The Sun.
London, England, 1844-12-02 00:00:00

TRANSFER of LICENSES—EXOR-
BITANT and ILLEGAL FEES.

In a case which came before Mr. Henry, at Lambeth-
street Police-court, in which Mr. N., an old and respect-
able licensed victualler, was concerned, some facts trans-
pired with respect to the enormous and illegal fees
charged on the transfer of licenses, of the greatest im-
portance to the trade generally. In the course of his
inquiry as to what appered at first an irregularity in the
transfer of the license, Mr. Henry elicited from Mr. N.
that a fee of 1.55. had been demanded and received by
Mr. Reynolds, the High Constable for the Tower Ham-
lets division, on his taking home the license as trans-
ferred by the magistrates in Petty Sessions. Mr. Henry,
considering this most exorbitant, referred to the Licens-
ing Act, the 9th of George the Fourth, which, by the
fifteenth clause, enacts—" That it shall be lawful for
the clerk of the justice to demand and receive from
every person to whom a license shall be granted under
this Act, for the trouble of such clerk, and for all ex-
penses contracted therewith, the sum following, and no
more. For serving notices, and for all other services
hereby required fir such petty constable or other peace-
officer, the sum of one shilling ; for the clerk of the
justices for the licenses, five shillings ; and for preparing
the precept to be delivered to the high constable, and
notices to be delivered by the petty constable, as re-
wired by this Act, the sum of one shilling and sixpence;
and every such clerk who shall demand or receive from
any person for such respective fees on this behalf any
greater sum, or anything of greater value than the sum
heretofore specified, being in the whole the sum of seven
shillings and sixpence, shall on every such offence, on
conviction before a justice, forfeit and pay the sum of
five pounds." After reading the above clause Mr.
Henry remarked that it was quite clear that Mr. N. had
been charged double the amount allowed by the Act.
Mr. N. replied that he had been cognisant of the fact,
and said that he had made an application to Mr. Smith,
one of the licensing clerks, on the subject, and that gen-
tlemen at once acknowledged that he had been imposed
on, and recommended him to communicate with Mr
Reynolds, the high-constable, who, he had no doubt,
would return the overcharge. He (Mr. N.) did com-
municate with Mr. Reynolds on the subject, and the re-
sult was that that person called and returned half a
crown only, saying he was justified in charging the other
five shillings for his own trouble in serving notices.
Mr. Henry remarked that it was quite clear be pos-
sessed no such power, as the law did not sanotion the
receipt of a farthing beyond the 7s. 6d. ; and be (Mr.
Henry) was quite prepared to receive the complaint of
Mr. N. against the party for the overcharge, and who,
on conviction, would be liable to a penalty of 51.
Mr. N. replied, that as some time had elapsed since
this overcharge, he should respectfully decline proceed-
ing in the matter, but wished at the same time to say
that he had made up his mind that, should such a thing
occur again, to adopt immediate proceedings against the
high-constable, Reynolds, or any other person who
charged more than the fees sanctioned by law.

Henry observed that he had not the power to
compel Mr. N. to proceed in the matter if he did not
think proper; but in a district like the Tower Hamlets,
where transfers were constantly taking place, the subject
was one of considerable importance to licensed victual-
lers, and the excess of fees enormous.
Mr. N. admitted that such was the fact; but for the
reason he had before stated he would leave the correc-
tion of the fraud, for such he must call it, to other
hands; and then retired from the court.

Mr. Henry, again adverting to the subject, observed
that he considered it one highly deserving the attention
and interference of the legal gentlemen connected with
the Licensed Victuallers' Protection Society, as the fees
thus illegally exacted must be very considerable, and
was a severe tax on a large body of tradesmen.
On referring to the list, it appears that there are in
the Tower Hamlets division no less than 1,046 licensed
victuallers, and from each of those Mr. Reynolds de•
mands and receives, at the annual licensing, a fee of
2s. 6(1. beyond the clerks' 7s. 6d., and this, on a calcula-
tion, will be found to amount to 1301. 15s. It is also
said, that a third of the whole number of transfers an-
nually takes place, so that if Mr. Reynolds, as he has
been in the habit of doing, charges 7s. 6d. each upon
those transfers, this will amount to 131/. 55.; so that in
these illegal fees no less a sum than 2621. is exacted an-
nually to go into Mr. Reynolds's pocket. Such a sum,
added to the funds of that excellent institution, the
Licensed Victuallers' School, would enable the friends
of that charity to add a dozen children to the present
number of the recipients of their bounty.

GENERAL NAPIER.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

Stn,—ln your able remarks upon the case of Mr. Carus
Wilson, in Jersey, you labour under a mistake in sup-
posing General Napier to be governor of that island.
General Napier commands in Guernsey. The difference
is in the locality; the islands are much the same as re-
gards the ignorance and obstinacy of their Courts. Some
months back, General Napier thought fit to apply for a
Queen's pardon, in behalf of a soldier under punishment
by the civil authorities ; it is needless to say his requi-
sition was at once complied with, but on the sign manual
being presented by him, the gaoler refused to liberate
the prisoner—Audite Dii—without the authority of the
Court. Now, Sir, any one that knows William Napier
will be prepared for the fact, that notwithstanding this
refusal, the soldier was on his way to barracks in
ten minutes. The islanders declare that the Court's
" authority" or " registration" (or whatever it was) re-
quisite to make her Majesty's sign manual valid, was
only a form. Now, it seems to me to be a question,
not of forms but of fiddles, whether the Queen or the
Court are to play the first. The late business in Jersey
is a very pretty running commentary upon the treatment
her Majesty's pardon would have met with, had General
Napier sent it to the Court. But he knew them too
well to do that, and the Queen's dignity was not to be
lowered in his keeping. The case will shortly be before
the Privy Council, and it is to be hoped that Ministers
will seriously turn their attention to these islands. They
are as fair spots as the sun ever shone upon, but the
ignorance, frivolity, and prejudice of the people, obsti-
nately clinging to the civilisation of Robert the Devil's
time, is a disgrace to the nineteenth century and the
British dominions.—l am, Sir, your obedient servant,
HABEAS CORPUS.
Nov. 30, 1844.

