The Sun.
London, England, 1828-04-05 00:00:00

of poor laws as now administered throughout
England and Wales,—not in that form, or with
a. view to those purposes which were originally
meditated in their enactment, and which alone
could be aimed at by the introduction of a poor-
law system into Ireland. Look, however, at the
real condition of the Irish poor. If they have
no resource in poor rates levied upon their own
landholders they take ample vengeance on those
of England, and, overspreading Great Britain
like locusts, they drag down the British labourer,
by an unnatural competition, to a level of wages
and miseries unknown to preceding genera-
tions of Englishmen,—multiply the objects of
poor-rate bounty here,—and encourage, by the
tidings of their 4uccessful settlement on the banks
of the Thames, the Severn, and the Mersey,
fresh invasions of Vandals, in every port on the
west of St. George's Channel. The fact is,
that the Irish poor are in large multitudes sup-
ported by rates, but by rates originally destined
for the poor in England, and levied
.on the
estates of English landlords. It is folly to hope
that if a fund for the poor exists in one part of
the kingdom, with an easy method for establish-
ing a right by settlement in favour of those of
every other part of the kingdom to partake of it,
—it is gross folly, we say, to imagine that there
will riot be an influx of paupers from the provin-
ces beyond the pale of the poor- rate, to those
where its indulgences may be shared. The ques-
tion, then, for the gentlemen of England is,
whether they will continue, with their eyes open,
to invite by the bounty of the British poor laws
a perpetual influx of half-starved strangers to
multiply the native poor of England, and to de-
ter farmers from bidding more than a moiety of
rent for land falling out of lease, that they may be
able to hear the burden ofa double poor-rate. It
was truly said, that the poor-laws in both countries
must be assimilated, or the mass of Irish emi-
grants will soon be, or will never cease to be,
the staple export of that fertile and prolific soil.
That Irisla landlords should oppose a measure so
iniquitous as one which would compel them to
contribute something towards the maintenance of
their own paupers, which now falls exclusively
un the landholder of Great Britain, is not a
matter at which we are much surprised. The
growth of Irish paupers is admitted to be in
great part the work of their native gentry. It
has long been notorious, and was distinctly stated
by Colonel Trench on Tuesday, that a crop of
40s. freeholders is regarded as the best produce
of a gentleman's estate. If they must, then,
have this aristocratic luxury, let them pay the
price of it. In the teeth of Mr. Peel's pru-
dence, and of the often self dwelt-upon expe-
rience of Sir John Newport, we much incline to
the prayer of Mr. Grattan's petition ; and for the
sake of both sections of the United Kingdom,
we would make an experiment of a poor-law
system in Ireland, accompanied by an attempt
in this country also, to limit gradually the
sphere of their operation, and to correct above
all things the vices of the law of settlement.—

I Mr. Huskisson, the other night, presented a
•ition from Liverpool, praying the abolition
of theTt Stamp Tax. He said that some
!'ce
to be laid on, if that were taken
other tax oug,":,
off. In our opinion, that could be easily done ;
by laying a further tax on }ells of exchange arid
promissory notes. We know to a certainty that,
with the great mass of the people, nothing would
make the present Government more popular than
taking off this vexatious tax, or, at all events,
on receipts under 1001. We recommend Mr.
Huskisson to do so, and make it a Government
measure. Mr. Calcraft's argument on the sub-
ject is not worth a farthing ; for, when a man
pays money to another, he does not like to ask
him for a receipt on a stamp. There is some-
thing repugnant to one man in putting another
to an expense. Besides, shopkeepers and others
do not keep receipt stamps in their houses. If
a purchaser insists upon a stamped receipt, the
dealer must send to a stationer's shop for one,
and that shop might be half a mile or a mile
from him. Here time is lost ; and, in general,
purchasers are in such haste to be gone, that
ninety-nine times out of a hundred, the pur-
chasers asking for a stamp would say, " Well,
never mind ; a receipt in your usual way will do."
—Morning Herald.
The Finance Committee adjourned on I'Ved-
nesday last until Tuesday, the 15th instant.
They have examined into the principal branches
of the Navy, Army, and Ordnance, of what may
he called the effective force, with the view of
being able to report soon to the House after the
recess. They have n©t yet taken up the subject
of dead weight, half-pay and pensions, which
form so very heavy a part of the public charge,
and which will require to be dealt with so as to
prevent the ruin which must overtake our finances,
it' from year to year that charge is to increase as
it has done yearly since the peace. The prin-
ciple of the Bill which allows of young and
healthy men to retire on pensions, although
perfectly fit for duty, and often only be-
coming acquainted with the duty, is most
doubtful policy, and will be considered. It is
reported that the Committee have directed their
views more to the great leading points of the
public :service than to the details, and, on
general principles, will offer their suggestions to
Government that measures may be taken with-
out delay to make the alterations required. But
we trust that the Committee will return to the
details of the departments of the Government ;
as for example, the War Office, Navy Board,
&c. We have heard that the state of Canada has
engaged the attention of the Committee, as of
great ;mportance. But we, would venture to sug-
gest that all Ow colonies, including the Cape,
Ceylon, &c. require atteption. It is impossible
to look to four or five millions ezvended in the
collaefion of the Revenue, and three-quattars of
in Preventing smuggling, without di-
recting the ahea4on of the Committee to those
branches.—l Nd.

We dare say that some of our readers, whose
memories are more than ordinarily tenacious,.
may, notwthstanding the numerous incidents
that have since intervened to attract attention,
still retain some dim remembrance of the fate of
a theatre, which was called the " New Brunswick,"
and which,
although its. name might seem to
locate it in America, did actually stand,- fir nearly
a week, in the metropolis of England. This re-
membrance has been kept awake from time to
time 6,i;:pewhat in the same way as the state' of
education in Ir4;mtl, the public charities in
England, the Nabob of 4rrct's debts, and some
other equally important matters, 1:y 4 series
of reporia which have issued from the, press
at irregular intervals, and which, if' they
shgll ever be of any u,3e or advantage to
the conimunity, must be consigned to a Com-
mittee to report upon, as has been already
done with one of them. The evil inflicted
by the a of the Theatre in question, has been
imputed to the late Thomas Maurice, Rg.; the
evil inflicted by the iu9uil v into its cause must