The Sun.
London, England, 1842-09-30 00:00:00

further about I saw two or three more pieces of oakum
mixed with turpentine, and made a remark that it
was rather singular. I left the oakum in the yard,
after we had put the pigeon in the box. We then
returned .to the house, and in about ten minutes we
!c:::rd the cry of. " fire" outside. None of the oakum
in the yard appeared to have been ignited. [A small
bag filled with oakum and saturated with turpentine
was here produced. and identified as that found in the
yard.] I ive separate pieces of the oakum had. been
foUnd, one of them on the top of a hen-coop. When
the alarm ofsfire -had been raised, I immediately re-
collected the extraordinary circumstance, and ran into
the yard-to put the oakum out of the way. At the
end of the yard there was an entry through which
any person might pass.
William Norman examined—l am the waiter at
Sixsmith's public-house. Many persons come in
there in the course of the day, labouring men and
others. I saw one man in during Monday last who
had been working at some turpentine, but he did not
pass through the yard. I have seen the pieces of
oakum produced. I saw three different pieces of
them lying in the yard. I was the servant in the house
all day.
The evidence against the prisoner being closed,
Mr. RUSHTON said—So far as the parties charged
with the prosecution are 'aware their case will termi-
nate here ; but you, Mr. James, must not depend upon
that fact. If you think it right to enter upon the pri-
soner's defence now, I am willing to hear you.
Mr. James—l should wish the whole case against
the prisoner to be gone into in the first instance.
Mr. RUSHTON—I am not aware, after having com-
municated with Mr. Dowling, whether there be any
more evidence to be oftered ; but you are well aware
that additional evidence may be produced before the
Grand Jury. There may be now, even after I shall
have heard your defence, sufficient evidence whereon
to commit the prisoner for trial. Would you like, under
such circumstances, to proceed with your defence to-
night, or would you prefer waiting until to-morrow ?
Mr. James—l have such a body of evidence to
bring forward, that I certainly should like a post-
ponement until to-morrow, if (and I should like to
obtain your opinion upon this point) you think there
is a sufficient case made out against the prisoner.

Mr. RUSHTON-If you leare the case as it now
stands, I shall certainly commit him for trial.
Mr. James—ln that case I would address a few
observations to you upon the evidence, in the hope—
Mr. RUSHTON—It will be better for you to go into
your case first.
Mr. James—The question seems to be, whether I
shall do so to-night, or postpone it until to-morrow.
Mr. RUSH :CON—Decidedly. I am willing to sit and
hear it to-night if you like.
Mr. James —I think, acting on my own discretion,
although there seems to be a difference of opinion on
the point, that I should prefer having it adjourned
until to-morrow ; for I came into Court very much
unprepared, and, I may say, totally unacquainted
with the facts of the case. I feel that the interests of
my client warrant me in praying for a postponement.
-Mr. RUSHTON—You shall have it.

The Court adjourned at half-past six o'clock, and
the prisoner was ordered to be confined meanwhile in
the main Bridewell.

MONEY MARKET and CITY. NEWS,
•
CITY, THURSDAY EVENING.
FROM THE MORNING PAPERS OF THIS DAY.

TIMES.—Out letters from Amsterdam advert to
the failure of recent negotiations at the Hague as the
cause of the decline in the value of Dutch Stock. It
appears that the impossibility had been recognised of
getting through the number of small claims which
Belgium had against Holland, and which were to be
deducted from the sum which Belgium had to pay
Holland, according to the treaty of April, 1839.
Belgium was therefore requested to name a certain
sum, the payment of which would satisfy all her
claims, and the Belgian Commissioner went to his
country to settle the amount. He has since returned,
and the sum claimed by Belgium is said to be so exor-
bitant that it will be impossible to bring the affair to a
conclusion, the amount being equal to one-fifth of that
due from Belgium to Holland.
The policy of the present duty on tobacco has
been lately examined at length by 'llfr. Todd, Chair-
man of the American Chamber of Commerce, in a
letter to Sir R. Peel. The purpsse of his communi-
cation is to show the expediency of reducing the rate
from 3s. per lb. to ls., for the benefit both of the
consumer and of the revenue. The present cost of
tobacco, including freight and all charges, being from
3d. to 4d. per lb., it follows that the duty is 900 per
cent. on the value, and the cost of smuggling being
no more than 91d. per lb. (including the first cost), it
follows that the smuggler can sell his tobacco at
2s. 6(1. per lb., which is 6d. less than the duty alone,
and can still gain ls. Bid. By this a great tempta-
tion to the smuggler is clearly shown, and the
statistics of the consumption of tobacco from the
year 1801 to 1841 prove that it has not increased
according to the ratio of population, while the
consumption of tea and coffee has even increased
beyond that ratio. The table 3 showing the con-
sumption of these several articles for the years
above-mentioned give 77,6511. as the amount yielded
by coffee t..) the revenue in the year 1801, when
the duty was Is. 7d. per lb. ; 379,6501. for 1821,
when the duty was ls.; and 710,5241. for 1841,
when the duty was 6d. Tobacco in 1821, at 4s. per
lb., yielded 3,164,673/. ; and in 1841, at 3s. per lb.,
3,314,215/. ; the difference of the duty not being
sufficient to limit the profits of the smuggler to any
material extent. Ireland furnishes the American
with a further illustration of his views. In 1798 the
consumption there was 8,000,0001 b. and now, though
the population has doubled, it is about 3,000,0001 b.
less. The reason alleged is, that the duty was but
Bd. in 1798, and at that period England and Scotland
together, with more than double the population of
Ireland, consumed very little more tobacco, the duty
in England and Scotland being Is. 7d. The total
consumption of tobacco in Great Britain and Ireland
for the year 1841 is set down at 22,094,7721 b. ; but
this is merely the quantity that yields duty, and
Jr. Todd believes that the real quantity is about
53,711,8561 b., the bulk being supplied by the illicit
trader.

