The Sun.
London, England, 1845-03-14 00:00:00

POST-OFFICE ES?IONAGE.

Mr. WAKLEY presented the following petition from the
Electors of the Borough of Finsbury:-T" The humble petition
-of the ondeselpned persons, appointed by the electors of the
Borough of Finsbury in public meeting assembled on Feb. 28,
1845, for the purpose of signing a petition in reference to
abuses alleged to have taken place at the London Post:office,
and which petition was presented to your Hon. House on
February 28,h last by une of their representatives in Parliament,
" SHICIVETII,—
" That your petitioners submitted to your Honourable House
an expression of the mortification and disgust they felt at the
•existence of the abuses in the Poet office complained of, and
prayed your Honourable House to examine into all the matters
therein set forth, and that you would do full and 'substantial
justice,—first, to the public at large; secondly, to their repre-
sentative, 1. S. Duncombe, Esq. ; and thirdly, to the eonsti-
tuents of that gentleman; and your petitioners further prayed,
that your Honourable House would immediately adopt such
measures as would effectually prevent the continuance or the
recurrence of the abuses complained of.
" That your petitioners feel and know, that such abuses in-
volve the personal rights and liberties of every member of the
community, that they affect the general tone of morality
throughout the nation, injure its reputation in the estimation
of foreign coentries, prevent the free communication between
a representative and his constituents, and, in particular, im-
plicate the character of T. S. Duncombe, Est , which your
petitioners feel to be a great and grievous injury to that gen-
tleman, as well as to those whotn he represents.
" That your petitioners cannot consent to matters of such
importance being neglected or g ossed over by mere personal
apologies and official evasions, but feeling, as your petitioners
do, that a grievous public wrong has been done, they are of
opinion that a public inquiry, and an adequate remedy, are im-
mediately and imperatively called for.
" Your petitioners, therefore. pray that your Honourable
Muse will. forthwith institute such a full inquiry as shall
satisfy the public at large, and the electors of Finsbury
in particular, whether any, and what warrant existed for
the opening of Mr. Duncombe's letters, and whether
any suspicion justly attached to his character, so that they
may judge if that gentleman is any longer fitted to continue the
representative of a free and independent constituency, and that
you will enact a full and sufficient remedy, so as to prevent the
recurrence of such abuses as are now complained of.
" And your petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray,
•(Signed)
" George Rogers, 58, High-street, St. Giles's.
" Edward Medley, 42, Brick-lane.
" Charles Tapperell, 14, Smith's-buildings, City-road.
" W; D. Cooper, 13, Bloomsbury square.
" Richard Moore, 25, Hart-street.
" W.. 1. Linton, 85, Hatton-Garden.
" Charles H. lilt, 18, High-street, Islington.
" Thomas Savage, 213. Tottenham-court-road.
&e. &c. Fix."
The Hots. Mennen then gave notice that he should, to-
morrow. move that the petition be printed, wish the votes.
Lord •I. M ANN ERS presented a petition from several Spanish
officers whp were resident in this country against their will.
They had taken refuge in France, but they had been seized
by the French authorities, and transported by those authorities
to this country against their will. When they were landed here
they were without money, and since their residence here they
had been supported entirely by charity. They prayed the
House to take their case into consideration, awl either to supply
them with the means of subsistence, or with the means of
leaving the country.
Mr. WYSE presented a petition from the guardians of the
poor-law union of Nenagh, braying that they might be relieved
from the payment of the m iney due for the erection of a poor-
house in that union.
Mr. HUM E presented a petition praying that no further
prosecutions might be instituted against i ersons for blasphemy.
fhe petitioners stated it as their opinion that truth did not re-
quire the interrentien of laws for its vindication.
RAILWAYS.

Sir G. CLERK pre tinted certain papers from the Railway
Department of the AnArd or Trade.

NOTICES OF MOTION.
Mr. SHELL gave notice that he should, on Tuesday next,
bring forward the motion of which he had given notice on
Tuesday last, on the subject of the opening of letters of foreign-
ers at the Post2ofEce.
Mr. S. CRAWFORD pave notice that. if the Govern-
ment did nOt propose any measure for the amendment of the
law of landlord and tenant in Ireland, he should himself, after
Easter, move for, leave to bring in a Bill to enable the tenant,
if ejected. to recover compensation from his 'landlord for any
improvement he might have mad' upon the land, and also
to amend the laws regulating the value of property in Ireland.
Mr. WYSE gave notice that, after Easter, he should renew
the motion which he had made last session on the subject of
national education.

