The Sun.
London, England, 1845-03-13 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, MARCH 13 1845.

ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE.
OXFORD ClRCUlT—Worcester, March 12.
THE CROOME MURDER.

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.

evening, and that the discussion should be postponed
till this day week. He trusted that no opposition
would be offered to this mode of proceeding, as all
would have an opportunity of expressing their
opinions when the discussion was taken. lie then
moved that the Bill be read a second time.
Mr. HAWES said he would not offer any oppo-
sition to the Bill until he had heard the opinion of
the Noble Lord at the head of the Woods and
Forests; but he thought it would be better to post-
pone the second reading for the present.
Lord LINCOLN thought it vs mild be much more
for the convenience of the House if the Ilonourable
Member would consent to postpone the second read-
ing until after the holidays.—(Hear, hear.) He had
already promised that he would examine into the sub-
ject' and consult scientific men as to the best course
to be adopted. Within the last two days he had re-
ceived some information on the subject. One reason why
he was anxious to have the Bill postponed for a short
time was that measures of a sanatory character,
of much greater importance, and on a far larger scale,
were under the consideration of the Government;
and he thought the decision of the House, in refer-
ence to the present Bill, would be materially influ- I
enced by those measures.—(Hear, hear.) He would
therefore advise the Hon. Gentleman to postpone the I
Bill until about a fortnight after Easter.
Mr. MUNTZ hoped the Hon. Gentleman would
take the advice of the Noble Lord, and in the mean-
time consider how far it would he possible fur him to
alter the Bill as to the appointment of inspectors ; if
he did not, he should feel it his duty to resist the
measure. He could not approve of appointing in-
spectors to discover the nuisance. Only imagine a
nuisance so small as to require inspectors to find it
out.—(Laughter.) He would go further than this.
Suppose these inspectors were in league with those
who had plans of preventing the nuisance, they might
be continually tormenting the manufacturers to adopt
r these schemes.
Mr. WAKLEY said the Noble Lord himself did not
state what course he was prepared to pursue with respect
to the Bill if it should be postponed. With respect
to the removal of the nuisance, it was generally felt
that it was very possible to effect it, if' the House
would but provide the necessary powers ; and it might
be done without any great inconvenience to the
public. He thought the subject could not be satis-
factorily settled unless it was referred to a Select
Committee of the House. He hoped the Noble Lord
would consent to the second readirg of the Bill, and
then it might be referred to a Select Committee.
Sir R. PEEL said a Committee was appointed last
year, hut it appeared that no one had read the report,
and the subject seemed nearly forgotten. He would
suggest that Hon. Members should read the report of
the last Committee, and then they would be able to
judge if any further evidence was required. The
Hon. Member for Finsbury seemed to have spoken
under the impression that there had been no report.
Mr. HAWES said, the Select Committee ought
to be appointed on the present Bill. As to the report
of the Committee itself, he had a perfect knowledge
of its contents.
Sir W. CL AY thought any measure on the sub-
ject ought to emanate from Government. The
smoke was discolouring all the magnificent piazzas
and porticos of the public buildings, and the beautiful
architecture of the new Houses of Parliament would
speedily suffer from its damaging influence. The
public were most anxious for effectual legislation on
the subject.
Mr. BRIGHT said there was a general feeling that
the settlement of this question was a very easy
matter. The Right Hon. Baronet. at the head of
the Government recommended Hon. Members to
read the report of the last Committee ; but he (Mr.
Bright) thought that the perusal of that report only
showed the extreme difficulty of legislation. No doubt
parties had been examined before it who said it was a
very easy matter, but this was the evidence of inte-
rested individuals—persons who had inventions to
dispose of, and on whose testimony but little reliance
could be placed. The expenses of attending these
Committees had been alluded to, but there was only one
individual, the vicar of his (Mr. B.'s) parish, who asked
for his expenses. There was the greatest difference
of opinion as to the principle of the Bill, and no
lawyer in Westminster-hall could explain its mean-
ing. It sought to appoint inspectors who were
policemen ; and the fact was, that any common
constable would, if the Bill came into operation, be
in danger of having himself and others blown
up, for he would no sooner see a volume of opaque
smoke proceeding from a chimney than he would
directly poke his nose into the engine-house, igno-
rant of the machinery and its operations. He thought
the House might employ itself much better than in
this meddling legislation, which never could be at-
tended with useful and permanent results. He trusted,
therefore, that the Hon. Member would withdraw this
Bill, and turn his attention to some more useful pro-
ject of legislation.—(Hear, hear.)