CHRONICLE.—The Emperor of Russia has pub-
lished an Ukase, authorising the banker, Baron Streg-
litz, of St. Petersburgh, to make a lean of 40 to 50
millions silver roubles to defray the expenses of the
railroad between St. Petersburgh and Moscow. For
the present year only eight millions roubles will be
issued, giving four per cent. interest, and the loan is
to be called the Second Four per Cent. Loan : inte-
rest to begin from the Ist of August. The dividends
are payable, Ist to 15th of February, azd Ist to 15th
of August, at St. Petersburgh. The sinking fund
will amount to 75,000 roubles per annum for the first
two years; and for the following two years, beginning
1845, 200,000 roubles. If, by and by, it should be
more advisable to issue the other parts of the loan at
34 or 3 per cent. it will be done. The amount to be
issued every year will depend upon the outlay which
the railroad may require, and six months' notice will
be given to Baron Streglitz.
Letters from Amsterdam mention that the loan will
be issued in a very few days, and that it will most
probably come out there at about 94 to 95 per cent.
HERALD.—The recent failures in the Corn
Market and in Manchester appear to have exercised a
more sinister influence upon the Money Market, than
from the abundance of unemployed capital, and there •
fore of money, might have been anticipated. 'lt is
remarked, in monetary circles, that an unusual scarcity
of good bills is apparent among those presented for
discount, and this. if true, necessarily tends to an in-
crease of caution in discount transactions. The scarcity
alluded to may, however, and most probably is, more
imaginary than real, that is relative rather than posi-
tive, and may be sufficiently explained upon thehypo-
thesis, or rather by the fact, that the class of bills
• which some few weeks, or so far back as three months
acre, only would have been deemed unquestionable,
have now been disqualified as such from the unfortu-
nate casualties in those particular branches of the
trade with which connected. Thus many bills tainted
immediately or remotely with a corn trade or corn
speculative origin, the integrity of which it would
have been heresy to doubt some time since,
have now fallen under the ban of opinion,
and from being placed in the first rank of standard
discount values are reduced to a. more dubious stand-
ing of second or third class mercantile securities. The
same may be said of some descriptions of Lancashire
paper values which have become discredited more or
less by recent joint. stock banking disclosures and
trading misadventures. The rates of discount have
consequently advanced, and money, of which so lately
there was a plethora, appears to have become scarce;
appears, it is said, because with a circulation so full as
at present, and with a demand for it for the active
purposes of trade so little, if at all, on the increase,
the filet cannot in reality be so. For first class, as
admitted to be so, the rate of.discount is now 3 per
cent., so lately as low as 2:}- and even 2 per cent. For
other sorts of paper, which a short time ago would
have passed unquestioned, the rat)! cannot be fairly
specified, as they are of fluctuating amount according
to the faith and opinion of hankers and money-
brokers, and the subject therefore of special agree-
ment between parties when accepted at all.
CustOm•house frauds- are not of course confined to
this country, nor, as it seems, is the discovery of therr
According to the Dutch papers a system of extensive
frauds has just been found out at Rotterdam, ti' ex-
planatory details of which, however, are Iv A given,
further than that they have taken place it . re•ned to
sugar, and that the Ifandelmaatshapr:)., the great
•Netherlands Trading Company, will •cc the sufferer,
and not the Government.
The reports in the Herald 'arid other 'irt.pers re-
specting the frauds in the Cr.stom-house lire have
excited considerable interest, although 50 far it is
remarked that they do not quite fulfil expeeta_
tions raised by the promise of the astou, d..
1.3 g revela-
tious of facts anti parties implicated hiele: were to