The Sun.
London, England, 1844-07-09 00:00:00

DIFFICULTIES OF COMMERCIAL

COFFEE.
-COFFEE are invited to Purchase from the Establishment of
prize a delicious Cup of really fine
No. 8, Ludgate-hill:
itom_ which day we lie.ye reduced TWOPENCE to FOURPENCIi
sAi
The
hNeqe,
awn 711)111
Duties
Oti
re
per FOUND. 'Cam* into operation On Saturday, Bth of Juno,
Black Tea of Splendid quality at Three Shillings and Tenpence per
pound•

The Tea IDaket, No. 8, Ludgate-hill.
SIDNEY AND HALL.

taming newspapers under false pretences. Mr. Bacon sal(
he had supplied the prisoner with newspapers since las_
January, till at length he discovered that the fellow had
givep a wrong address, but on inquiry he discovered his
real abode, and caused him to be apprehended. Since his
apprehension a large number of newspapers, directed to the
prisoner, have been stopped at the Post-office, and on search-
ing the prisoner's house five sealed letters, directed to him,
were found. These letters were produced before the magis-
trates, who directed them to be opened. The first was from
the proprietors of the London Price Current, with a demand
for 9/. 17s. 6d. for newspapers supplied to prisoner. The next
was from the Liverpool Courier, offering to supply eleven
papers weekly on receiving either a reference or a Post-office
order. Other letters from the Oxford Chronicle, the Liverpool
Albion, and the Birmingham Herald, containing similar pre-
cautions, were opened. The magistrates' clerk's table was
strewn with papers directed to the prisoner. At the request
of Mr. Bacon the prisoner was remanded for a week. -
THE HAIR.--,Of the numerous compounds con-
stantly announced for promoting the growth or reproduc-
tion of the hair, few survive, even in name, beyond a very
limited period; whilst " Rowland's Macassar Oil," with a
reputation unparalleled, is still on the increase in public es-
timation. The singular virtues of this successful invention
for restoring, preserving, and beautifying the human- hair,
are too well known and appreciated to need much comment!
The very facts of the high and distinguished patronage it
enjoys, its general use in all countries, together with nu-
merous testimonials constantly received in its favour, are au-
thorities which stamp its superior excellence and title over all
attempts of a similar nature. Being universally preferred,
its consequent great demand excites the cupidity of un-
principled shopkeepers, who vend the most spurious trash as
the " genuine" Macassar Oil : whereas the genuine article is
wholly the invention and property of A. Rowland and Son,
and the amalgamation of its costly exotic materials renders
abortiVeany attempt to discover its component parts—thus
proving= the imposition of all other articles bearing the title
of Macassar Oil.", The genuine article has the words
" Rowland's Macassar Oil" on the wrapper.—All others are
fraud e counterfeits ! •
Albemarle-street,Picca-
SIGHT AND HEA.RING.---39,
dilly. Newly-invented spectacles, telescopes, opera-
glasses, microscopes; Btn. Patronised by Generals Sir
Edward Paget, Sir Evan Lloyd, Frederick Meister,
Clayton, GalwaY,
Grosvenor, Morrison, Dyott, Robert-
son, and Mackenzie ; Major-Generals Sir H. Elphin-
stone, P. Fyers, D. Macleod, Hamilton, and Wemyss ;
Lieut.-Generals Sir Henry Bouverie, Sir J. Macdonald,
Sir R. Barton, Sir T. Dallas, Lord John Hay ; Admirals
Sir George Cockburn, Sir George Munday, Sir G.
Martin, Sir James H. Whitshed, Sir D. Gold, and
Ross. By the use of these newly-invented spectacles,
imperfect vision becomes preserved and strengthened,
and very aged persons are enabled to employ their sight
at the most minute occupation, and can see with those
lenses of a much less magnifying power, nor will they
require the frequent changes to further helps ; also
newly-invented achromatic waistcoat-pocket telescopes
and opera glasses. Every kind of telescope of larger
size with increasing powers, for shooting, sea purposes,
and, upon stands, for astronomical purposes, with the
same celebrated lenses, the powers are so great, and the
lenses so bright and brilliant, that minute objects at an
extraordinary distance are brought completely under the
eye. Sportsmen, tourists, and sea-side visitors will
have a great treat. Their invisible voice conductor gives
immediate relief to old standinoo• extreme cases of deaf-
ness. Caution—Messrs. S. and B. Solomons, opticians
W
and aurists, are not in any way connected with a person
of the same name in their immediate neighbourhood, nor
in any part of the countr
y. To prevent mistakes be
cautious and observe, only to be had. at 39, Albemarle-
street, Piccadilly, opposite the York Hotel.
HOARSENESS..—One drachm of freshly scraped
horse radish root, to be infused with four ounces of wa-
ter, in a close vessel, for two hours, and made into a
syrup, with double its weight in vinegar, is an improved
remedy for hoarseness ; a teaspoonful has often proved
effectual ; a few teaspoonfuls, it is said, have never been
known to fail in removing hoarseness.
Dispatches were received 3-esterday at the Colonial-office,
from the Governor of the Mauritius.

