The Sun.
London, England, 1857-02-26 00:00:00

LoNl.)oN, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, W 7

The VICTORIA CRoss has been distributed. A
glorious cat ilogue of names and deeds—published
in a supplement to the London gazette of Tues-
day evening, the 24th of February—notifies this
fact to the general cmrnunity of Englishmen.
A catalogue including in it all ranks and all
branches of the two great warlike professions—
Private Soldiers and A.B. Seamen, Colonels,
Commanders, Lieutenants, Quartlrmasters, Cor-
porals, a Boatswain, a Gunner, a Bombardier, a
Stoker, an Ensign, and a Midshipman. For once
--family and favour have been alike forgotten.
Merit, or rather valour, personal daring, or indi-
vidual prowess being alone looked to. It is the
btrago to Pluck—this VICTORIA CRoss—given to
e heroes of the War in the name of the Crown
and of the Cnintry. Gallantly have the re-
cipients won this badge of their bravery. GrL-
cionsly has it been accorded to them. Long
may each survive to enjoy the privilege of wear-
ing it upon his heroic breast as the visible tribute
of gratitude and admiration accorded to him
conjointly by the Nation and the SOVEREIGN
•
It is very interesting to note inscribed
con-
spicuously on this catalogue of
danntless
gentle-
men—men distinguished above their fellows by
the tokens of pre•emineut courage—the name
of
Capt. WILLIA NI PEEL, R.N., a younger son of oneof
the greatest statesmen who ever presided over,
ani not only presided over, but materially and
beneficially influenced, the destinies of the British
Government. It is still more interesting to note
that this gallant young Tar has been thics
distinguished in a peculiar manner, not merely
for one Act of Valour, gbut for three
successive and very remarkable Acts of V.diur,
evidencing an extraordinary degree of self-possw-
sion and self-sacrifice. Firstly, on the 18th Oc-
tober, 1854—" for having, at the greatest possible
risk, taken up a live shell, the fuze still burning,
from among several powder cases, outside the
magazine, and thrown it over the parapet (the
shell bursting as it loft his hands), thereby saving

1 ' the magazine and the lives of those immediately
round if." Secondly, on the sth November, 1854
—" for having joined the officers of the Grena-
dier Guards at the B.tale of Inkerman, and
assisted in defending the colours of that regiment,
when hard pressed at the Sandbag Battery."
Thirdly, on the 18th June, 1855—for "having
volunteered to lead the ladder party at the assault
on the Redan, and for carrying the first
1 adder until wounded." Honour to the gallant
young sailor—the brave scion of a house already
great in the annals of his country. Captain
WILLIAM PEEL'S case, however, although conspicu-
ous, is not—let it be understood at once—in
any way exceptional. We have simply particularised
his name in the first instance, because it is a name
already dear to tho hearts of Englishmen, and
because the claims of the young commander hap-
pen at the same time to be threefold I If he
was brave, he was brave simply among the brave.
His prowess, heroic as it was, was a prowess in
which be shares the glory with many worthy com-
petitors. Take the first of these evidences of his
pluck. He was not alone in it. There was
Lieutenant LUCAS (also of the Royal Navy), who,
in the Blltie, no lass coolly and heroically
took up a live shell and threw it overboard !
And there was Private WHEATLEY (of the Ist
Battalion of the Rifle Brigade) who, in like man-
ner,* picked up a live shell and threw it over the
parapet of the trenches before Sebastopol I Both
being rewarded for the deed of daring with a Vic-
toria Cross 1 Or take the " second" of Captain
WILLIAM PEEL'S claims for the cross—his volun-
teered participation in the deadly struggle at In-
kerman. Was he not accompanied— does not
the London Gazette tell us immediately afterwards
that he was accompanied to the field of battle on
the sth of November by a young miady (EDWARD
DANIELS), acting as his aide-de-camp ? While
in regard to his third claim, in regard to his
volunteered share in the perilous attack
upon the Redan on the 18th of June—vas he not
attended thither by that same midshipman as his
aide-de-camp ?—the young middy " tying a tour-
niquet on his (Captain Panes) arm on the glacis
of the Redan, whilst exposed to a very beavy
fire I" Was there not, for example, on that wale
18th of June, at the Redan, the brave Lieutenant
JOHN KNox, of the Rifle Brigade (2d battalion),
who, not only volunteered for the ladder-party,
but " behaved admirably, remaining upon the
field until twice wounded." Lieutenant KNox
having previously risen from the ranks, winning
fortune at the point of his sword, when, as a Ser-
geant in the Scots Fusiliers, he showed himself
" conspicuous in reforming the ranks of the
Guards at the battle of the Alma," on the
memorable 21st of September !t
It appears almost invidious, however, to par-
ticularise any of the names inscribed upon this glo-
rious catalogue—taking them even in a manner
hap-hazard for the mere purpose of illustration.
Not a single one among these recipients of the
VICTORIA Cnoss but has nobly earned the glory
and the privilege of wearing it.