Mr. WARD postponed his motion in reference to burdens
on lanai until after Easter.

In reply to a question from Mr. BELLE W,
Sir R. PEEL said he would, on Monday next, state in what
order the !fish measures would be brought for Ward after Easter.
Mr. DUNCOMBE wished to put . two vestions to the
Right Hon. Gentlemaa theThancellor of the Exchequer ; one,
whether he tbonght it! right that annuities paying the legacy
duty should ba stkect to the income-tax; the'other referred
to the subject which he mentioned last night, in reference
to the books of :he Bank of England.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said the

law imposed a tax on all leateies, whether paid in
gross or in annual incomes; and there was no provision for
exempting. them from the income-tu. With respect to
the Bank books, the answer which he gave yesterday from
general recollection was perfectly correct. He held in his hand
the answer of the Bank clerk on the subject, and he would read

t as the most satifactory method of answering the question.
The Right Hon. Gentleman then read the letter, stating that
the books were not referred to by any other person but himself
and the other two clerks of the Bank of England. No other
person was emphyed in the room. He and the other two
clerks had been upwards of thirty years in the service Of the
Bank of England.
Lord MAHON wished to renew a question on the subject
of the Portland vase in the British Muaeum. The Right Hon.
Baronet must be aware that there was" no adequate legal
penalty' fur the offence, and that the offender punished,
not for breaking the vase itself, but the glass case which hap-
pened to cover it. When he put a nearly similar question on
a previous occasion, he was told by the Right Hon. Gentleman
that a meeting of the trustees was about being holden on the
subject. That meeting having been held, ho wished to inquire
whether it was the intention of the Government to introduce a
measure on the subject?
Sir R. PEEL begged to state that the trustees had
considered the subject, and the Government Mao, and it
was the opinion of both parties that the law in its pre-
sent state, as regarded the destruction of works of art,
was ineffectual—that no sufficient protection existed for
the preservation of works of art against malicious darnage.
The Government, therefore, had resolved upon intro-
ducing a Bill on this subject, and his Learned Friend
the Solicitor-General had a Bill prepared which would
be introduced at an early period. He wished now to
correct a mistatement of a portion of his speech in the
newspapers. Indeed, he felt surprised the reporters'
were so correct. In the debate on the New Zealand
question he was represented as having said that the Go-
vernment had received information of the arrival of in-
convertible debentures by Lord Fitzroy, and that his
Noble Friend, Lord Stanley, had signified his disap-
proval of ioeonvertible debentures. The Colonial De-
partment had received no official notice whatever on, the
subject. He sail that convertible debentures had been
issued, and that his Noble Friend, Lord Stanley, had
taken the earliest opportunity of stating that he did not
approve of them.
Mr. COLLETT wished to know whether the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer meant to exempt holders of
Thice per cent. Consols, on which payment would be
made on the sth of July next, from the income-tax ?.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said he
did not know any reason wily those persons should be
exempted frotr4the tax while it was in operation.
POOR-LAWS (IRELAND).
Mr. F. FRENCH said he wished to know from the
Right Hon. Gentleman opposite when the House would
be put in po session of the decision come to by her Ma-
jesty's Government, with regard to the motley spent by
Mr. Mr. Nicholls over and above the original estimate for
poor-houses?
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said
that the papers on the subject would be laid on the table
in a day or two.
A G RICULTUR AL DISTRESS.
Mr. COI3DEN said that, in rising to bring forward
his nv,tiou on the subject of agricultural distress, he
was relieved ft-rn the necessity of apologising to the
other side of the House, for h.., had put a notice on the
book so long ago, that it could not be said it came from
a. suspicious quarter, and he hid so arranged the terms
of his motion. as to embrace both the amendments
which had been made to it, so that he did
not think those Hon. Gentlemen who gave notice of
those amendments would press them. The object of his
motion was to appoint a Select Committee to inquire into
agricultural distress, and how far- the present laws with
re„ and to the importation of agricultural produce affected
the agrieultuital labourers. And, with regard to that
distress, he could not have higher authority than those
Hon. Gentlemen who professed to be the !Hen& of
farmers and protection.—(Bear, hear.) And it was ad-
mitted by them that there was great distress amongst
the agricultural labourers. One Gentleman, Mr. Hud-
son, stated that, in Norfolk, the farmers paid their rents
from their capital and not from their profits ; and Mr.
Turner, of Devonshire, stated that the distress of the