REFORM.
(From the Sentinel.)
The rejection of Mr. Villiers's motion for a repeal of
the import duties on foreign corn, by a majority of
nearly three to one, must convince the most sanguine ad-
herent of the League that the present Parliament will
not abolish the tax on bread. Not even will the compro-
mise of a fixed duty be listened to ; the sliding-scale
will continue_ in force, at least, • till the next general
election. We are aware that many feel confident that
the law will be changed on the occasion of the first bad
harvest,—these speculators on probabilities having much
more reliance on the vicissitudes of the seasons than the
justice of legislation. Others, who possess that mixture
of enthusiasm and perseverance which hopes against
hope, and expect that ends may be obtained without
adequate means, imagine, that commercial emancipation
will spring up out of the disruption of political parties,
overlooking the fact of the personal interests of land-
lords remaining unchanged, however they may, vary
their Parliamentary leadership. We regret our mobi-
lity to share in any of these cheering prospects ; for, it
being notorious, that the object of the corn-law is to
sustain rents and prevent the foreclosure of mortgages,
and it being equally notorious, that the receivers of rents
have possessed themselves -of a monopoly of legisla-
tion, it appears to us perfectly clear, that no adverse
harvest, no internal political jealousies, no war to the
knife on minor, points, will ever .so far permit fear or
passion to control reason, or 'neutralise the argument
of the breeches-pocket, as to induce the actual holders of
broad acres to transfer them to their creditors, either
private or -public,—to mortgagees or to fundholders.
Long years of legislative injustice and legislative blun-
ders have brought us into a state so artificial and
complex, that the slightest change in the hollow and
unsubstantial fabric of society threatens to bring
down the ' able building.— We_ are in the con-
dition of the man who held the wolf by -the ears ,•
it is dangerous to continue the hold, and equally peri-
lous to relax the grasp. Were we to venture in a single
sentence to assign a cause for the " difficulties of Com-
mercial Reform,' we should ascribe it to the fact of our
huge indebtedness, which prevents the application of the
sound principles of political economy to the production
and distribution of wealth. Let us, then, endeavour to
point out specifically the nature and bearings of those
difficulties, and we shall be better able to judge how we
ought to assail monopoly with a fair prospect of success.
We shall take it for granted, that corn is the standard
of all value. Now, it has been demonstrated that the
natural, that is to say, the untaxed price of a quarter of
the finest wheat, both in this country and in most of the
Continental States, is equal to about 64 ounces of silver,
or 335. 6d. It has been further shown by Mr. John
Taylor, •by evidence we have recently printed, and to
which we refer our readers, that for every million of
taxes imposed in the shape of permanent debt, the
price, of the quarter of wheat ought 'to rise
one penny, to place the landowner in the
same position• as he would have occupied had
no tax existed. Now, if we take our National'
Debt at 800 millions, then we must add 800 pence per
quarter to the natural price of 335. 6d. ; 800 pence are
equal to 3/. 6s. 8d ; consequently, if we add 3/. 6s. Bd.,
the artificial or taxation price, to It. 13s. 6d., the natural
or untaxed price, then the selling. price of a quarter of
the finest wheat, in our actual circumstances, would be
five pounds and twopence. Our readers may be startled
at such a statement as this ; we know it is not a pleasant
view of the subject, but if we really desire to ascertain
the nature of our difficulties, in order to conquer them,
we must not shrink from looking truth boldly in the face.
We have said, that corn is the standard of all value.
We have pointed out tailitio in which its price ought
to rise, with the rise of taxation. If we are unable to
give a scale equally graduated of other commodities, it
must nevertheless be obvious, that the same principle
must apply to all other products of human industry ; or,
in other words, there must, for all articles, be two prices,
the natural and the artificial—the latter being regu-
lated by
.the amount of taxation at any given time
in any given country. The consumers of artificially
priced' corn cannot sell their gocds at their natural
prices; for, if they. did, they would have to sustain all the
burdens of taxation, from which, on that hypothesis,
the growers of corn would be exempt. If, then, taxa-
tion necessitates high rents, so also does it necessitate
high profits to the capitalists, and in a proportionate de-
gree it also necessitates high wages. Cheap labour,
cheap commodities, cheap rents, under the pressure of
excessive taxation, are absurd and unjust, unless we are
prepared to say that the public creditor is to regard his
debtors as slaves, and compel them to work as slaves for
his special benefit. Here, then, we trust, the evidence is
plain, that our public indebtedness prevents the applica-
tion of sound principles of political economy to the ex-
isting condition of England, provided we are honest
enough to keep faith with the public creditor.
Now, how to keep that faith, is the problem to be
solved. It has been said, that the more we pay to
classes for monopolies and differential duties, the less
able are we to pay the fundholder and the Queen's
takes. This, of course, is most true. The receivers of