* Several other dauntless ftlloivs distinguished them•
selves at different times, it should be here remarked, in
precisely the same manner by throwing live shells over
the parapets : among others rewarded for this deed of
daring by investiture with the Victoria Cross, being
Privates M'Corrie, Strong, Lyons, Coffey, and Sergeant
Ablett.

t It is observable that this brave soldier—who had
already, as we have seen, won his commission as lieu-
tenant in her Mentsrv's Army, by his distinguished gal-
lantry on the heights of the Alma—has never yet re-
ceived the well merited recompenco of his daring as a
volunteer (as one of the ladder party) in that " forlorn
hope" the attack of the 18th of June upon the Redan.
A. recompence (his captaincy) to which he was none the
less entitled by the circumstance of his losing an arm
upon the occasion.

Lard JOHN RUSSELL gave notice on Tuesday
that he would, in the Committee of Ways and
Means, move an amendment to the proposition of
the Chancellor of the Exchequer respecting tea,
that the duty should be le. 4d. per lb. for the
year 1857, and continue the same for the two
following years. This was the compromise sug-
gested at the meeting of the importers and
dealers in tea, and brought by the deputation
therefrom under the consideration of Sir G. C.
LEWIS. The Right Hon. Gentleman at the time
seemed favourably disposed towards it. But, as
it is impossible to say what course he may ulti-
mately adopt, it is right that the question should
be placed in such a form, that the opinion of the
House may be taken thereon, in the event of Mr.
GLADSTONE'S resolution that " The House
will not grant any addition t 3 the rates
chargeaLle by the Custom' Duties Act of
1855 on the articles of tea and sugar," being re-
jected.

We have already explained that the d uties on
;ea and sugar are two of the most objectionable,
every puint of view, that could be adopted.

They. are the chief domestic comfort 3 of the la-

bouring population—indeed they may be classed
amongst. the necessaries of life. They promote a taste
for (pia family enjoyment, and constitute the best
antidote to the seductions of the beer shops and
gin palaces. Tho retention of a high scale is diet-c-
-f., To of a very demoralising character, and there is
perhaps no fiscal charge which the philanthropist
would more urgently desire t.) see either altoge-
ther repealed or greatly reduced in amount. Tf
the duties were greatly diminished there can be

excited the national disgust and indignation,
for that was (as Sir G. C. LEWIS asserts)

no doubt that the consumption would increase
in an inverse ratio. Tile truth of the proposition
has been confirmed by experience in every COS 3
where the experiment was tried. But we have

a mere accident, of which he emphatically dc-
clared he would scorn to take advantage. But
th tt respecting the tea duties originated in his
own answers, and if these were so framed as to
deceive the parties he must bo held responsible
for the consequences. We therefore sin-
cerely hope that Mr. GLADSTONE'S resolution
may be affirmed, and that the House will refuse
to grant any addition to the rates chargeable
by the Customs Duties Aot of 185 on the ar-
ticles of tea and sugar.

