The Sun.
London, England, 1842-05-13 00:00:00

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LONDON,
FRIDAY MORNING, MAY 13, 1842.

One of the reasons assigned by Ministers for nem,
levying an Income-tax is, that. " commerce cannot
hear any additional burdens." If that be so, why dc
they levy an additional stamp duty in Ireland
Why do they add to the duties J)n spirits ? And,
above all, why do they impose a duty of 4s. per ton
on exported coals ? We are not sure that their argu-
ment in favour of the Income-tax does not tell
against themselves. There are many businesses
carried on with very small profits ; and we are in-
clined to think, that deducting very nearly three
per cent. from those profits may put a stop to many
►of them, or make them take refuge abroad. That is
speculation ; but it is not a speculation that the
Ministers who, pretending to liberate trade from un-
necessary restrictions, have wantonly, contrary
to their own principles, , and contrary to all the
lessons of experience, imposed a neA tax on exported
coals. In general the Parliament wished to encou-
rage native industry, but in the case of coals ex-
ported, it gives a bounty to the extent of the tax on
the industry of foreigners, and imposes a burden on
the industry of our own people.
A pamphlet' entitled " Observations on the pro-
posed Duties on the Exportation of Coals, &c." points
out that the duty which existed prior to 1834, was
removed for the very purpose of promoting an in-
crease of the exports, and of providing employment for
British shipping. The removal of the duty has answered
so well, that the export of coals hai; increased from
450,838 tons in 1833, to 1,497,197 tons in 1841. The
amount of freight on coal exported in 1841 was above
709,0001., and the value of the coal 675,2871. Bt•
that export the shipping interest, the mining interest,
and all the industrious classes connected with them,
were benefited ; but now these advantages are to
be risked by a measure which is contrary to all the
deductions of political science.
It is supposed, we believe, by the Ministers, that
the only effect of the tax will be to raise the price of
coals to the foreign consumer ; that he cannot do
without English coal, and must, therefore, to have
them, pay this tax. It is devised on purpose to make

him bear a part of our national burdens. If the con-
& equence were uncertain, we should object to acting or
A lilt principle, because there is no country at present,
r spite of our anti-social Corn-laws, which is more
ci t_pendent on foreigners than England, and if they
ix, Ire to follow the example of taxing the raw ma-
ter lids of manufactures which are useful to us we
be very great sufferer. Suppose that the
ted States, captivated by Sir ROBERT PREI:SB10-
Ciller ice, should hasten to follow his example, and, in
imitation of this part of his tariff, should levy
a tlx of 2d. per lb. on all cotton exported
frora the United States, that would inflict upon
th manufactures .of England a most serious blow.
1V have heard Russia blamed exceedingly for levying
a ...,na.ll duty on the export of tallow, and probably she
would le. ry a greater, but her desire to tax the fo-
reigoer is checked by the limitation she would soon
find to the sale of her own produce. Tallow may be
obtained from other countries, and substitutes may be
used for it; so, too, cotton may be obtained from other
countries than the United States, and the effect
raising the price of cotton or of tallow, by a tax:,
would be in the end to discourage its consumption
abroad,. and injure the Russians or the Americans
The proposed tax on coals, levied for the purpose of
making foreigners contribute to our State necessities.
will have a s'milar effect, and will in the end put a
stop to so much British trade. Other nations pro.
duce coals, and substitutes for it may be found.
"At Havre and Rouen," says the pamphlet, Eng-
lish coal is in close competition with that of Belgium,
and a very slight addition to the price of English coal.
much less than the proposed duty of from 60 to 130 per
cent., will give the markets of the North of France to
the Belgium coal owner."—" In the South of France, in
the district of Alais, near Nismes, large mines have
been recently brought into operation by some of the
most influential capitalists of France. A railroad, com-
pleting the communication with the sea, is nearly finished,
when the eoali can thus be brought to Marseilles at a
cost not:exceeding, on the whole, 13s. to 15s. per ton."
" The freight on English coal to Marseilles is from 12s.
to Ns. and 17s. per ton, according to seasons and cir-
cumstances, and consequently the coal of Alais will
necessarily take possession of this market, and also enter
into competition with us in all the markets of the Medi.
terranean."—" The Spanish coal mines on the coast of
Asturias are now producing coals which can be put on
toard ship at a cost of less than ss. per ton, and can be
ielivered at Bordeaux and the ports of the Mediter-
ranean at 145. and 165."

