The Sun.
London, England, 1850-04-16 00:00:00

SPORTING INTELLIGENCE.

NEWMARKET CRAVEN MEETING—MONDAY.
'he Craven Stakes of 10 soya, each, with 50 added by
the Jockey Club ; for three years old, 6st 61b ; four,
Bst 41b ; five, Bst 131 b ; six and aged, 9st 51b. ; the
winner to be sold for GOO soya. if demanded, &c. A.F.

(4 Subs.)
Duke of Bedford's Retail, 4 yrs (F. Butler) 1
Lard Exeter's Tisiphono, 5 yrs (Flatman) 2
Mr. Jacques's Thringarth, 4 yrs (Bartholomew) 3
Mr. Marson's Nutbrown, 3 yrs-51b extra (Sharp) 4
Bating-6 and 7t04 on Retail. Retail, who waited
on Tisiphone until half way up the hill, defeated her by
a neck, Thringarth a bad third. Badness of the weather
rendered it impossible to time this race,
Sweepstakes of 50 sous. each, for colts, 82t 71b; and fil-
lies, Bst 41b; not engaged in either Riddlesworth,
Two Thousand Guineas, or One Thousand Guineas.
D.M. (4 Subs.)
Duke of Richmond's Officious (Flatman) 1
Mr. Batson's Abdallah (Sly) 2
Betting-10 to 3 on Officious, who made the whole of
the running, and won in a canter by six lengths. Run
in 1 min. 25 secs.

Match-Bst 71b each; 300 hit. D.M.

Mr. Greville's Brington (Flatman) 1
Lord Glasgow's br cby Bay Middleton. .(F. Butler) 2
Betting-11 to 8 on Brington. Won by eight lengths.
Run in 1 min. 53 sees.

Handicap Sweepstakes of 25 sous. each, 10 ft; for
four years old and upwards. T.Y.C. (4 Subs.)
Colonel Peel's lone, 4 yrs, 7st slb (Chspple) 1
Lord Clifden's Sagacity, 6 yrs, Bst 41b (Pearl) 2
Duke of Bedford's Mahratta, 4 yri, 7st 51b (rettit) 3
Betting-6 to 5 agat Sagacity, and 7to 4 agst lone.
The race was entirely between the two favourites, was
very closely contested up to the cords, and won by a
neck only. Run in 1 min. 19 secs.
Match--200 h ft. D. M.
Mr. Roles Collingwuod, Bst 10Ib (Flamm) 1
Captain Hervey's Strongbow, 7st 21b (Pettit) 2
Even betting. Won by a length. Run in 1 min.
50 sees.

Handicap of 20 soya. each, and only 5 if declares,
&c., for three yrs old and upwards. 1). M. (7 Suhs.,
one of whom declared.)
Mr. Gurney's b c, by St. Francis, 6st 61b ...(Harlock) I
Mr. Payne's Saucy Dick, 4 yrs, Est 101b...(Flatman) 2
Colonel Peel's Vase, 4 yrs, Bst 21b (Rogers) 3
Lord Clifden's Cotton Lord, 4 yrs, 83t 41b ...(Pearl) 4
Lord Bateman's Goodwood, 4 yrs, 7st 121b(Dockeray) 5
Lord Exeter's Cora, 3 yrs, 6st 101 b (J. Mann) 6
Betting-6 to 4 agst St. Francis colt, 4 to 1 agst Vasa,
5 to 1 agst Saucy Dick, and 6 to 1 agst Cora. The 1
favourite took the lead, made all the running, and won
by a length; Saucy Dick beating Vasa by a neck. Run
in 1 min. 53 secs.
Sweepstakes of 100 sovs. each, la ft, for three years old,
not engaged in the Tuesday's Riddlesworth; colts,
Bst 71b; fillies, Bst 41b. Ab. M. (4 Subs.)
Mr. Combe's Necklace, 7it 31b (W. Cotton) 1
Sir J. Hawley's Hippie, Bst 4113 (Templeman) 2
Betting-7 to 2 on Necklace. The winner made all
the running, and won cleverly by a length. Run in 2
min. 4 secs.
Sweepstakes of 100 sovs. each, h ft, for three years old
colts, Bst 71b. Cambridgeshire Course. (6 Subs.)
Colonel Peel's Hardinge
Mr. Combe's Tomboy (R. Cotton) 2
Lord Exeter's Nutcracker (Norman) 3
Betting-5 to 2 on Hardinge. Nutcracker cut out the
work until half way bctween the Duke's Stand and
home, where he was joined by Tomboy, and they ran
together to the cords. Hardinge then came, got up in
the last two strides, and won by a head, Tomboy beating
Nutcracker by a neck. Run in 2 win. 16 secs.
Sweepstakes of 50 soya. each, for three yrs old; colts,
Bst
Subs.) ;fillies, Bst 31b; 41b allowed, &c. D.M. (7
Lord Exeter's Nutshell walked over
The weather during the whole of the morning, and

