Yorkshire, for
abandonment of part e f railway; the Shropshire Union
Railway for `abandonment of Newton to Crewe and
Cluster, and IVolvethamptun lires•P reduction cf capital
and power to lease to London and North-Western; the
Bill c f the Caledonian and Dumbartonshire Railway for
relinquishment of raft of woiks, restriction of capital,
with power to the Edinburgh and Glasgow to hold
sharer, was withdrawn. Consequent, on the result of
the CLldenian Railvtay most:rig, reported in our cc-
humus yesterday, the Bill of the Scottish Central Rail-
way, to lease their undertaking t ► the Caledonian and
London and North-Western Railways, was adjourned.
About 130 out of the total number of 137 Bills on stand-
ing orders ere now disposed of.

SUICIDE AND INFANTICIDE.—Great Excitement
has been ctea,ted at Bath by the death ef a man named
Edmund Francis Hunt, who destroyed his own life and
that of his child, a little girl two years and a half old.
The ut.fortuustte man was a plasterer, about thirty-ssven
years of age, hying in Cornwall-terrace, Walcot street,
and his house abuts upon the river Avon. Ile was a
steady, industrious man, and had been in the service of
his master upwards of twenty years. His wife, how-
ever, has several times been convicted of shoplifting, and
the poor fellow in consequence has undergone much
mental suffering. Upon the last occasion of his wife's
delinquency becoming known, threw or four months ago,
he declared that if ever ale so disgraced him again be
should be induced to destroy himself. On Saturday
night last, as the deceased was returning home, be was
it formed by a neighbour that his wie, was again app:e-
hended for shoplifting. He hastened home, took 114
favourite child out of bed, and was seen no more alive.
the Sunday morning the river was dragged, and the
body of the unfortunate man was pulled up about fif y
yards below his own house. His arms were f.aded over
his chest as if embracing something. The n ater was
at
the( rrisver arms,
eighteen them bioledsybbeeloinwg at on
very flash at the time, and the child roust have been
e
hermswoinlldeadyeduitscoefvereu in
t spot where t'le sad catastrophe I tappened. The jury
returned a verdict, " That the deceased drowned himself
,
whilst labouring under t-in • •
porary insanity. The ll'Se
has been committed on the charge. of shoplifting.
LOCK .....osrair, ASYLUM, AND C lIATLL.—The
anniversary dinner of this charity was held yest rday
evening at the Lan(Ln Tavern, his Roy al Highness the
Duke of Cambridge in the chair. After the usual toasts
had been duly honoured, the Rev. A. Gamier read the
report, from which it appeared that the number of la-
tients who during the year had received care at the hos-
pital amount( d t) 741 (414 of these being in-patientr),
making an aggregate, from the first opening of the insti-
tution in 1747, of 38,420 patients who have been cured.
The financial prospects 4 f the charity have at last as-
sunicld a somewhat more hopeful aspect. 'Re receipts
of the N ear have fAllen short of the expenditure by nearly
900/.; 3 e', inasmuch as this debt is the accumulation of
former years, and has been reduced upon that which
stood a;ainst the hospital a year ago, by about 4001., the
time is net, it is hoped, far distant when the charity will
enjoy all its former prosperity. The report having been
read, the healths of the various officials were drunk; and
at about tea his Royal Highness left the chair. ISittvem
700/. and 8001, was cellec:el at the dinner.