The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1852-08-10 00:00:00

A SQUATTER IN THE FAIR WAY TO WEALTH,

" A thousand pounds would, at the present time, lay
the foundation of a fortune, provided the possessor made
up his mind not to be tempted to the diggings. The first
step would be to put it in the bank at landing, then to
start at once for the out stations. There would be at this
time little difficulty in buying a run, with its stock, for a
little money ; should means be wanting, go and look out
for a run for yourself ; and having found one to your pur-
pose, so situated that stock can be readily put upon it,
apply to the Commissioner of Crown Lands for a depas-
turing license. This application will secure your run for
Six months. After this you will be required to pay an an-
nual sum of £lO for your license from the first of July in
every year ; this will secure you an estate of some score of
square miles, till the government wishes to sell it, which
will scarcely be in your time. Water, pastpasturage, &c.,
must depend on your own judgment. In addition to the
license, you will have to pay a half-yearly tax on all the
stock at your station, viz., a halfpenny a-head for sheep,
three halfpence for cattle, and threepence for horses.
Before you get your license, the capabilities of the run
will be valued by a person appointed by the government,
and another appointed by yourself, as to the number of
sheep or cattle it is capable of supporting; and if this ex-
ceed 4,000, you will have to p.y £2 10s, extra for every
thousand, though you have them not, which the run is
adjudged to carry. This will give you a right to the run
and also to the preemption of it, Should you des
Preference to any other person."

ire it, in

But the settler may not be, and often is.
_not, a
even for him there is the way, if there
Let him buy some sheep, at about 7s.
a head, and go halves with the stockholder who
takes them into his flock. The first year wilt yield
a profit of nearly 20 per cent. upon the sum in-
vested, besides the original sheep and half the
lambs; the second year will increase the profit to
about 26 per cent. upon the original outlay, while
the flock is increasing in numbers likewise. Thus
may the settler in a few years be enabled to realize
enough to become a squatter, or a purchaser; and,
says the author very pertinently, " it is somewhat
questionable whether gold-finding would have paid
him better, or more satisfactorily."

capitalist :
is the will

But that the reader may not accuse us of "harp-
ing on one string "—though we truly think the
gold-seeking far less likely to profit the emigrant
than if he quietly determines to turn his attention
to pastor life—let us extract the following quota-

tion, which is of extreme interest in a scientific

point of view

and Afr

relics of

n the precious

PENCILLING"-OF MR. DISRAELL—Disraeli had ar-
rived before me Eat Lady Blessington's], and sat in the
deep window, looking out upon Hyde-park, with the last
rays of daylight reflected from the gorgeous gold flowers
of a splendidly embroidered waistcoast. Patent leather
pumps, a white stick, with a black cord and tassel, and a
)1 chains about his neck and pockets, served to
en in the dim light, rather a conspicuous
Disraeli has one of the most remarks-
. He is lividly pale, and but for the
_ )1 his action and the strength of his lungs, would
em a victim to consumption. His eye is black as Ere-

ble faces I ever saw

THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD, 'TUESDAY, AUGUST 10, 1852.

POOR RATES AND THE CHURCH OF

IRELAND

TO THE RIGHT HON. TILE EARL OF DERBY.

Mr LO&D,—I trust that in the multiplicity of subjects
which must occupy your lordship's attention at the present
time, that of the Church of Ireland will not be forgotten.

There are many individuals, both in England and this
country, whose idea of the Church of Ireland is, that her
clergy consist of a large body of men totally dispropor-
tioned to the wants of their flocks—or rather having no
flocks at all ! and, at the same time, enjoying enormous
revenues !

But what are the facts ? After the census of 1831 the
Church Protestants of Ireland amounted to over 186,000

individuals. From various causes this number has been
coniderablyaugmented. They cannot now be less than one
million—some say they are much more: while the number

of clergy ministering amongst them is something over two
thousand, or about one for every five hundred persons—a
proportion, I believe, somewhat greater than appears in
England, without taking into account the great extent of
Irish parishes in comparison with those in the sister
kingdom.