additional evidence in favour of tea—for it is
found that in the Channel Islands the amount
required is more than double what it is in this
country, while in Australia the demand per
head is more than quadrupled. The reduction
to 18. per lb. would therefore by no means
occasion a proportionate loss to the revenue—
and as every additional lb. of tea used would re-
quire 41b8. of sugar, to say nothing of the extra
supply of dumplings, pudding, &c., it requires no
argument to show that a similar result would fol-
low with respect " the Corn of the Tropics !"
But, in addition to these powerful reasons
apolicy in the matter of
indirect u st x
a a
retrograde-iouthe Ministerial faith is pledged
i t e
t
to the importers and dealers in tea. Not only
had the question been disposed of in 1853, but
when it became essential, in consequence of the
exigencies of the war, to disturb the arrange-
ment then entered into, a specific time WPS
clearly and distinctly fixed by Parliament
when the reduced duties shoul I come into
Operation. To make asiiurance doubly sure
a plain, straightforward interrogatory was ad-
dressed to the Chancellor of tha Exchequer,
which received an answer so sat•sfactory in every
respect that the parties interested had no hesitation
in acting Upon
entering into extenmiv•
e contrac's and largely in-
creasing their stock. It is ° •
sea "Litt: ifogging quibble,"
of the most despicable description
to assert that
in consequence of the answer being couched in
ambiguous terms, the Financial • •
Minbter is now
justified in repudiating the honourable under-
st inding.., and victimising those who reposed con-
fidence in his assertions. It is far worse than
that respecting the Income Tax, Which so strongly

But should that just and salutary proposition
be rejected there can be no doubt that Lord JOHN
RUSSELL'S amendment will be a vast improve-
ment on the course indicated by the Chancellor
of the Exchequer. The loss to the revenue will
be comparatively trifling 1 No less than
1,640,0001. will be levied on tea more
than could be raised under the existing
law. This is a handsome dividend even on the
sum asked by Sir G. C. LEWIS. It is true that
less will be received during the present year.
But he has still to receive a moiety of the war
Income Tax of 16d. in the pound, and has been
able to indicate a considerable surplus during the
coming year, while it will give him a large amount
in 1859, when the Treasury will be very weak,
there being every reason, as we have already
pointed eut, to fear a serious deficiency. To the
1 importers and dealers it will be a vast boon,
affording them an opportunity of getting out of a
considerable portion of the losses they may other-
wise sustain. The duty at is. 4d. will,
for the present year, only occasion an extra
payment of 184,5001. more than would be levied
under the Act of 1855, and although 778,000/.
additional will be received in each of the follow-
ing years, the parties will have ample time to
make arrangements for the reduction of their
stocks, or such other course as they may deem
advisable. Besides, as we recently explained, the
public will receive an immediate benefit when sd.
per lb. is taken away. The retail dealers must
give the benefit of at least 4d. thereof to them,
while two successive falls of 2d. per lb. would not
be noticed, save so far as empty assurances of an
improved quality were concerned. On every
ground, then, we trust that Lord JOHN RUSSELL'S
amendment may be carried should the Chancellor
of the Exchequer refuse the slight concession de-
manded. Every professing Liberal should give
it an earnest and hearty support on the
We fear, however, that plea does
not receive much attention just at present
in the representative branch of the Legislature.
The interests of party have greater weight with
the quasi independent members than the welfare
and prosperity of the people.

merits.

"Read and you will learn," was the advice re-
peatedly given by the mother of Sir W. JONES to
the incipient philosopher in the days of his boy-
hood. " Have you read my book," was the
surly question with which, according to report,
the late Dr. ABERNETHY frequently accosted his
patients. Well, we have obeyed Sir GEORGE
CORNEWALL LEWIS—we have read his report as
he told us ; wh'%t we learned is another question.
Elaborate enough it is, in all conscience, and re-
quires, us to calculate with him to thirds and
ninths of a penny to six hundred and sixty
sevenths and thousandths, and two thousands
of the value of the property ; but we must
decline to trouble our readers with what
they will as surely skip as they do thirds and
ninths, and much more than that, of a Budget
speech. Business men and practical men do not
value their taxis like actuaries ; they have a much
more rough and ready way of deciding on these
incidences, their unfairness, and on where the
shoe pinches. An actuary could run a pin into
us and prove to demonstration that it did not
affect a millionth part of the superficies of our
body, but if he did not pull it out faster than he
put it in, he would run the risk of seeing much
more than a millionth part of his own skin black
and blue.

