The Sun.
London, England, 1842-12-17 00:00:00

THE GREAT LEAGUE FUND

PUBLIC MEETING IN SOUTHWARK.
A public meeting was held last night of the in-
habitants of the Borough of Southwark, in the Tem-
perance Hall, St. George's-road. At seven o'clock,
the hour of meeting, the spacious building was
crowded to overflowing with an audience consisting
in equal proportions of the middle and working
classes.

BENJAMIN WOOD, Esq., M.P., on taking the chair,
was received with loud cheers. He stated that the
object of the meeting was to enable his constituents
to take their own part in the measures everywhere
adopted by the people of England for procuring the
repeal of the Corn-laws.—(Cheers.) He was happy
to express it, as his decided opinion, that the League,
had made very great progress, and their prospects of
success were of the most promising description.—
(Cheers.) The object of the Great League Fund
was to extend information on the subject of the Corn-
laws, and to manifest the opinion of the people in the
manner which most effectually proved they were in
earnest—by their being willing to pay for enforcing
it by peaceable, intelligent, and constitutional means.
—(Oheers.) The history of the present year proved
that society was in a very precarious state ; and the
increase of poverty and decay of trade showed that
there was no time to be lost in removing the pressure
which weighed upon the energies of the country.
Mr. SIDNEY SMITH congratulated the large .assem-
bly on having chosen for its chairman a gentleman
whose votes he had closely watched, and which he had
always found on the side of the people.—(Cheers.)
On all the Corn-law divisions their representative had
been found at his post, and he was one of the feW
Members who had supported the consideration of the
National Petition and Mr. Sharman Crawford's ino-
tion.—(Great cheering.) Mr. Smith then warned '
them against treacherous friends, who would accept
of moderate fixed duties, and exposed the fallacy of
Earl Fitzwilliam's proposition for maintaining a corn
duty for revenue purposes. Mr. Smith concluded by
alluding to the Quarterly Review, which had accused
the League of having caused the northern insurrec-
tion. It was of no use to ask the insolent Conserva-
tive dictator for his proofs of this. They had fortu-
tunately been furnished with conclusive proof that Sir
Robert Poel and his party were the authors of that
outbreak. He held in his hand the last number of
the Journal of the Statistical Society, in which would
be found a statistical account, by Sir C. Shaw, of the
criminals in Manchester, from which it appears " that
of 646 offenders, 320 had wanted employment an
average of eight months and twenty -five days previous
to their apprehension."—(Hear.) He (Mr. Smith)
charged the legislation which threw these men out of
employment with their crimes.
Mr. WlLLiam WILSON, manufacturer, moved a re-
solution pledging the meeting to contribute to the
Great League Fund, and proposing a numerous list
of influential gentlemen as a provisional committee.
Mr. LUKE EMBLETON, manufacturer, seconded the
resolution.

A Mr. BLACKMORE then advanced to address the
meeting, and his appearance was the signal for hoot-
ing and hissing, particularly from the working men.
Mr. IVilson, Mr. Bracon, and the Chairman re-
quested a hearing for the speaker, but when he came
to the word " Charter," inohis amendment, the groans
were deafening.
Mr. NODDER seconded the amendment.
Other O'Connorites attempted to speak, but were
checked.

The CHAIRMAN then put the amendment, when
about eighteen hands were held up. Nearly the
whole meeting then held up their hands against the
amendment. The original resolution was then car-
ried almost unanimously; and after a unanimous rote
of thanks to the Chairman, the meeting separated.