Now, when competition is thus threatening the

English coal-owner and '`ship-owner on every side, is
it wise to subject them to the additional disadvantage
of raising the price of their coals 4s. per ton. We ask
no favour for them, we pray that they be left to free
and unrestricted competition; but those to whom they
pay heavy taxes for protection, , should _not render
their industrY fruitless. There are many parts of Sir
R. PEEL'S tariff which, in our opinion, the Liberal
party ought to oppoSe, 'but there is no part of it which,
on their own principles, they ought so cordially to re-
sist, as the unsocial tax on a product of our own
industry, which is also essentially useful to other na-
tions. Happily for us and for them, we cannot inflict
the tax on them without suffering from it ourselves ;
for it is found of all malignant actions, as well as
curses, that, like chickens, they come home to roost.

We learn that the suggestion which was throw

out in The Sun on the first day of the year, to "place
an American Officer on board every English man of
war employed to repress the slave trade, and let every
ship which shows American colours be examined and
answered for by him," and which we adverted to
more at length on the 4th of January, has been • fa-
vourably received by General CASS, the United States
Minister at Paris, and commented on iii his pamphlet
on the Right of Search." We see, too,, that it has
been noticed in Congress, for Mr. QUINCY ADAMS, in
his late speech on the foreign relations of the United
States, said—
" In this very pamphlet, of which the gentleman from
Pennsylvania has spoken with so much honour (and I
shall treat it with honour, too, as having proceeded from
a public Minister of the United States at one of the
most important Courts of Europe), there is a proposition
made which Ido not say we ought to concede. As a poli-
tical question, involving the peace of two great . coun-
tries, and the suppressien of the African slave trade
(for which I could bring myself' to almost any conces'-'
sion), it Might hate strong claims to consideration ; but, as
a politician, as a statesman, as a negotiator, I doubt if
this expedient of General Cass be not even more objee--
i tionable than the right of search itself. The proposal is,
that the c;•wising vessels of either nation should have on
board a naval officer (a lieutenant I suppose) belonging
to the other, and that he shall make the requisite search
in person. This is held forth by way of compromi:q,
between the two parties, 'and a mode of avoiding the dif-
ficulties which embarrass the question. I will not say
that if the negotiation shall concentrate on this, as the only
practicable expedient, zt should be rejected; but I will say
this, if the gentleman from Pennsylvania, or the Senate,
or this House, shall he so pressed as to concede that,
very little ground will be left them for refusing the right
of search as heretofore proposed." •
The suggestion haVing thus acquired considerable
importance, it is due to ourselves to insist upon the
limitation which we affixed to it, and which both
General Cass and the Venerable ex-President of the
United States, haVe overlooked. Those persons who
may remember the line of argument we adoptedon that
occasion, must be aware that we are determinedly
hostile to establishing a police of the sea. We took
pains in one or two articles to point out the absurdity
of supposing that there was great danger from piracy,
unless the right to examine and search ships at sea
were mutually granted by all the maritime
nations of the earth. We, therefore, never
for one moment contemplated, as both General
CASS and Mr. QulNcr ADAMS, by their lan-
guage imply, the employment of a naval officer

of one nation in ALL " the cruizing vessels of
the other nation." Our suggestion was limited to

sending an officer of one nation on board the cruizers
of the other nation " employed to repress the slave
trade." We should regard it' as a piece of wanton
meddling, and a concession of nearly all that the