We were somewhat amused, by the bye, at the
facility with which Sir G. C. LEWIS'S attorney
could argue from values of property when his ob-
ject was to maintain a tax ; and the utter impos-
sibility of reasoning on such a basis, when the
question is one of applying an Income Tax to
precarious and permanent incomes. Least of all
could we find in the report any conclusive grounds
for his flourish in the House on the 13th of this
month, when ho somewhat pompously declared,
" that it is a duty which falls exclusively on realised
property, for which reason it ought to receive
the support of those gentlemen who wish to trans-
fer-all taxation to realised property; that is a
duty which adapts itself with singular felicity to
the circumstances of the taxpayer, which is
heaviest when the insurance is lightest, and lightest
when the insurance is heaviest So
far as he could judge, he believed it to be one of
the last ditties which ought to be relinquished."

Now, we must think, the elaborate report of
the Chancellor of the Exchequer's advocate fails
in all the impoitint points which are regarded by
the public. It is a tax on realised property, it is
true—but only on a comparatively small portion
of realised propeity, and a portion of it which has
the most ieasunable claims to exemption.
Goods, the most costly subject of fire insurance,
are a kind of propeity of somewhat precarious
value ; but omitting that consideration, it should ,

be borne in mind that they are but a part of the
realised property of the country, and a part, by
its very nature, especially liable to all kinds of
risks and contingencies. This property pays
largely already to the direct taxes of the country
through bill and receipt and postage stamps, as
by its being constantly changing hands it .ia more
ol;noxious to those charges than other kinds of
real property. We should think it pays its full
proportion, and more than its proportion in that
way.

But there is one grand distinction between two
classes of property, that of being combustible or
incombustible, which surely ought to exempt the
hitter from Government charges, founded upon
the very circumstance which makes it a more
hazardous kind of property. Our Chancellor's
advocate himself gives us estimates of the value
of incombustible property—which, omitting the
Funds, and much other property not liable to
damage by Fire, amounts to the enormous total
of two thousand seven hundred and fifty millions
of property which pays no duty at al!. If this
property paid the same d'ity to Government as
that which is exposed to the risk of combustion,
it would realise the enormous suns of nearly
4,500,0001. ; and, were all property included, it
would not be less than about 7,000,000/. per
annum ! Can any ingenuity of any Edinburgh
reviewer, aided by all the report-writers in the
world, cmvince the public that property in its I

nature hazardous should for that very reason pay
a tax which now hazardous property escapes ? The
grass partiality of the tax dooms it to follow the

GLADSTONE ILICOIDO Td X.

There is another very pretty epigrammatic
statement, relative to the tax falling heavily or
lightly, in most fairly discriminated proportions.

TEE SUN, LON DON, THURSDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 26,

It has only the slight disadvantage of being
utterly false. Confounding in their minds the
difference between the value of the property and.
the sale of the premium, the reporter and his
master tell us that the tax adjusts itself in beau-
tiful proportions to the value of the property ;
the truth being, that if a man's property be so
risky that he pays three guineas per cent, to the
Insurance-office, he still pays as much as if he
paid the office but ls. 6d. per cent. Of course
the duty is less relatively to the premium, but
relatively to the property it is a,greater hardship.
The owner of a first-class house who pays ls. 6d.
premium, plus 3s. duty, is surely better off, and
feels the tax less than the man who has to pay
three guineas before he pays the duty. Beautiful
adjustment of incidence, certainly, which the
more a man has to pay for a guarantee of his IQOI.
worth of property, leaves him the same duty to
pay as if the office had charged him the lowest
rate. One hundred pounds of property, worth
three guineas less because of its risky quality,
must pay the same duty as 1001. worth, worth
only is. Gd. less from the same cause. Surely,
equity would demand that, when the insurance
and duty together would be above the lowest rate,
4s. Gd., the duty should fall till no one, on the
whole, paid more than 4s. 6d.
We have not space just now to notice some
minor errors, especially that of overlooking the
payment of insurance by the same goods, in all
their stages of manufacture, till they are entirely
consumed. But it will seem to many readers
almost incredible that the Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer's report attempts to persuade us that the
Fire duty is, in no peculiar sense, a tax on pru-
dence ; it is as obviously so as the GLADSTONE
Income Tax is a tax on conscientiousness. Few,
if any other taxes, are paid on what the payer
feels to bo £3O peol2ll4Lly an apt of prudence. In-
deed almost all his other prudential acts save him
from taxes. If, to meet the wants of a rising
family, he keeps neither horses, carriages, nor
dogs, he escapes assessed taxes. If he takes a
cheaper house for the same reason, he pays lower
house duty and parish rates ; almost every act of
self-denial saves a tax. But, if he denies himself
some shillings or pounds from prudent considera-
tion of the hazards of fire, forthwith the Govern-
ment steps in and mulcts him on the average one
hundred per cent, for that act of prudence ! No
sophistry, not even should Mr. GLADSTONE him-
self come to Sir G. C. LEWIS'S 'help, will ever
persuade any insurer that Government does not
by the Fire Duty levy a tar on his prudence.

