The Sun.
London, England, 1827-10-23 00:00:00

" TREASURY CHAD/EI:RS, OCT. 22, 1827.
" SlR,—in answer to your several letters respect-
ing the late Malt Act, representing the inconve-
niencies which the maltsters in the county of
apprehend from its operation, I am directed to inform
you, that the Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's
Treasury have had the subject repeatedly under their
consideration, with a views not only to ascertain the
exact grounds of the apprehensions which have been
expressed, but whether there is any foundation for
statements which have been made, that the persons
Connected with the malting trade were not fully.
cognizant of the different provisions in the bill before
it had passed into a law. Their Lordships having
referred to the printed votes of the House of Com-
mons, for the purpose of ascertaining the proceed.
ings upon the bill during its progress through Par-
liament, find that it was read the second time on the
2d of June last, and on the same day (yes ordered to
be printed ; that it was • considered in Committee
'many different times, on end' of which it received
various alterations and amendments, and that it was
three times rewinted asaimended; that during these
proceedings inParliamen t many deputations of persons
connected with the malting trade in England, Ireland,
and Scotland, were heard by the Members of this
Board, and their observatiens respecting the different
clauses and proposed enactments in the' bill were
considered in the most minute detail, so that, before
the passing of the Act, which took, place on the 2(1
of July last, my Lords understood that it had re-
ceived the concurrence and approbation of the trade.
" Their Lordships having compared the provisions
of the new Act with those which %%we previously
in operation in England,lreland, and Scotland re-
spectively, find that the principal object of the Act
is to establish • one uniform system of regulation
throughout the United Kingdom, for collecting the
Malt Duties; that with this view the old laws have
been assimilated and consolidated, the greatest part
of the Act being simply a re-enactment 'of old regu-
lations, such as are new being few in number, and
designed chiefly to establish uniformity of practice.
" Their Lordships having also adverted to the di-
rections already given by them to"the Commissioners
of Excise, with respect to the sections relating to
cisterns and couch-frames, and to the memorial of
the 'said Commissioners, dated the 19th instant, in
which they-request their Lordships' further direc-
tions therein, are of opinion that any cisterns or
couch-frames which were in use before the passing
of the late Act, and which are so placed as to be
accessible to the officer, and so constructed as to
enable him to gauge the corn therein without ob-
struction and without error, shall he forthwith Certi-
fied by the proper officer,
_although the same may
not in their construction conform with the rules pre-
scribed by the Statute with reference to such cis-
terns and couch frames as shall be hereafter made.
" That with respect to any couch-frames or cis-
terns which may be so situated as to impede the
officer in the discharge of his duty, and render it
difficult for him correctly to gauge the grain contain-
ed therein, their Lordships .are disposed to believe
that many such cannot have been permitted to exist
under the operafion'of the laws which have hitherto
been in force; but if any such there are, their Lord-
ships are of opinion that they should be put into, such
a state as will enable the officer correctly to dis-
charge his duty, before .they are certified as being
fit for use, although in these cases also they do not
require that the yeesels .shall be so altered as to be
of the exact shape and depth defined by the statute.
" Lord Goderich has also made known to their
Lordships sthe substanCe of the communications
made to him by, several deputations of maltsters, and
the apprehensions expressed by them as to dif-
ferent clauses of the Act. With a view, therefore,
of granting every facility to persons engaged in the
malting trade, and of removing all restraints which
.may not be necessary for, the secure and equal col-
lection of the revenue, their Lordships have been
pleased to direct the following communication to be
made to the Commissioners of Excise:—
" First.--With respect to the 25th section of the
Act, my Lords direct that under the regulations
therein contained, maltsters shall be allowed to
drain the water from their cisterns throughout the
whole malting season, without the limitation of pe-
riod therein specified.
Second.—With respect to the 32d section, that
maltsters shall not be required to continue the cern
in the couch-frames longer than 26 hours, if before
the expiration of that period the officer shall have
taken a gauge of the said corn, whilst still in the
couch-frame; but if no such gauge shall so have
been taken, the corn shall continue in the couch-
frame until the gauge is taken : provided always
that the officer shall attend for that purpose before
the expiration of 30 hours.
" Thirdly.---With respect to the 42d section of
the said Act, the maltsters having represented that
by the regulations therein contained, the duty will
in some districts, when a particular system of malt-
ing is pursued, be charged in warm weather upon a
greater quantity of malt than will be actually manufac-
tured by such rnaltsters, their Lordships are desirous
of pointing out that the main object of the Act is
to provide the means generally throughout the
United Kingdom of charging with the duty of
2s. 7d. every bushel of malt which shall actually be
made; and their Lordship's are not convinced that
more than this would generally be charged, if the
provisions contained in this section were carried into
execution to their fullest extent : nevertheless, in
consequence of' the apprehension expressed by the.
maltsters, they are pleased to direct, that in the
first instance, and until the 10th of October, 1828,
an allowance of one-third shall be made on the quan-
tity of corn ascertained by gauge, to be taken at
any period between the expiration of the time for
the corn to remain in the couch, and 72 hours from
the time at which such corn shall have been emptied
from the cistern; and that upon all subsequent
floor-gauges the trader shall be allowed one-half, in
lieu of only one-third.
" Their Lordships further direct the Commis-
sioners of Excise to instruct their officers to keep
such accurate and particular accounts of these diffe-
rent operations as may enable them, at the expire-
tion.of the above period, to state to their Lordships
hove far the regulations above prescribed, for car-
rying the provisions of the Act into effect, shall have
actually succeeded, in charging with the duty of
2s. 7d. per bushel the whole quantity of malt made,
in order that their Lordships may be enabled to
judge whether it will be desirable to prolong beyond
the 10th of October, 1828, the indulgence hereby
granted, or adopt any other regulations for more
effectually securing the objects of the act.
" I am Sir, your obedient servant,
" T. FRANKLAND LEWIS."