Mr MACKINNON was surprised to hear the ob-
servation that had fallen from the Hon. Member who
had just sat down; and it was quite evident
he wa; not aware that a local Bill, having
precisely the same meaning as this, had for
some time been in operation in the towns of Man-
chester and Leeds; if he were, he could not, of course,
have said that this Bill could not be passed. Now
what was the real state of the case ? Whether the
Hon. Member opposed this Bill in order to please his
constituents, or for some personal motive, he (Mr.
Mackinnon) could not help saying that it did
appear to him rather extraordinary that he
(Mr. Bright) should oppose a Bill which he
had said he could not understand. Surely the Hon.
Member could not say that he would be willing to
lend his aid to the poisoning of the atmosphere, merely
because it would save him 301. or 401. for the altera-
tion of his chimneys. He believed there could not be
a second opinion that this was a nuisance which could
very easily be much abated. He should accede
to the request of his Hon. Friend, and postpone the
second reading of the Bill. He should certainly press
the second reading on Wednesday, the '2d of April.
Mr. COBDEN said, the Honourable Member in
referring to the remarks made by his Honourable
Friend the Member for Durham had stated that the
provisions of this Bill were now in force in Man-
chester. Now, he believed the corporation of that
town had power to enforce similar provisions, but
they had postponed enforcing them until the present
month of March. His Hon. Friend had suggested
to the Hon. Member, and he wee:ld-repeat the sugges-
tion, whether it might not be advisable to postpone this
measure until the result of the experiment about to
be made in Manchester had been ascertained. The
people of ilfranchester were favourable to putting down
the smoke nuisance, and the Hon. Member need not,
therefore, expect any opposition from that town.
After a few words of explanation from Sir R. PEEL
and Mr. MACKINNON, the second reading of the Bill
was postponed until the 2d of April.
PROPERTY-TAX.
On the order of the day for the third reading of
this Bill being put,
Mr. WAKLEY rose and said that on a former
occasion when the property-tax was discussed the
Hon. Member for Lambeth had referred to some in-
justice which had been done by the Commissioners
to the Hon. Member for Oldham—he meant Mr.
Fielden. Since then he had received a letter from
the Hon. Member on the subject, and in order to
make the case complete, he would read an extract
from this letter to the House. The Hon. Member
stated that " We have been very unjustly treated
by the Commissioners ; we made a return to them for
the three years ending Dec., 1843, which return was
true; but they were not satisfied with charging
us at 12,0001. as the profits on our trade, and they in-
creased the charge to 24,0001. We exhibited a return
to them, which showed that, in the average of the three
years they lost 24,0001. instead of gained that sum.
The Commissioners wished the case to stand over till
Easter, to which I assented ; but yet they have sent
in and demanded the money." Now, really the
operation of a tax of that kind was calculated to
create in the public mind the greatest possible discon-
tent. Every person must feel the injustice of it, and
though the amendments which had been pressed on
the House were rejected, he hoped that the Com-
missioners residing in the country, who acted in this
outrageously unjust manner, would receive some
intimation from head-quarters which would check them
in their course. Nothing could be more monstrous
than this proceeding. Mr. Fielden had designated
it as a robbery. It might be sanctioned by law, but
it was nevertheless a robbery, and if there were any
parties who had] any general control over those
Commissioners, he trusted that some intimation would
be given to them which would check them from put-
ting the law in practice in a manner which must
produce so much dissatisfaction, because of its great
injustice amongst those who were to pay it.— (Hear.)
General JOHNSON said it was necessary that
some alteration should be made in the law, because
it was so oppressive that people in trade did not
know what they were about. If persons did not know
what they were worth, and if they offered to produce
their books in case what they said was disputed, and
a sum was still levied upon them at the will of the
Commissioners, those persons must give up
their entire property to the will of the Commissioners.
This was a most unjust and iniquitous proceeding
towards his colleague, who was in a large way of
business, and who was surcharged to an amount of
24,0001., when he had actually lost that sum.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said
he had never heard of the circumstances to which the
Hon. Gentleman, the Member for Finsbury, had ad-
verted till that moment when he had heard the state-
ment. He did not know how that case arose,
and knowing nothing of the circumstances it was out
of his power to satisfy the House with respect to it.
But he knew this, that if Mr. Fielden had recol
lecte,d it, there was a power of bringing the case
before +the gommi.ssioners of Somerset Heuse,,
-through' 'lin appeel;- of WhiAl he i might have
availed himself, to correct the error of the
Commissioners in the country, if they made

HOUSE OF COMMONS. March 12.

