The Sun.
London, England, 1845-02-13 00:00:00

Tht, property-sax now produces
Add for property now excused 1,200,000

Add 21. per cent., about..

£4,755,358
3,244,642

%faking together £8,000,000
Which would admit of the following reductions in taxa-
tion:—

Windows, about £1,500,000
Sap
Gla-,s 400,000
Pap-r BOO,OOO
Hips 250,000
Tea
Sugar
Cotton

£6 750.000 •
Leaving a considerable surplus to be dealt with us eircum-
st.inces ',al' arise.

I have always been of opinion that England may., and
ought to be ma& a cheap country to live in; and if we
are now alive to the principle of a taxation on property.
nothing can be [pore easy than to accomplish it.
I cannot see, why the principle, if adopted here, should
n:4 be ext-nded to Ireland. lam sure that justice to
England imperatively requires it. It is all nonsense
Trt-land being the poorer country: all know
:h•• difference between St. Giles's and St. James's. Dor-
setshire and Lancashire, but no one ever dre,,mt of a dif-
ferent fiscal system.
'l,' ..these measures should be added astrict and search-
;Fig examination _into all Our colonial and other ex-
,,enses, and ,t will he found that reductions may }—
which wi!hont impairing the efficiency ~f
mews, would tend very greatly to
taxati.,n.

made,

our estabiish
fug ther reducti n or
MERCATOR.

Hull of Commerce,

—/FSTItrCTION OF A SHIP BY FIRE OFF EAST
GREEItUICH.—Sitortly after three o'clock on Monday, a fire
was discovered on board the ship Henry, of 500 tons, the
property of Mr. Fletcher, of Limehouse. She was taking in
a cargo of coals at the West India Dock buoy, from a collier
alongside. The report circulated at the time is, that a boy
belonging to the Henry had been collecting shavings and
wood in the hold of the ship, which by some means not ex-
plained caught fire. The boy in his fright ran on deck for
water to extinguish the flames, and on returning with the
bucket he found the fire burning so furiously as to defy
control by ordinary means. Pierce, a lighterman, cast the
ship off the West India Dock buoy, and in a short time
after the Unity and Pilot steam tugs arrived, and towed the
Henry higher up the river. During this the mate gave
orders, and assisted in scuttling her in four or five places, and
while this was being done she was towed clear of the shipping
to above the Folly-house in Blackwall reach, where she might
be sunk in deep water on the west side next the Isle of Dogs,
and in order that she might be kept clear of the navigation of
the river. At this moment the ship, fore and aft, was one
entire blaze—masts, rigging, and all. It was deemed neces-
sary to attempt a further scuttling, but the danger of doing
so was so great that it was abandoned. After high water,
she was run on shore at the west side of Blackwall-reach,
near the point off Greenwich. As the tow warps were
burnt. it was found impossible to hold her in deep water after
the fall of the tide, and it was therefore necessary to run her
on shore to prevent her driving amongst the shipping at
Blackwall, and causing a still greater calamity. The scutt-
ling not having been effective, the vessel was then allowed
to burn out, as no water could be brought to bear on the
flames. The flames continued to rage with unabated fury
until seven o'clock, the main and mizen masts, rigging, fore
rigging, and fore-topmast having been previously consumed.
The vessel was what is termed lightly laden, and was bound
for Sierra Leone, after taking in part of her cargo in coals.
MR. COBDEN'S MOTION FOR A COMMITTEE:—Mr.
Cobden has intimate t hi. intention of moving for a Select
Committee to inquire into the alleged distress of tne
farmers and the fartn-la'iourers, should he not be antici-
pated by those gentlemen who designate themselves re-
presentatives of the agricultural interest. All our readers
may not understand the nature of a Select Committee; it
usually consists of ten or twelve gentlemen, who assemble
to exigible witnesces during the dry, when the
11,,use is not sitting, so that their ..peciaf labour.,
do not interfere with the progress of public business.
Indeed, a Select Committee is rarer refused to
any parties who can make out a plausible case of griev-
ance or distress. A Select Committee was granted to
those who complained that their spaniels and lapdogs
were stolen ; to those who were aggrieved by smoky
chimneys ; to th, gamblers on the turf ; and to the
writers of dramatic pieces. Nothing could he in,,re
reasonable than to ask, (41 the part of the farmers and
farm-labourers, that their alleged. distress, which has
formed the staple o" so many lugubrious ',rations
at the Protection Societies, should bit thoroughly in-
vestigated by a Select Committee, so as to
ascertain its nature and extent, the causes in
which it has originated, and the remedies
pr, per to be applied. Mr. St Iff,rd O'Brien, the Chair-
man of the Publication Committee of the Protection
Society—rath: r indiscreetly—as suggested by Sir Robert.
Peel—at once assented to the rropriety of the measure;
but the more war• members of his party cautiously held
back. Mr. Cobden has done good service by applying
such a decisive test to the professions of sympathy tor
the alleged distress of the farmers and farm-labourers,
so liberally made by the Dukes of Richmond and Buck.
ingham, anal their co 6inees and associates in the Corn.
trems' House of l arliem nt. If th,se gentlemen be,
lieved what they said, they must eagerly embrace the
opportunity of establishing their case before a Par-
liamentary Committee; but, if they oppose inquiry, and
refuse all investigation, no man con resist the inference
that they have no confidence in their own atat"mnents, but
feel conscious of practising a delusion on the credulity
of the country, an-. especially on those classes for whose
i.,teres.s they affect to be most deeply concerned.—The
League. _ _