IRON HOUSES.—The late frightful earthquakes in
the West Indies, in which the brick and stone buildings
of whole towns have been levelled with the ground, and
the wooden ones consumed by the fires which usually
burst out after the overthrow of the other buildings,
have drawn the attention of many persons residing in
districts subject to those awful visitations to the advan-
tages of houses constructed of iron, which have been
found to stand the shocks of the severest earthquakes
uninjured, and which are, of course, proof against such
conflagrations as those which swept away at Point-a-
Pitre, in Guadaloups, all that the earthquake had
spared. Some time ago, we gave an account of an iron
palace, built by Mr. W. Laycock, of this town, for the
use of one of the chiefs of the African coast, and at the
same time we showed that buildings of that kind would
be invaluable in countries subject to 'the ravages of
earthquakes. We find that this article, which was copied
into the London papers, has attracted much attention in
several of the West India Islands, as well as in Nova
Scotia, and in the East Indies, and that Mr. Laycock has
since received innumerable inquiries and applications for
plans of iron houses from different parts of the world.
Ile has now in his workshop, just finished, a very neat
iron cottage, which he has just built for the use of two
maiden ladies residing in the island of St. Lucia. It
consists of three rooms, each nine feet high—viz., one
room 20 feet by 14 feet, and two rooms 12 feet by 10
feet. There are six large jealousy windows and two
small ones over the front and back doors; these and the
floor are the only parts made of wood. There is an in-
side ceiling of iron in panels, and the roof is in a wrought
iron frame and covered with galvanised plates of iron.
The walls are formed of double plates of iron, with a
thin stratum of air between them, an arrangement which
will prevent the passing of the solar heat into the inte-
rior of the building, at least through the walls, and keep
the interior delightfully cool. The weight of the build-
ing is fourteen tons, and the cost rather more than 200 L
—Liverpool Times.
CAROLINE MURAT AND TALLETRAND.—The Globe
contains the following unpublished autograph letter from
Caroline Murat, sister of Napoleon, to Prince Talley-
rand, dated Portici, Oct. 3, 1812 :—"Prince,—l have
received your letter of the 18th instant, and I must tell
you that it is not by writing so handsomely that you
will justify yourself from the unpardonable charge of
being gifted with wit. lam sorry for you, but I believe
that it has aided somewhat the mind to express its ideas,
and then, as you say, all the rest follows. lam con-
vinced of that fact when I read your charming epistles.
What you tell me of your nephew by no means surprises
me. In this war every Frenchman has become a hero.
Their allies have not been inferior to them, and conse-
quently nothing could withstand this army, of which the
valour doubled the force. I trust that a peace will re-
store us the Emperor. His return is ever a period of
happiness. lam sure that it will have an influence on
the affairs of Spain, and that on his arrival they will
change their appearance. I receive news from the King
regularly. He assures me that the Emperor enjoys per-
fect health. He himself is wonderfully well. When we
shall receive letters from Moscow, we shall, I trust, have
nothing more to desire. I love much the occupation of
the inhabitants of Saint Brice. Tell them that I am
much pleased with what I have learned from you, and
that I am grateful for the attachment which they enter-
tain for me. But I can assure you that that which I feel
for the Prince of Benevento is as unalterable a.s my
sincere esteem,—CAROLINE."
METROPOLITAN CARRIAGE AcT.—At Queen-square
Police-office on Saturday, Mr. Burrell gave judgment in
a case which was argued a short time since, as to whe-
ther a porter at the Golden-cross, who was in the habit
of attending to the Norwich coach, whichbooked p-
sengers throughout, including railway, came withinas the
terms of the Metropolitan Carriage Act, which directed
that all persons employed on coaches running within the
ildicennostedc.om Aelwr.aßhiunrrtehlel
sliamiditsheoft
washe
of metropolisoi on
meaning of the Act; the defendant was employed by the
owners of a coach which booked its passengers and
this should
cageb de
commenced its journey at the Golden-cross. The de-
fendant could not, be considered more or less than as a
porter. He accordingly dismissed the complaint.
TILE OPERA IN PARIS.—We are sorry to learn
that the state of the affairs of the Grand Operes is deplo-
rably unprosperous. In this as in most other cases good
may come out of evil, for it is to be hoped that Govern-
ment, seeing the ill effects of the present system, will in
future confide the direction only to ,efficient hands.
24,0001. sterling per annum, and a splendid theatre
gratis, would appear to ordinary minds not so very diffi-
cult a concern to manage without danger of bankruptcy.
What would Mr. Lumley or Mr. Bunn, the London
directors, say to such a subvention ?"--,Galignani's Mes-
senger.