Americans have struggled for, did we-suggest, by a
general employment of an American officer in every
British cruizer, the establishment of a maritime police.
At the time we threw out the suggestion, there
were apprehensions of a quarrel between England
and the United States
.on the subject of searching
American vessels, with a view to putting an end to the
;lave trade. Diplomatists were exchanging bitter notes,
an Extraordinary Plenipotentiary had been appointed
to proceed to the United States, the English journals
teemed with reproaches against the Americans for
overing the slave trade with their flag, and it was
as a somewhat better alternative than a quarrel
and bloodshed, that we suggested the expedient of
enabling the American Government, by means of
sending a naval officer on board our ships employed
to suppress the slave trade, to search their own ves-
sels. That trade is confined to a comparatively small
part of the ocean ; the number of ships employed to
suppress it are comparatively few ; they er&ze within
certain defined limits ; and the suggestion, which is
iustifiable as applied to them, and for one specific
purpose, -would be unwarrantable, extended to all our
navy, and applied in every part of the globe.
Being, by the remarks of General CASS and
Mr. QUINCEY ADAMS, forced to reflect again
on the subject, and again to refer to it,—
believing, too, that it is possible, as Mr. ADAMS says,
that the negotiation may turn on this compromise, we I
shall press its advantages on the attention both of the
English and American Governments. The Earl of
BERDEEN has formally given up all claim to
exercise the right of search over American vessels
during peace, and limits his claim to ascertaining the
fact that a vessel hoisting the American flag is an
American vessel. If our cruizers, therefore, were
to fall in with an American vessel suspected
of being a Slaver, as soon as they had
ascertained her nationality they, must search
no further. But not so if she were boarded
1)y an American officer, and the American Govern-

meat were united with ours—as it is in a wish to
put an end to the slave trade. He could examine
the ship after he had ascertained that she was an
American, and consequently the employment of
American officers on board our ships would be more
effectual for the suppression of the slave trade than
merely to visit American ship's by English cruizers.
That consideration ought 4o be an additional. recom-
mendation of our suggestion to the English GoVern-
ment.

Every Captain of an American ship passing within
:he limits in which the slave trade is carried on,
knowing that there wa.6 one of.his own 'countrymen,
armed with the authority_ of the American Govern 7
nent.to protect him, on board the English cruisers;
mould at once lose all the just and invincible repug-
lance he now has to be boarded by an English man
)f war. The, consequence would be that time
would be saved, • and a great many. contentions
Avoided. By our suggestion, therefore, the authority
And dignity of the United States Government would be
4aved, security would be given to its merchant ves-
sels, and many sources of ill will child be at once
Tried up. The American papers',that reached Lon-
,lon yesterday, contain a. humble ,apology.from Lord
ABERDEEN to the American Government, for the
,!onduct of her MAJESTY'S vessel Woterwitch,, in cap-
turing the American brig Tigris, which spread exas-
lwration throughout the United ,States; 'Now, both
he anger of America, and .the humiliation of Eng-
land, would have been avoided, by acting on the 'slig-
-
4estion we-threw out on the'..fir'sK",xiq..o,l,iim.,t,),

We learn with great pleasure from our City Cor-
,resp6ndent, that " the subscription," of which we Tlad:
fof Before heard, " for the sufferers at Harnburgh, has
iobly, progressed, upwards of 5,0001. having been
collected to-day, and 2,3701. yesterday, sums which,
large as they are, will, it is to be regretted, go but a
;hort way to remedy the distress." This is as it
;horrid be. There is not a man in the country who
'las'a, guinea to spare who ought not to contribute it
-0 this work of real charity. Such contributions
'Aster up no injustice : they are not intended to
)gibe a class to submit to slavery. They do but imi-
tate, at a very humble distance, the great Giver of all
cuod, and spread a small portion of that general
timndanee which he bestows for the sustenance and
happiness of all his creatures over those who, by a
,adden calamity, have been reduced to want and
listress.

IThe New York Express of the 'loth ult. publishes an
exceedingly interesting debate in Congress on the 14th,
on the relations between England and the United States.
principal speakers were Mr. INGERSOLL, of Phila-
lelphia, and the venerable ex-President,. Jolts QUINCY
ADAMS. Of these speeches we can give no report, being
:revented from doing so by want of apace. Mr. INcEn-
,4ou, began by repudiating a right of search in
.111' cases whatever. He next lauded to the
skies the -Conduct of Mr. STEVENSON in London,
and General CASS in Paris. The exertions and
pamphlet of General CASS had prevented the French
Government from ratifying tho right of search. On
the five points controverted between Great Britain and
the United States, he maintained that Great Britain
was entirely in the wrong. On the Maine question she
took the soil of that State ; on the Caroline question. she
destroyed American property ; on the Creole dispute
she again seized American property ; on the
Oregon Boundary question she contended for Aineticau