One night last week, a certain man, near Car-
lake, happening to sit a little later by the fire-side than
usual, was alarmed by a gentle- pressing at the door;
thinking all was not right, hs immediately sprang from
his lethargic state, and, seizing a loaded musket, alarmed
the domestics, who were all at arms in a few seconds.—
lie then exclaimed—" Who is there—whe is there ?" but
no voice answering, be again bawled out—" Can't you
speak ? I say, can't you speak ?—or I'll blow your brains
through the door." Silence, however, still reigned with.
out ; but "the pressing at the door incrcasing the musket
was levelled for the approach of the burglarises head,
when the breeze, blowing a little stronger, forced open
the unbolted door ; and the countryman and his affrighted
domestics discovered to their no small astonishurrnt, that
the wind had been the sole cause of their alarm.— Glasgow
Journal,

almost amounts to a demonstration that the re-
venue would lose nothing by the reduction. We
believe few remissions of taxes would be so po-
pular ; and we are confident, that if; contrary to
all our calculations, the stamp-office revenue were
to fall off in consequence, the public would
cheerfully submit to have the deficiency made
good by a small increase in some other existing
impost.

The advertisement duty stands in much the
same predicament as the stamp duty. It is ex-
cessive in respect even to revenue. We are sure
that Mr. Huskisson and Lord Goderich need
no argument to be convinced that a duty of Is.
or ls. 6d. on every advertisement would yield
as much to the Exchequer as the present pre-
posterous duty of 3s. 6d. This tax affects not
only the newspapers, but the whole trading com-
munity in a very important degree. Advertising
has become absolutely indispensable to many
traders—very useful to all. The reduction of
the duty would be to them a very gratifying boon,.
We might remind the Ministry that when the
duties on 'rabies were reduced, the diminution of
the revenue was risked more than it would be in
the case of newspapers, and for surely a less de-
sirable object. But we trust the merits. of the
question are by this time sufficiently understood
by the leading members of , the Cabinet. We
shall only add, that when the subject is dis-
cussed, the small yet very mischievous and ab-
surd duty on pamphlets and small works should
not be forgotten, seeing that its whole produce is
literally insignificant—the expenpeeiodials
erofietscoollfec:
tion considerable—and its effect really oppres-
sive upon ntany instructive little
low price.

It is reported that a man, married to a relative
I of the Maras, has had orders issued to him by
the ruffians who are bringing ruin on our wretch-
ed country, to separate himself from her, and
with which he has deemed it the safest course to
comply--Dublin Freeman's Journal.
AWFUL OCCURRENCE.—About mid-day, on
Tuesday the 9th instant, a young man, of the
name of Gibson, belonging to the Crook of
Devon, threw himself over the Rumbling Bridge,
near that place. The height, from where he
leaped into the water, is above a hundred feet,
and the place into which he had fallen is a dread-
ful abyss, among rocks through which the waters
foam and roar. He was not found till Friday,
and then with much difficulty, as a scaffold had
to be suspended over the precipice, by which
means men were enabled to descend by ropes.
He was found at the bottom of a lin, where the
light of day scarcely ever penetrates, jambed in
between two rocks, with his head downtnixA, and
his feet stretched upwards, but the pool was so
deep, that they were covered with a considerable
body of water. His body was much mangled.
About three years ago the unfortunate sufferer
fell from a horse, by which his head was so
much injured, that his intellects were somewhat
impaired ; this, added to some disappointment
in his pecuniary affairs, are supposed to have led
to the rash act. He was seen by two men in
the act of throwing himself over. They were ap-
proaching the bridge at the time, and one of
them instantly stripped and scrambled dOwn the
rocks to tbeilarge lin, a little below the bridge,-
where he, thought the object of his search might
have been carried by the impetuosity of the
,tream, but after swimming till nearly exhausted,'
his generous efforts proved fruitless.--Edinburgh
Evening Courn”f