ENTRIES FOR TUESDAY.
Sweepstakes of 10 sots each. First'half of tab. M.
Jest, 5 yrs—Bishop of Romford's cub, aged—Wall-
flower, 4 yrs—Rauclagh, 3 yrs—Electric, 3 yrs—Hind
of the Forest, 5 yrs.
The Newmarket Handicap.
The following are scratchgth—Surplice, Halo, So-
braon, Saucy Dick, ClArissa, Vasr, R‘thmines, Quinine,
b fby Harkaway, out of Corratin:Ci dam Puny, and
the New Era.

LATEST BETTING.

NEWMARKET HANDICAP.
9 to 2 agst Cheerful 10 to 1 agst Strongbo,w
6 to 1 agst Fernhill
.10 to 1 agst.. Herbal%
7 to 1 agst Westow (t)

DER

5 to 1 agst Bolingbroke
7 to 1 agst Ghillie Callum
8 to 1 agst Mayors -
13 to 1 agst The Nigger
14 to 1 agst Voltigenr
16 to 1 agst The RIUlu

.111%
20 to 1 agst Clincher -(t)
20 to 1 agst DZi dew (t)'
25 to 1 agst:Pitaford
• 30 to 1 ogst Mickleton
11000 to 10 ngst Mr. Gur-
ney's c by St. Francis (t)

