The Sun.
London, England, 1845-03-10 00:00:00

SUGAR. DUTY.

LIVERPOOL, MARCH s.—The undersigned wholesale
grocers of Liverpool beg to submit to the attention of
Honourable Members of the Howe of Commons the

following

STATEMENT

WITH RESPECT TO THE CONTEMPLATED ALTERATION IN
TUE SUGAR DUTIES :-

" That the duty upon sugar has always been levied by
an annual bill extending from the sth of July in one
year, to the same period in the following year. That
the Act of last Session, chap. 28, expressly continues the
present duty of 245. and 5 per cent, until the sth of
July-1845. Upon the faith of this enactment we, in
common with other houses throughout the kingdom, and
in the usual course of our business, had (prior to the an-
nouncement of the intended change) bought large quan-
tities of sugar on which this duty had keen paid.. Part
of this sugar is in our own warehouses, and part re-
mains undelivered from the bonded warehouses. On the
portion so undelivered we contend that we are justly en-
titled to a drawback of the difference of duty, this draw-
back was allowed on all sugar so circumstanced in 1830,
when a reduction of 3s. per cwt. took place.
" We therefore considered that we were fully justiied
in pursuing the usual course of our business, in keeping
stocks duty-paid on hand, for our purchases were made
on the faith of a legislative enactment, and in the con&
dence that the Government would act towards us in all
good faith, and if they intended to depart from all former
usage in regard to time (we have the high authority of the
Hon. Member for Taunton for considering the present
proposition as such a departure), still we considered
that with the precedent of 1830 to guide us we were safe;
precedepniteodfget,hmisosroert must be regarded in the light
especially seeing that the same
CofofhraaanscP7loifircof the Exchequer is in office now as then.
" We have limited our request for the drawback to
sugar undelivered from the bonded warehouse, because
we did not wish to ask too much, and because its being
so limited effectually closed the door against all fraud as
to quantity or quality, yet we distinctly informed the
Government that if they wished to carry the drawback
further than this, so much the more satisfaction would it
give.
" The quantity of sugar so circumstanced which we
held when the measure was announced and which we
still hold, for it has been impossible to sell any of it, is
about 550 tons, and the difference of duty upon it is
upwards of 6,0001.; this is a large sum for four houses
to lose by a sudden change in th collection of duties, a
change made, too, contrary to the express provisions of
an Act of Parliament, and we contend that it ought to
be borne, not by us, but by the public at large, who will
be most benefited by the proposed change. Further, if
we were not frequently to purchase larger stocks than
those we now hold, we should lose the benefit to be de-
rived from the due use of our credit and capital, and
unless we can look to protection from sudden changes in
duty on the article in which we deal, we shall be con-
stantly exposed to losses of a very serious character.
" The postponement of the now duty to the 14th of
it
checks and paralyses trade in the interval, and the
ol‘riarenoh,reolireef
even loctoignetrrapreiiiotd,iswiallnaffinoirudry7 little
for
stocks of sugar out of bond will be far from exhausted
by
usual.—We day, thaorueg,hretshpeeectorunlsluyt,nption no doubt goes on
as
" GEO. CROSFIELD and CO.

" JOSEPH HEAP and SONS.
" RICHARD TAYLOR and SONS.
" EDWARD P. PARRY."

FREE-TRADE CLUB.—We are happy to inform our
readers that this Club is now fairly established, and that
the Committee had their first house-dinner, on Saturday
evening last, at their house, No. 27, Regent-street. The
dinner was provided by the steward, and gave great sa-
tisfaction. Among the gentlemen who sat down, we
noticed—Major-General Briggs, in the Chair ; John
Lewis Ricardo, Esq.,_M.P. ; W. D. Christie, Esq., M.P. ;
M.P.W)• n n
;
Charles . Edhcia"iSelP.Thomas Milner Gibson, Esq.,
Pelham; .Villiers, M.P. • Richard
Cobden, EEssqq..,
; M.P.
John Bright, Egg., M.P. . James
Wilson,
Ralph Ricardo, Esq. ; W. A.
Wilkin-
son, Esq., &c.
FRENCH PLATS.—The first performance of Robert
Macaire attracted on Friday night the fullest house of
the season. Amongst the audience we observed the
Earl and Countess of Chesterfield, the Earl of Morning-
ton, the Marquis and Marchioness of Lansdowne, Col.
and Lady Mary Fox, Lady Anstruther, Lady Selina
Bridgman, Mrs. Dentstoun, Duke of Montrose, Lord
Duncannon, Earl Bruce, Sir H. Mildmay, Sir Henry and
Lady Meux, Lady snd Miss Quentin, Earl of Shelburne,
Sir Henry Webster, Lord Lilford, Sze.
BILDESTONE.--UNFEELING CONDUCT OF A POLICE-
MAN.—Last Monday week, about eight o'clock in the even-
ing, as one of the rural police for this division was on his beat,
at Hitcham, he saw a young. man, named Gosling, having in
his possession an empty sack, which the policeman de-
tgmiahntdetda it
.Gtotstalin Gosling replied,
replied, that if he (the policeman) had more
he might have it, upon which an
scuffle ensued, and, by the assistance of persons coming up,
Gosling was taken into custody, hand-cuffed, and taken to
Bildestone and lodged in a place called a cage, but more
properly a dungeon, exposed to the cold, with scarcely any-
thing to lie upon; there was a very small quantity of
straw, but it was 83 damp and offensive that no human
being would venture to creep into it. The Ipswich magis-
trates complained, a short time since, of the state of their
cells, but compared with this place they are palaces. In
this uncomfortable place the poor fellow was obliged to
remain until between three and four o'clock in the after-
noon of the next day, with the hand-cuffs on all the time.
One of the Bildestone constables humanely carried the
prisoner a pint of beer and some bread and cheese, at the
riskof having to pay for it himself; but when the policeman
came to visit his victim, he had the conscience to demand
payment of the prisoner, and actually received the money
of him. The case was examined before the Rev.. Pro-
fessor Henslow, who immediately dismissed the prisonee'..
It is earnestly hoped that these magistrates' servants
(for they are not the people's) will not be allowed to exer-
cise their littlo brief authority in this tyrannical manner, so
that the.better feelings of the inhabitants of this place may
not be outraged by the repetition of such heartless and un-
feeling conduct.—Ipswich Express.