It was arranged last night that the trial of the poachers
for the murder at Croome should take place to-day. Accord-
ingly at twelve o'clock, after the disposal of some other Crown
business, the folio wing pric were arraigned before Chief
Baron Pollock- :—Jostpkremy, 43, gardener; Francis Duty •
ley, 34, capenter ; AS'anitiel Turvey,37, labourer; George Brant,
Ist, boatman ; Thomas Hooper, 19, labourer; John Ceche, 25,
labourer; Joseph Tandy, 42, gardener; Thomas Collins, 20,
gardener ; IVilliuna Cosnett, 25, labourer ; and William Brom-
field, 19, labourer. George Lippett, 35, carpenter, was ad-
oitted approver.
Sir. Lee and Mr. Whitmore corducted the prosecution ;
Mr. Godsrm, Q.C., and Mr. Huddleston defended the pri-
soners.
There were seven indictments
.against the prisoners. In
the first, second, and fifth, the prisoners were all charged
jointly with assaulting and beating Thomas Staite, and in-
flicting wounds of which he died ; with wounding Wm. Comp-
ton, with intent to kill and murder hint ; and with shooting
at John Frances, with the same murderous intent. The
third indictment charged one of the prisoners, Thomas Col-
lins, with shooting at George Baylis, and the others with
tiding and abetting; and the fourth indictment charged
Samuel Turvey, Thomas Hooper, and Joseph 'randy with
wounding Richard Compton and George Brant, John Cook,
Thomas Collins, and William Coanett, with aiding and abet-
ting. There were two indictments which were not read,
but to the whole of those brought into Court the prisoners
pleaded Not Guilty. The whole of the prisoners having
been placed upon their trial on the first indictment, charging
them with the murder of Thomas Staite on the 19th of
December last,
Mr. LEE proceeded to state the facts of the case as they
have already been detailed in the newspapers, and called
witnesses.
The first witness examined was Mr. Boulter, the landlord
of the Plough Inn, Preston, in which town the whole of the
prisoners lived. He merely proved that on the night in
itiestion, Francis Dingley and Bromfield applied to him for
the loan of a gun, which, however, he did not lend them.
The next witness, Thomas Kings, an inhabitant of .Preston,
proved that the prisoners Bromfield, Cook, Dingley, Honpe,r,
and the two Turveys, were seen together on the same night.
The third witness was William Wheeler, who was. at one
time in custody in connexion with this affair. His testi
mony went to considerable length, and it appeared from his
statements that the whole body of poachers met by appoint-
ment en the night of the fatal affray, at a place called the
Hollow-way. It would appear from Wheeler's testimony,
that he was to have accompanied the party, but that at the
last hour his heart failed him, and, instead of going himself,
he lent his gun to Cook and his smock frock to another of,
the party. Next morning his gun was returned to him by
Dingle), with the stock broken, as if by some violent usage. The'
party were afterwards seen by several other witnesses pro-;
ceeding in the direction of the Croome covers. Two young
girls, named Mary Ann and Julia Ann White, saw the
poachers together as they were returning from Perton School
(Croome), where they had been having a singing lesson.
The evidence of Richard Compton, one of the watchers on
the night of the 19th December, then detailed the particulars
of the attack upon them in similar terms to those employed
by him in his evidence before the coroner, which was pub-
lished at the time.
George Lippett, the approver, was then 'called, and was
examined at considerable length, his testimony bearing out
that already detailed as having been given on the inquest.
His examination was closed shortly before eight o'clock this
evening, when an adjournment took place until to-morrow

The SPEAKER took the Chair at Four o'clock. •
Mr. ALLIX moved that the Members for the
borough of Aylesbury be added to the Committee on
the Sparrow§ Herne Road Bill.
Air. GREENE hoped that the House would not
consent to this motion, as it would be establishing a
very had precedent.
Mr. AMAX considered that as the road was to
terminate in the town of Aylesbury, it was but fair
that the opinions of the inhabitants should, through
the medium of their representatives, be consulted in
the matter.

The moti,n was agreed to.
MIDLAND RAILWAY EXTENSION.

Sir W. HEATIICOTE brought up the report on
this Bill. The standing orders had been complied
sith.