TAXES ON KNO WLEDGE.
(From the Chronicle.)
Resolutions condemnatory of what are called the
Taxes on Knowledge, will be moved this evening by
Mr. Milner Gibson. He will be answered by the
Chancellor of the Exchequer, who will stand up man-
fully for his Budget ; and he will encounter the usual
stolid, dogged, bigoted, and unreasoning opposition,
from a highly respectable class of Members, who,
priding themselves on what they ' call their old-
fashioned modes of thinking, are firmly persuaded
that the evils which flew out of Pandora's box were
the twenty-four letters of the alphabet—that
Eve's apple typifies a book—and that, as Sin
came into the world with Knowledge, Virtue
should never trust herself out of the region of Igno-
rance. The most eloquent appeal to Sir Charles
Wood's imtellectual sympathies will probably produce
no practical result during the present session. Re-
solved on reversing the boast of Augustus, who
" found Rome brick and left -it marble," he would
rather be buried under his bricks than give them up.
Perhaps he may be right so far. Physical wants
should be the first care. Comfortable houses should
take precedence of cheap publications. If (which
remains to he proved) the Right Hon. Gentleman
cannot yet afford to remove all fiscal checks on good
books and wholesome reading as well as on good air
and wholesome habitatiorv, let him, by all means,
begin with the habitations and the air. It will be
something, however, to force a distinct admission of
the principle from the Government ; and we shall
be disappointed if the discussion does not end by
convincing every thinking politician, in 'and out of
the House, that the abolition of the taxes in question
would strengthen instead of undermining our most
valued institutions, and assist in placing an impreg-
nable bulwark before property and social order,
whilst adding incalculably to the self-respect, the
domestic enjoyments, and the moral eleuation of
the poor.
Mr. Milner Gibson proposes to pave the way by
reciting. that " all taxes which directly impede the
diffusion of knowledge are highly injurious to the
public interests, and are most impolitic sources of
revenue." He then proceeds to mark out for specific
legislative disapproval-1, the Excise duty on paper ;
2, the stamp duties on newspapers ; 3, the advertise•
ment duties; 4, the Customs duties on foteign books.
Do all or any of these duties directly impede the
diffusion of knowledge ? This question must be an-
swered positively and peremptorily in the affirmative,
unless it can be maintained that an enhancement of
price does not operate as a check on the multiplica-
tion or circulation of the usual vehicles of know-
ledge—namely, books, reviews, magazines, and
newspapers. The effect of the duty on paper has
been so strikingly illustrated by Mr. Charles
Knight that any additional argument would be-super—
fluous. In his " Struggles of a Book against Exces-
sive Taxation," it is demonstrated that the charge
thereby imposed on the Penry Encyclopedia has al-
ready exceeded thirty-two thousand pounds; that
this excessive burden is the principal cause why the
undertaking has not been remunerative ; that the con-
tinuance of the impost prevents him from undertak-
ing a new edition of that eminently useful work ; and
that it will probably never be reprinted unless the
burden is removed or very greatly lightened. Messrs.,
Chambers, the proprietors and publishers of Cham-
bers's Journal, another periodical of the most im-
proving tendency, calculate that this duty, even at
the present reduced rate, enters, to the extent of one-
third, into price.
So much for Mr. Milner Gibson's first item of
complaint. The last (the import duty on foreign
books) speak for itself, and though comparatively un-
important, is equally indefensible. The second and
third (the stamp duty on newspapers, and the adver-„
tisement duty) are frequently mixed up with con...
siderations alien from their essential qualities ; and
we earnestly hope that the Member for Manchester
will not fall into the common error of fancying that
the principal journals are indebted to a vicious system
of taxation for what is somewhat gratuitously and in-
vidiously designated as their "monopoly." Their
advantages are the legitimate results cf capital, en-
terprise, and skill. If the successful projector of a
London newspaper be a monopolist because it
is impossible to compete with him without
money or credit, so is, or was, the founder
of every leading commercial or manufactur-
ing firm in the ' empire. The Walters
and the Perrys stand on precisely the same footing in
this respect as the Rothschilds, the B • arings, the Ark-
wrights, and the Peels. Analyse the cry occasionally
set up against the Times, the Morning Chronicle,
and the other metropolitan morning
papers (the grand
offenders in this line), and it will be found to be
nearly identical with that raised by Louis Blanc
against capital and competition in France. When,
however, they succeed in distan • cmg a rival, it is be-
cause they produce a superior article. No possible or
imaginable reduction in the required outlay will ever
enable a needy man cf letters—be his capacity for
instructing the public what it may—to maintain an
immense establishment, to organise a numerous body
of writers of the most varied powers, to blend and
harmonize their contributions, and to secure trust-
worthy correspondents in every quarter of the globe. As
well might it be pretended that a reduction in the price
of flour and sugar would enable any ordinary
pastry-cook to drive Gunter from the field. In our
own opinion, at all events, we should gain instead of
losing by the immediate withdrawal of all alleged
legislative favours. If we could supply our readers
at a cheaper rate, we should most assuredly have more
of them ; and there e'en be as little doubt that we
should obtain more advertisements if advertisements
were not laid under a contemporaneous tribute to the
State.
But, admitting that more knowledge would be
diffused, would it be knowledge of the right sort ?
Is it advisable to extend the range of political dis-
cussion by increasing the circulation of newspapers ?
Are industry, order, morality, and religion, incul-
cated by .cheap literature ? We answer, with Mr.
Charles Knight, that, if they are not, it is be-
cause such publications as the Penny Encyclopedia
and Chambers's Journal, together with the respect-
able London and provincial journals, are prevented
by impolitic taxe3 from taking their proper place
on the bookshelf of the cottier and mechanic. "The
detrimental exercise of the printing-press is only
to be met by its wholesome employment ;" and it
is obviously of the deepest moment that the political
reading of the higher classes (which is generally of a
Conservative turn) should be rendered accessible to
all. As to the portentous influences of modern
journalism, it would be difficult to gainsay the quiet
remark of the Edinburgh Review, that " it is more to
the purpose to set about neutralising any evil effects
that may be apprehended from a change, than to rail
at it; and this change would hardly be so marked
and durable unless the talent and knowledge which
used to find vent in books, had been gradually
diverted into reviews and newspapers." It is absurd
to argue such questions as if it were practicable, or
advisable, to prevent the mass of the people from
learning to read or from receiving any education at'
all. The Rubicon is already passed ; they have
thrown off the thraldom of tradition and authority;
they cannot exist in future without intellectual ali-
ment of some sort ; and if they are not allowed to
share in that provided for their superiors in taste and
cultivation, they will infellibly demand
and
get sup-
plied with an inferior, contraband, and corrupting
literature of their own.
(From the Post.)
motion
Mr. Gibson ought to have confined his to
the duty on paper, and to that alone. This excise is
different in its character and operation from the other
three in many important particulars. That it seriously
impedes the diffusion of knowledge there can be no.
doubt, Mr. Knight's valuable tract, called t, The

Struggles of a Book," has established this beyond the
possibility of a question. But this is by no means its
only demerit. it checks the growth of manufacture
and the progress of commerce; it limits the employ-
ment of labour and the exercise of invention ; and,
finally, it prevents, the influx into the Fixchequer
of a larger amount by much than that which
it raises by means so injurious to the public at large.
Of the duties, on articles in general consumption
recommended for removal by Sir Henry Parnell's
Committee, the excise on paper is the only one
which remains. We have repeatedly hai occasion to
show that the repeal of this tax would largely in-
crease production, to meet both the demands of the
home and of the foreign markets. The establish-
ment of new mills in the agricultural districts as
well as in towns would employ both infant and
adult labour to an extent little contemplated by those
who have not examined the question with the care to
which it is. entitled. Increased employment would
necessarily give rise to increased consumption of other
exciseable articles, and thus feed the revenue. One
fact is worth a thousand arguments. Here are some
words extracted from a letter now before us, and
written by a most respectable and experienced paper
manufacturer in Scotland:—