soil ; and her claims to confiscate slaves was aimed
only at •the destruction. of American commerce.- Re-
specting the question of war, Mr. INGERSOLL declared
that America was sufficiently prepared, and that she
could as easily burn London as Great Britain could New
York. They talked about the. rising of the slaves in the
Southern States ? But was there not room for retalia-
tion in Canada, in Ireland, and in India ? Besides, o:by
would have with them the synipathies of France, Prussia,
Russia, Sweden, and even Texas. He contenti.ed that the
PRESIDENT should yield nothing, and. rattier than yield
anything he was for war. Mr. Ao,t3to made an excellent,
speech in reply. He admitted that was always opposed
to the right of search, but prover that such a right was not
contrary to thelaw of nations. He ridiculed the prepara-
tions of theillnited States for war and dwelt with horror
I upon the idea of burning such cities as New York and
London ; the French alliance he considered nothing,
or worse than nothing ; and strongly urged that
there was nothing in the dispute
.with England to en-
danger the peace of the world. The French are conti-
nually boasting of the support. which the Americans
derive front their sympathy. Hear Mr. ADAMS on the
subject :
He said, that in reference to the threats of Great Britain to
raise the flag of emancipation in our Southern States, that, too,
was a thing to be made light of, because Great Britain herself
was in a condition so precarious that her own people were as
likely to overturn her Government as it was to injure us at the
South. I will not meet the gentleman on that occasion. I be-
lieve that Great Britain, like all the other Powers of Europe,
and more especially France (to whom we are advised to look as
our chief reliance) is in a most precarious situation. I believe
that they are all in danger of a tremendous revolution ; and
none so much as that very France. I must say here (and Ido
not know whether it will be very acceptable to this House)
that if -it be true, as the gentleman from Pennsylvania inti-
mates, that the interference of our Minister in France, by the
publication of the pamphlet on which he bestowed sa high
praise, was the occasion of the refusal by France to ratify the
Quintuple Treaty, It do hold that in so proceeding France
owes an explanation to the world of her refusal to ratify
that Treaty. If it be true that General Cass has effected
this result, I, for one, do not thank him for it. Not only
because he has persuaded France to break her faith and
put herself in the wrong in the future controversies which
may arise between her and the other parties to that Treaty,
but also because it looks like an intermeddliir with the
;.olitical affairs of Europe ; it has the aspect of engaging
us to entangling- alliances with foreign nations, the very
evil a;-ainst which the venerable 'Washington and the vene-
rable Jefferson both so emphatically warned their countrymen.
And I here ask the House and the country to believe, that if
the refusal of France to ratify the Quintuple Treaty shall be
persevered in (which I can scarcely believe possible)
that the right of search has not any part in the wars which
may. follow, and in which we are in some danger of be-
coming entangled. That, I say, will form no part in such
wars. It is no question between France and the four
Powers. Fiance has conceded it. It is her bad faith in re-
fusing the ratification, that is more likely than anything
:slse to embroil her with those Powers, Just as it hap-
pened in what was called the Syrian question. And what
will be our condition if, in consequence of the intrigues of our
Minister, we are involved in a European war on the hollow
nretence of- this right_ of search? There is in the French
House of Deputies, which the Gentleman from Pennsyl-
vania says was influenced by General Cass in its refusal to.
ratify, an interest whose constant aim is to overthrow the
dynasty of Louis Philippe, and destroy every remnant of it—
a party who are much more bitterly opposed to him than any
portion of either House of Congress is opposed either to
Martin Van Buren or to John Tyler. They would annihilate
his family root and branch, and for ever abolish the monarchi-
cal power he holds. I will not enter upon the question by
what authority Louis Philippe holds his throne. It is not a
question for this place or for this time ; but I will say that
France and her representative body have that question clutched
between the parties which there prevail ; and that, in this
coming war, which it seems this pamphlet of Mr. Cass is to
kindle up, I would not give a picayune for his crown. And
this is the state of things in which we are invited to go to war,
with France for our ally I

CITY TOWN-CLERK.--4 meeting was held yesterday
at the. Guildhall Coffee-house, for the purpose of as-
serting and supporting the independence of the Corpo-
ration, as regards the appointment of Town-clerk for
the City of London. The meeting was attended by
Alderman Wilson, Mr. Pewtress, Mr. Heppe], Mr.
Bower, Mr. Lake, Richard Taylor, and others; and
after a long discussion, the meeting, upon the suggestion
of Alderman Wilson, agreed to a resolution (only four
hands having been held up against it), to present a re-
quisition to the Lord Mayor, to convene a Court upon
the subject.