LATEST NEWS.

AMERICA.
(BY ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH.)
LIVERPOOL, TUIIRSDAY MORNING.
The Cunard steamer Alps is in the river, with
the New York mails of the 14th instant.

WRECK OF THE PENINSULAR.
STEAMER MADRID.
We have received the following communication
from the office of the Peninsular and Oriental
Steam Navigation Company

" FEB. 26.

"A telegraphic message has been received here
this morning to the effect that the steamer
Madrid, conveying the outward Peninsular mails
of the 17th, struck on a rock at the entrance of
the port of Vigo on the 20th inst. All on board
were saved.
"No further particulars are known."

Perhaps one of the most singular arguments
alleged in favour of the duty, is, that it is quite
satisfactory to those who collect it. The offices
receive about 5 per cent. for performing that
duty ; and it is not matter of surprise, therefore,
that they should desire its continuance. In a
large office it goes far towards paying the office
expenses. A still stronger reason, however, is,
that it is to some extent a check on, competition.
It is practically found as disadvantageous to a
new office as beneficial to an old one. This the
Reporter himself plainly states. Most duties are
in this way found to cause a partial monopoly in
any manufacture, and hence it is rarely the case
that the manufacturers themselves desire their
repeal. The Reporter adverts to the tendency of in-
surance to encourage arson, and observes that it
may not therefore be a saving to the community
as a whole ; he forgets that it equally discourages
incendiarism, since the incendiary has no spite
against an office. The remark is, however, but
an illustration of the determination of the Re-
porter to make out his case even by self-contra_
dictory arguments. We have little' doubt that
the law in respect to arson in its bearing on in-
surance might be much improved. Many a claim
would be forfeited if the insurer had to remove all
fair grounds of suspicion. The legal evidence of
arson may be wanting in many cases, where a
jury would say that a man ought not to be paid
till he gave better proof of innocence. •

The Paris correspondent of the Times (second

edition) says :

"On the Persian question I can only add that,
as I am informed, the articles of the proposed
convention with England specify that the latter
Power shall henceforth be treated as the most
favoured nation, that is, as Russia, with respect
to commercial advantages ; and, moreover, that
she shall have a right to found an establish-
ment in the isle of liarrak and another in Or-
muz. These conditions would appear to be
independent of the evacuation of Herat by the
Persians, .and - the abandonment of Bushire
by the English. The English Government, had
demanded the right to appoint a Consul at
Ralfrusb, a port of the Mazanderan on the Caspian
Sea, but the Persian Envoy alleged that the existing
treaties with Russia contain a clause prohibiting
foreign diplomatic agents from residing on the
shores of that sea, and no other foreign Power has
an agent there. But she may enjoy the right of
having Consuls on several specified points in the
interior of Persia, and on the shore of the Per-
sian Gulf. If the conditions to be submitted to
the English Government he accepted, Feruk Khan
will probably go to London, merely for the ratifi-
cation of the treaty between us and Persia." •

TRIESTE, FEB. 25.
Accounts from Hong Kong, of the 15th of
January, state that a numerous Chinese fleet had
attacked the English squadron, and subsequently
retired in good order under the forts of Canton.

Admiral. Seymour had disembarked troops and
burnt the greater part of the suburbs of Canton.
The fleet belonging to the Chinese rebels had
formed a junction with that of the imperialists at
Whampoa.

MADRID, FEB. 21.
The decree for the reduction of some public
salaries, and the abolition of others, is gazetted,
and is to take effect in May next.
Gonzales Bravo has left for London.