KENDAL. RESERVOIR..
Sir J. Y. BULLER brought up the report on this
Bill. The standing orders had been complied with.
STANDING ORDERS ON RAILWAYS.

It was reported that in the London, Bedford, and
-Birmingham Railway the standing orders had been
complied with ; as also with respect to the Trent
Valley Railway, and the Norwich and Yarmouth
Railway.

SIIEFFIELD AND LINCOLNSHIRE
RAILWAY.
On the motion of Mr. JOHN PARKER, this Bill
was brought up and read a first time.
GLOSSOP RAILWAY BILL.
On the motion of Mr. J. PARKER this Bill was
brought up and read a first time.
NEWPORT AND PONTYPOOL RAILWAY.

Mr. DARBY brought up the Bill for this rail-
way, and it was read a first time.
LONDON ORPHAN ASYLUM.
On. the motion of Mr. TROTTER, this Bill was
read the first time.
NEWARK AND SHEFFIELD RAILWAY.

Colonel ROLLESTON brought up the Bill for
railway, and it was read the_first time.

INCREASE OF THE NAVY.
Mr. J. PARKER presented a petition from the
Sheffield Peace Society against any increase in the
navy, and suggesting that it would be much better to
settle national disputEs by arbitration than arms.
WINDOW-TAX.
Sir G. GREY presented a petition from Devonport
for the abolition of the window-tax.

Lord ASHLEY presented several petitions against
the sale of intoxicating liquors on the Sabbath.
Mr. F. MACKENZIE presented a petition from
the schoolmasters of Peebles, praying the house to
take measures to alleviate their distressed condition.
Mr. C. BERKELEY presented a petition from a
solicitor residing at Cheltenham, against certain
clauses in the Bastardy Bill.
Mr. WAKLEY presented a petition from a sur-
geon residing in Great Russell-street, against the
income-tax.

morning.
It is fully expected that the the whole of
to-morrow. The popular excitement increases every hour.

FLANDERS MAIL.

Mr. CRIPPS presented a petition from the As-
sociated Justices' Clerks against that clause in the
Clerks at Petty Sessions Bill, which prohibits them
from conlucting prosecutions.
NOTICE OF MOTION.
Dr. BOWRING gave notice that, in Committee on
the Bastardy Bill, he would move, that the justices of
the peace should have power to issue an order of affi-
liation in cases where the mother of the child died
before the order was applied for.
RAILWAYS.
Mr. G. BANKES presented a petition from the
inhabitants of Chard, in the county of Somerset, com-
plaining that the decision of the Board of Trade,
in respect to certain railways, was inconsistent with
the interest of the petitioners.
The HoN. MEMBER also presented a petition from
another place in Somersetahire, complaining that the
Board of Trade had given preference to two lines of
railway which were not so advantageous to the inte-
rests of the petitioners as others that might be adopted.
PROPERTY-TAX—BENEVOLENT
SOCIETIES.

BRUSSELS, MARCH 10.—Yesterday the King gave an audi-
ence to Mr. Colotnbe, the Minister of Spain. His Majesty
presided at a Council of Ministers.
A letter from Virton says that in the month of March
there has not been more intense cold in the Ardennes than
at present, and that the snow has never been more
abundant. At nightfall all the wolves, in bands of
five or six together, prowl about the habitations, and though
no person has yet been attacked by them, every body finds
it prudent to remain at home.
The English steamer The Soho, from London, arrived in
the river at Ternenze on the 7th, but being unable to pro-
ceed any further on account of the ice, put back, and pro-
ceeded to Ostend.
We learn that sixty-eight petitions for a change in the corn-
laws will be presented to the Chamber of Representatives to-
morrow. Some of them recommend the adoption of a system
analogous to that which is now followed in France. Some
of the petitioners wish that, if the discussion of the new law
should be deferred to another session, the land-tax on arable
land may be in the meantime remitted.—Brussels Papers,
March 10.

On the motion that the order of the day be read,
Mr. E. ELLICE, jun., said he wished to call the
attention of the Right Hon. Gentleman the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer to a class of cases which ap-
parently ought not to come under the operation of
the income-tax—he meant provident societies, whose
income was under 1501. He knew of a society which
had been established upwards of a century for
granting pensions to widows and orphans.
That society had been charged with the tax,
although the income of the society was under 1501.,
which was derived from investments in land and
loans. The managers of the society appealed to the
Assistant-Commissioners, but they dismissed the ap-
peal on the ground that the property was not vested
in Government securities. He (Mr. Ellice) had
looked into the Act, and there, certainly, he found a
clause to the effect, that if the property was not so in-
vested it should not be exempt from the tax. In
other cases the parties might have the drawback ;
but in this case that could not be done, because the
payments of the society were made in sums of from
ss. to Si. He now asked the Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer whether it was contemplated by the Govern-
ment to exempt societies established for purely bene-
volent purposes ?