SUSPECTED MURDER OF A WOMAN BY HER Ilits -
BAND AT WALES.—The greatest sensation was caused
in this town on Wednesday, from the circumstance that
a cabinetmaker, named Thomas Mattocks, residing in
Dagger-lane, had been taken into custody by the police,
on a charge of murdering his wife, who lad 'been found
lying on the floor of the house, dreadfully burned, and
quite dead. The man Mattocks was brought before the
magistrates at the Police-court on Wednesday morning,
and sufficient evidence having been heard by'them to
warrant the remand of the prisoner till aft,r the Coro
n-r's inquest on the body, he was taken to the gaol.—
Hull A 1. e%liser.

THI Intsn SOCIETY —This Society held the first
general meeting at their rooms, 26, Suffolk-street, Pall-mall,
yesterday, Viscount Castlereagh in the chair.. The Secre-
tary, Mr. Conan, read the report detailing the proceedings of
the Committee since the formation of the Society in July last.
He then submitted the rules agreed upon by the Committee,
which, together with the report. were put to the meeting and
carried. Several resolutions having been passed, Lord Trim-
lestown was called to the chair, and thanks having been voted
to Lord Castlereagh, the meeting separated.
SUDDEN DEATH.—Mr. INzgs held an inquest yes-
terday afternoon at the Green Man, Berwick-street, Oxford-
street, on the body of Mr. Francis Walsh, aged thirty-three.
From the evidence it appeared that the deceased was related
to Captain Pidding, and carried on the business of a tea-
dealer at the premises of his brother, Mr. W. S. Walsh, who
is an extensive wine and spirit merchant in Berwick-street.
On Friday evening deceased was left dosing by the counting-
house fire, and was found dead in his chair the next morning.
Verdict—" Died from apoplexy."
THE LABOURPRS.—At the great assembling of
landholders last week, there was an attempt made to make
the labourers believe that these landholders are their
"friends." The Buckingham clique have avowed that,
brown bread and Bs. a week wages is plenty for a labourer
wife and family, and yet would have them believe that they
are their friends ! How far will landholders' impudence carry
them? The landlords now plainly see that the corn-laws
cannot continue much longer, and they are making displays
to frighten Sir Robert, in order to stave off_ repeal as leng as
they can. It is come to this at liet .--From a Correspondent.