The Sun.
London, England, 1842-05-10 00:00:00

pun Lac OPINION.

The Times thus alludes to Captain Plumridge's answer to
Mr. Roebuck's election questions in the House of Commons:—
Captain Plumridge's pledge to the electors of renryn (!)
not to spend one farthing even for a single bit of riband—h6
droll way of measuring himself against his questioner as against
the recognized Parliamentary standard of purity and incorrup-
tion—his announcement, not so much exculpatory as deter-
mined, not only that he did not promise or expend, but that he
will not pay one sous' towards any modification of election
expenses (qu. his own coach hire?)--all this, joined with the
Gallant Captain's previous ejaculation, made apparently with
all the frankness of discontent, that he retired because he
made a bad bargain,' produce such an odd and puzzling effect
upon our minds, that we know not what to thick or what to
do, but to follow the example set very freely by the House of
Commons, and laugh. We know it is no laughing matter;
but really if Captain Plumridge will be so very funny, we can-
not help it."

The following appears in the Post :—" The public will have
read with concerti, but still, we think, with approbation, the
somewhat sombre account which was given by the Prime Mi-
nister on Friday night, of the state of trade in this country,
and of its prospects. The statement arose upon the discussion
whether, in fixing the Income-tax upon the profits of trade,
the average income of the preceding three years should be
taken, or the income of the one year immediately preceding.
It was allowed, on all hands, to be a very difficult question ;
but ultimately it was determined that the average of three years
should be taken. One tolerably good reason for preferring the
three years was, that the person who took the lead in opposing
it was Mr. Joseph Hume. There are few men more infallibly
in the wrong than Mr. Hume. It is clear that as the last
year was decidedly a bad one for trade, and the year before not
very good, if the current year produce an improvement, as
every one wishes it may, it would be more profitable for the
revenue to take the income of the current year than the average
of three."

We take the following from the Herald :—" A refusal by
the House of Commons to inquire, either by hearing evidence
at its bar, or by reference to a Committee of Privileges, into
Mr. Roebuck's accusations against the Members for Reading,
Falmouth, -Nottingham, Lewes, and Harwich, will be a decla-
ration and an adoption of its own impurity—will be a direct
encouragement to the committal of bribery and corruption, and
the subsequent compounding of those penal offences—and will
be a hypocritical abandonment of its own grossly-violated pri-
vileges. The House of Commons cannot—it dares not, refuse
an inquiry ; the accusations are too serious—the acts complained
of are too notorious—public decency has been too scandalously
outraged—the elective and representative trust has been toe
openly bough and sold, not merely by venal freemen, drunken
potwalloppers, or needy ten-pound householders, but by Mem-
bers of the House of Commons, for that assembly to dexte-
rously wriggle out of, or boldly to refuse, inquiry."
The Chronicle says, in a leading article suggested by Mr.
Roebuck's recent motion :—" From all that passed in the
HOuse of Commons on Friday, and from what we have been
able to learn of the sentiments of Members since, we think it
to ~t probable that Mr. Roebuck's motion will be carried, or,
at any rate, that an inquiry of the kind which he proposes will
not be altogether refused. But he must not imagine that the
majority will make this concession either readily or honestly.
What they concede will be a concession to sheer dread of public
opinion ; nothing will be conceded but what that public opinion
imperatively demands ; and whatever is conceded will, as far
a. possible, be neutralised by every limitation and qualification
that precedent can justify or ingenuity suggest. Doubts will
still be raised about the form of the motion ; objections will be
found against a Committee as the best means of investigating
the subject ; the scope of the inquiry will be restricted ; and
when it is commenced every difficulty that can be created by
refusal to answer questions, and by opposition to the authority
of the House of Commons, will be suggested by lawyers, and
brought into action by the impudent audacity of the subordi-
nate agents of corruption.'
The late forcing of Tory Magistrates upon various boroughs,
especially that of Berwick, is thus commented on by the Ad-
vertiser of that locality :—" Whore there are certain grounds
for thinking that other motives dictated the appointments, we
are entitled to ask for proof of their necessity. Did it exist in
Berwick ? Can the most hot-headed partisan within the walls
of this borough pretend that the legal and constitutional func-
tions of the Magistracy could not have been all fully dis-
charged by those previously invested in the office ? Admitting,
however, for the sake of argument, that there might be a ne-
cessity for increasing the list in some cases, was there, also, a
necessity that the gentlemen appointed should, without excep-
tion, belong to the Conservative party ? Lord John Russell's
rule was to consult the Town Council, the local representatives
of the people, in every case where an increase of a municipal
borough-magistracy was contemplated. On their recommen-
dation he proceeded, and the consequence was that his appoint-
ments were, in the fullest sense of the term, popular."
The Hereford Times, reviewing the clauses of the Income-
tax Bill, says :—" This precious measure seems to have been
framed, like a small-mesh net, to catch all and every species
of income beyond a hundred and fifty pounds a-year. Indeed,
if we may judge of the Bill from the description of several of
the ablest Conservative papers—and it is worthy of remark,
that, confessedly, the ablest Tory prints have condemned the
injustice of the measure—it will be a tax not only on incomings,
but also on outgoings ; and likewise on neither one nor the
other, for a considerable portion of the had debts of the pro-
fessional man and the tradesman—bad debts, in the commercial
acceptance of the phrase—will have to contribute seven-pence
in the pound to keep Sir Robert Peel and Co. in office ! This
sounds paradoxically ; nevertheless, it will prove a reality ;
therefore, a practical paradox."
As a panacea for our over-grown population and lack of em-
ployment, the Cambrian urges the only effective remedy .
" Everywhere, in town and country, the labourers are too nu-
merous to be employed whilst the competition for employment
depresses the wages of those who are employed; to
this hungry multitude four hundred thousand beings
are added year after year. 'What is to be done for them ?
Every year increases the difficulty; yet there is plenty for all.
The earth would grow a hundred fold more corn than they
want ; and they have strength, skill, and industry wherewith
to purchase it. Only allow them the opportunity of labouring
for the food which Europe can supply them—only fix and re-
duce the duty on foreign corn, and they will be fed."
Alluding to the late presentation of the Chartist petition,
with its three to four million signatures, the Leeds Times
remarks :—"A petition from such a number of individuals is
at no time a matter to be treated lightly, and least of all at the
present time. It indicates the existence of a deep ferment
and agitation, which must yet affect anti modify the destinies of
society for all time to come."
IVICON*Ir —TRADE—COMMERCE.

The tea-plantations at Assam, it appears from the report of
the Company, will soon grow tea enough to supply the demands
of all nations. By the end of 1845 they will produce
3.50,000 lbs. of tea ; the annual value of these will be 32,000/. ;
the charge of their cultivation, 23,1001., leaving a balance of
8,900/. profit.

PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS.
From the report of the Society for the Suppression of Men-
dicity, it appears that from the formation of the Society in
1818, to the year 1841. 35,076 registered cases have been dis-
pnsed of, and 1,264,029 meals have been distributed, exclusive
of relief in money, blankets, clothing, &c. During the same
period 20.646 vagrants have been arrested, and 11,638 con-
victed. In the past year, 1841, 2,810 men and women have
been employed.
ECCLESIASTICAL.
The disputed church-rate at Greenwich, was put to the ques-
tion on Friday last, when it wag lost by a majority of 47. A
poll has been demanded, and fixed for next Thursday and Friday.