The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said
that the clause to which the Hon. Gentleman referred
was inserted for the purpose of exempting benevolent
societies which were enrolled according to the Act of
Parliament. But in cases where the societies were
only voluntary, and their property was invested
in mortgages and such securities, it was
very difficult to provide an exemption. lle
had only received the Hon. Gentleman's notice
about an hour before he came down to the House, and
he immediately communicated with the department to
which the notice referred, and he would take care
that measures should be taken for affording relief, and
it was only in consequence of the construction of the
law that a remedy had not been already given.
Mr. ELLICE said the reason he had not com-
municated with the Right Hon. Gentleman before
was that he had only received the case within the
last few days.
Mr. T. DUNCOMBE wished to call the atten-
tion of the Right Honourable Gentleman to
another case. It was known that the legacy-
duty department and the assessment to the
income and property-tax were carried on under
the same Commissioners, viz., the Stamps and Tales'
Commissioners. Now, supposing a person left another
an annuity of 1,000/. a year, and the person to whom
the annuity was left was sixty-four years of age,
according to the tables of the officers of the legacy
department, that annuity, so granted, was worth 8,3001.
The charge on that individual, not being a relation by
blood, would be of course 10 per cent., amounting to
830/. To pay that he was allowed four years, thereby
reducing his income in round numbers to 800/. a year.
Now any one would suppose when the assessment to
the property and income-tax was made, that he would
only have to pay 800/. a year ; such, however,
was not the case, for he was assessed at one
thousand pounds a year. Now that appeared to
him to be a palpable injustice, and he trusted the
Right Hon. Gentleman the Chancellor of the Exche-
quer would give instructions to have that injustice re-
medied. He wished to ask the Right Hon. Gentle-
man another question. He understood that since the
property-tax had been established, there had been at
the office of the Commissioners of Stamps and Taxes,

for the purpose of making assessments to the
income-tax, a copy of the Bank of England Dividend
Book. New, it had always been supposed that was a
secret record kept by the Bank of England only.
[The Hon. Member was proceeding when he was
called to order by the Speaker.] He wished to know
whether the documents to which he had alluded were
actually sent to the Stamp-office ?
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said
that the documents were not sent to the Stamp-office.
COLLIERY EXPLOSIONS.
Mr. DUNCOMBE wished to ask a question of the
Right Hon. Baronet the Secretary for the Home
Department, with reference to a petition pre-
sented the other evening from the miners
of the county of Durham, praying for
inquiry into the cause of the explosions
unfortunately so frequent in the collieries of the north.
There prevailed an opinion that the lives of those indi-
viduals were not properly cared for; and he wished,
therefore, to know whether it was the intention of the
Government to introduce a measure for the better
securing of the lives of miners. Failing any such
intention, he would ask whether there could be any
objection to the appointment of a Committee to take
the subject into consideration ?
Sir JAMES GRAHAM said, that the subject
had received the especial consideration of the Govern-
ment; and after the recess, he should be prepared to
lay on the table of the House the report of the in-
spectors of mines, together with the objections of the
coal owners to the rules which they proposed, and he
thought that some measure might then be adopted of
a satisfactory nature.
SMOKE PROHIBITION BILL.

Mr. MACK INNON presented a petition from
the Board of Commerce in Glasgow, from the Guild
of that city, and from several other bodies in that city ;
from a place in the county of Somerset; another from
several individuals in London and Westminster;
and another, signed by 5,600 inhabitants of Glas-
gow, in favour of this Bill. He had also
to say that petitions would be presented from
Manchester and Leeds in favour of the Bill. The
Hon. Gentleman said that in consequence of the
great mass of business which was to be brought on
to-night, he should merely move the second
reading pro forma, and take the discussion on
some future evening. Indeed he thought that from
the great exertion which the memberi of the Govern-
ment had •to undergo, and especially from the
grievous :imposition on -,the Speaker; Wednesday
ought to be a day of rest. For these reasons he
should move that the Bill be read a second time this