SURCHARGES IN THE RETURNS
OF THE PROPERTY-TAX.
Yesterday a numerous and highly respectable meet-
ing was held of the merchants, tradesmen, and inha-
bitants generally of the Ward of Tower, for the pur-
pose of investigating the cause of a general complaint
in regard to the numerous returns, made under -the
Property and Income-tax Act, having been sent back
surcharged; The value of'the wharf property made
the question peculiarly important. In the absence of
the Alderman, owing to indisposition, Mr. Deputy
Finals was unanimously called to the Chair.
The CHAIRMAN said he had called this meeting in
consequence of a requisition signed by a large number
of most respectable individuals, who considered that
they had been most improperly and unjustly stir-
charged. The requisition having been read, the
Chairman said, that he was first of all desirous of sub-
mitting to the meeting a letter from the Government
Surveyor, Mr. Welch, which had been put into his
hands as he entered the room, and which was as
follows :
" 2, Crooked-lane Chambers, Dec. 16, 1842.
" Sia,—l have been favoured with a printed no-
tice convening a meeting of the inhabitants of the
Ward of Tower, to take into consideration the course
to be pursued in consequence of a very large portion
of the ward having had their returns for the Pro-
perty and Income-tax surcharged without sufficient
cause.'
" I should have addressed this to Mr. Alderman
Lucas, to whom I have been personally known for
twenty-five years, but I understand he is unable to
attend. I therefore offer to you the following re-
marks, not that I, as a public officer, consider myself
amenable to the ward or its inhabitants, but that having
been informed the inconvenience which has been
occasioned has been ascribed to me and my office
here, I feel that I should remove that, if any such
impression still exists.
" The ward of Tower assessment contains under
Schedule A, Property,• 611 persons assessed ; of this
number 142 have been increased by the ward as-
sessors, and eight by myself, and in the number of
my increases there are two who did not make returns.
In the assessment under Schedule D, Income, 1,542
assessed—of this number 556 have been estimated by
the ward assessors, it being alleged by such officers
that those persons did not make returns, which alle-
gation, from the inquiry I have made, I believe to be
partially untrue, as I think some of the parties made
returns, and the assessors have mislaid or lost them.
Out of the assessments here referred to, I have
made sixty-two additions, but I think I can truly say
1 have not made six of those additions, without the
suggestions of the ward assessors.
" I have not gone into this statement with a view
to screen myself from any odium my proceedings have
incurred, because I am of opinion, and I think you
will agree with me that a public fficer 'acting as I
do, under the obligation of an oath, should not be j
governed by the tide of local feeling. It will, how-
ever, be a matter of consideration with 'the ward
officers whether they should recommend the assessors
for the office of collectors.
" I am, Sir, your very obedient servant,
(Signed) " E. WELCH.
" To Mr. Deputy Finn's.
The CHAIRMAN then stated that Mr. Chambers,
one of the district assessors, was present, and that he
was ready to answer any questions which might be
put
to him, in regard to the manner in which the re-
turns had been revised.
Mr. Chambers was then asked several questions in
regard to the data he had taken as the foundation of
the surcharges.
Mr. CHAMBERS made a long appeal to the meeting,
and declared he had most reluctantly had anything
to do with the matter. He stated that he had at
first sent in his book to the office of the Government
surveyor, made up according to the actual return.
That the book had been sent back to him, with a mes-
sage that any schoolboy could fulfil the duties of the
office as well, and that he was required to revise and
raise the amounts. He concluded by stating, that he
had done this most reluctantly, 'and in corroboration
of what he had stated, he said he would be most,
happy, when called upon, to produce his rejected as-
sessment.
Mr. 31AITLAND said that he rose for the purpose of
submitting a resolution condemnatory of the course
which had been pursued by the surveyor and as-
sessors. He stated that he had no desire to enter into
a consideration of the necessity or policy of the Pro-
perty and Income-tax, but having been surcharged
in all his returns, he could not refrain from
coming forward and asking the meeting to
go along with him, in denouncing the wholesale sys.
tern of surcharging which had been practised. _tie
considered the time and trouble expended in seeking
relief by appeal as more intolerable than the pecuniary
loss itself. On • the other hand, if an individual did
not appeal,
it might be taken as tantamount to an ac-
knowledgment that an incorrect return had been
made. He concluded by moving "That this meet-
ing, composed of merchant; tradesmen, and in-
habitants of the ward of Tower, does not intend to
consider, upon the present occasion, the necessity or
policy of the Property and Income-tax, the meeting
having been convened solely for the purpose of de-
nouncjpg publicly, and in the strongest language, the
mann& in which a large number of the returns in