monopolies and differential duties know the fact as well
as their opponents, though they may be too cunning to
acknowledge it. They were evidently imposed by the
Legislature to shift the weight of the public debt from
property to industry, and for that purpose they are
maintained. If honour or honesty ruled the conduct of
our aristocracy, they would pay the debt they contracted,
either by selling their estates to redeem the principal
sum, or by raising as much per cent. on their incomes,
by direct taxes, as would discharge the annual dividends.
This, their cupidity and their necessities prevent them
from doing ; and, consequently, they persist in levying
revenue through indirect taxation, which is so graduated
as to bear with the most unequal pressure possible on
commodities of general consumption ; so that the prac-
tical obligation to discharge the claims of the Queen's
Government ' and of the fundholder, chiefly falls on the
working classes, being abstracted from their wages
through the machinery of customs and excise. It is in-
dustry that pays the taxes, not property ; though indus-
try, disfranchised and unrepresented, never gave a soli-
tary vote for the contraction of that very debt by which
industry is now ground down to the earth.
The object of the corn-laws is to raise, prices, but it
ha's defeated itself, since bread can never sustain a high
legislative price in the midst of an unemployed and
pennyless population. The object of a metallic currency
is to lower prices. Both these systems have been in full
play for many years, of course counteracting each other
While the Legislature has done all in its power—how-
ever impotent that power may have proved—to com-
pensate landlords for their share of the burdens of taxa-
tion, by giving them a monopoly of the food markets,
they have, at the same time, lowered the prices of all
other commodities, by substituting a metallic for a paper
currency, and prohibiting gold to rise beyond an arbi-
trary Mint-price. All prices have tended to fall
to the low price of gold, which has been exempted
from the laws of supply and demand by Act of Parlia-
ment. Whether the Bank of England possesses fifteen
millions of bullion in its coffers, as at present, or whether
it were so bare of the precious metals, as to be com-
pelled to borrow two-and-a-half millions from the Bank
of France, gold still remains at the Mint-price of 31. 17s
104 d. per ounce—a contradiction so witless, that, if the
fact were not notorious, he who proclaimed it might be
suspected of denying common sense to the Legislature.
Here, then, we have another difficulty in the way of
Commercial Reform—the conflict between the corn-
laws and a metallic currency ; the one raising, the other
lowering prices ; both in action, at the same time, in the
same market, and both defended by Sir R. Peel with
equal pertinacity.
We have, then, five distinct classes or parties, each of
whose separate interests must be consulted, before we
can get rid. of our commercial difficultiei. First, the
Government, demanding excessive taxest, secora!dly,ithe
fundholder, claiming payment of his-,dividends. Who
is to pay them ? " Not we," standing forward as the
third section, say the landlords ; " our private mort-
gages and special:burdens are as much as we can bear."
" Nor we," fouizthly, exclaim the capitalists ; " our pro-
fits are so re.duced, that to lower them further would
drive us to wome foreign land, less indebted." "Nor we,"
fifthly, declare the working classes ; " from ten hours'
toil we haw,: been goaded into sixteen, yet this excess of
labour bitugs no equivalent wages ; we faint under
the burden. ; we can neither feed ourselves nor our chil-
dren, and fiaresee that the race of labourers mast be ener-
vated from generation to generation, till the powers of
British labour are prostrated and exhausted."
Now, it; seems to us, that, before we can adopt any
comprebecturive system of commercial reform, we must
first sett] e the question of taxation. How are we, an
indebted .conntry, to compete, on fair terms, with an un-
indebted:, country? If taxation requires an artificial
price,aist -we have endeavoured to show, how can we sell
goods at; -their natural price? Somebody must pay the
taxes, either out of their capital or out of their labour;
there is, •no alternative, unless we sponge out the debt
and p: reclaim ourselves bankrupts. If we allow
foreign commodities to come into our home
market , unburdened with taxation, how can our
produc era of 'the same kind of commodities sell
them ? If, on the other hand, we exclude foreign
corn, I sow can we feed our dense and annually increasing
popula lion ? Again, if we are to protect the rich, such
as lam, lowners and West India planters, shall we refuse
to Prot. yet the poor ? But are not these two obligations
incompatible ? Can we at the same time keep up the
price of Ix read by a corn-law, and keep up wages with a
metallic et trrency ? There is palpable contradiction on
the very fir ce of the proposition. With a cheap Mint-price of
gold, coma nodities must tend to cheapness, where gold is
the measu re of value.; and as commodities become cheap,
profits anr 1 wages must fall, and thus, with diminished
means, iau lustry must pay the fixed interest of the fixed
debt, whip e the landlord next steps in and takes, by a
bread-and ',beef tax, from the consumer his own portion
of indebtedness to the fundholder. In a word, then, we
conclude,' that the Government expenditure and the Na-
Ilona' De bt are the main difficulties in the way of Com-
' inertial 1 teform, 'to which may be added the metallic cur-
rencya tv d the infleXible.priee of gold.