"In regard to the Americans—first, they are now
supplying our colonies in their neighbourhood, where
we used to ship every spring 4,000 to 6,000 reams; a
considerable portion el' which was "news ;" we novr
do not ship even a ream. ' Canada is suppied almost
exclusively by the States. So much for free trade
there. 2d. They are (that is, the Americans) buying
up all the materials they can get in this market, as well
as Liverpool, Dublin, Sligo, Limerick, every where ;
and when once their screw ships are at work, every de-
scription of material will go to them, and at a low
freight, and be so (sinkly delivered that the present risk
of fermentation fcom long passages will be at an end.
This is not ell. Our best hands are leaving us, and go-
ing to the States ; they are getting higher wages, be-
cause, the trade being untramelled, they can afford to
give them.
"Two first-rata machine men sail from this to-mor-
row—engaged passage frea, and agreed far twelve
months at seven dollars per week. There are also seve-
ral engineers going, and about ten of our mon have gone
within the last two years. They are continually writing
home for more to go out to them. So you see how our
trade is going down in one or two ways. All our cob).
vies—even the East Indies—will, in a little time, be sup-
plied by the Americans, I do verily believe; and all this
may, in a great degree, be attributed to the trammels of
our fiscal regulations."
This picture is in nothing overdrawn. "It has been
computed," says an able pamphlet, " that the repeal
of the paper duty would give employment to 40,000
additional persons in London alone, besides a vast
number in the country; and to these may be added
a considerable increase in the numbers employed in
the business of publishing and printing, including
folders, stitchers, bookbinders. &c., comprising chil-
dren and adults of both sexes."

" There are also," continues the same author,
" numerous manufactures, such as millboard, card-
board, papier•mache, buttons, ornaments, toys, &c.,
in which paper forms the principal ingredient,
and to these a still greater stimulus would be
given by the reduced cost of production adding im-
mensely to the employment of every description of
labour. If the consumption of paper be traced
through its various ramifications, and the number of
people which are employed upon it in other countries,
where the manufacture is not subject to duty, it is
almost impossible to conceive the vast amount of
labour which would be created by its application to
uses from which it is now only debarred by the duty,
so that the relief from this tax would materially aug
meat the national resources, and in this point of view
produce a greater amount of practical and positive
good than any other scheme which could by possi-
bility be devised."
Oar remarks have extended to a length which
forbids our pursuing the subject further; but we
trust we have in this, and in preceding articles, suc-
ceeded in showing that, besides the advantages which
the repeal of the paper-duty would share, in common
with the removal of any excise impost, it has the
singular merit of supplying the very deficit which
its adoption would create. It is, therefore, a measure
which is entitled to the support of every one who
wishes to encourage the industry, the manufacture,
and the commerce of his country.

_FRENCH PASSPORTS.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

Sut,—lt is quite well that the public delusion on
the subject of French passports should be done away
with, as it is very generally supposed that they are
not now required, or if they are, that there is no
charge for them ; but such is not the case, passports
are required as ever, and the charge. is ss. for each
person. The French authorities do now grant what
is termed a permit, lasting a month, which gives
the party holding it freedom on entering and depart-
ing during that period, without further trouble or
expense, but through some mistake or blunder it is
departed from, and the permit is demanded upon
landing, and given up, which should not be. This will,
however, I trust and doubt not, soon be rectified, as
there is every desire at the office of the French Con-
sulate to facilitate matters, and I cannot conclude this
letter without offering my sincere thanks to the
French Consul and all connected with the office, as
well as to the French authorities generally, for their
uniform kindness and courtesy in facilitating my
arrangements for the conveyance of my countrymen
to their capital.
Whether it is judicious in the Government of the
French Republic to make the passport system, which
is for their own security, and not our convenience, a
matter of charge is another question, and one in
which Ido not interfere. It must in a certain degree
retard the freedom of intercourse between the two
nations, which it is so desirable to keep up. I feel
this to be so much the case, that I invariably pay the
passports for all my passengers.
.1 fear I have trespassed too long upon your valu-
able space, and beg to remain, Sir, yours, &c ,
JOSEPH CRISP.
51, Bedford-street, Strand, April 13, 1850.