With regard to the incomes, they, too, are about equal
in nominal value to those of the English branch of the
Church, i.e., £216 a year, while the actual value is con-
siderably less. In this diocese—Limerick and Ardfert—
the average is £196 and £167 respectively, exclusiveof rates.
The incomes of the clergy—as your lordship is aware—
were formerly, made up of tithes and glebe lands. The
former were altered by the Tithe Composition Act of
1824, which reduced them on an average about one-third.
This was the first reduction.
-The tithe agitation caused another act to be passed in
1832, by which the burden of paying the composition
directly to the owner was taken off the occupier and trans-
ferred to the landlord, who received 25 per cent. for the
trouble of collecting it with his rent, and handing it over
to such tithe owner. This was the second reduction,
which brought down tithe property to about half its
original value ; but the clergy made no complaint.
The next reduction was one which no policy (except a
hatred of the Church) could justify. 'When the Poor-law
Act was passed in 1838, the general rule for levying a rate
was, that each occupier should pay a rate on each pound
of value according to a certain valuation, and that if such
occupier were liable to pay rent, he was empowered to
deduct half a rate from each pound of such rent. The
tithe-rent charge was made an exception. not only to all
other rent charges, which were entirely exempted from
poor rate, but. also to this rule—the person paying it being
entitled to deduct a whole rate from the tithe owner,
though he paid but half a rate himself.

But this very practice was felt by the landlords be an
evil, when applied to themselves. The Boards of Guar-
dians and their valuators began to lower their valuations,
by which means an undue proportio❑ of the rate was
thrown upon the landlords. Parliament applied a remedy
to this by passing an act by which no tenant can deduct
from his landlord more than half the amount of poor's
rate he himself has actually paid, led the disproportion
between rent and valuation be what it may. This brought
matters to an equality, as far as landlords and tenants are
concerned. When a rate is levied the amount and relative
proportions remain the same, while from the decrease in
valuation higher rates must now be struck, and the tithe-
owner's income remaining the same, his rates have in.
creased in more than duplicate ratio.
To illustrate my meaning, I take the case of a property
in my neighbourhood ; rent, £7OO ; valuation, £700;
tithe rent charge, £25. Suppose £250 to be required for
the poor, a rate of about seven shillings in the pound
will produce this, and the tithe owner has to pay £8 155.,
or above a third of his income—while the landlord's pro-
portion is £125 out of £7OO, or less than a fifth part, and
tenants' the same. The valuation has been reduced from
£7OO to £5OO. This requires a rate of ten shillings to
make up the same amount, but from the tithe owner is
deducted £l2 10s., or one half his income ! Had the
mode of deduction from the landlord remained as for-
merly the tenants would pay £250, and deduct from the
landlord £175 on the £7OO rent, leaving their own share
only £75. But the late act remedied this as far as the
landlord is concerned, for the tenants cannot claim more
than £125, or one half of what they themselves have paid ;
so that while the amount contributed by landlords and
tenants remains the same, the clergyman or tithe owner's
income is reduced from two-thirds to one-half ; and what
makes the case more grievous still—the landlord, who has
paid less than 3s. 7d. in the pound himself, that is little
more than one-sixth of his income to the support of the
poor, is entitled to deduct from the clergyman the whole
rate of len shillings ! ! This is not an exaggerated case.
As an instance of the deterioration in church property,
I take the liberty of stating the facts as regards my own
parish, Brosna. Five-and-twenty years ago it was consi-
dered worth £3OO a year. The Composition reduced this
to £175, the balance going to the occupiers. The tithe
rent charge next brought this down to £l3l, 25 per cent.
or £44 being allowed to the landlords for collecting this
sum. This income—small as it is—has been further
reduced by the poor rates, so that out of my half year's
income of £65, due last May, no less a sum than £47 is
deducted for poor rates, leaving but £lB for my support
and expenses of every kind I In one electoral division,
instead of £3B to which I am entitled, I can claim only
£2 4s. 4d. ! !

My lord, what have the Irish clergy done to merit this
treatment ?

" Facts," my Lord, " are stubborn things," and these
are facts. The clergy of the church of Ireland have
flocks, whose average numbers equal, if they do not ex-
ceed those of their brethren in England. Their incomes,
too, are equal, while their spheres of labour are much
more extensive and the duty more harassing. In the
discharge of their duties they are, to say the least,
equally conscientious. But here the parallel ceases.
The English clergy, no doubt, pay a poor rate ; but it is
not with them a crushing impost. It does not amount,
as in my case, to 18e. 10d. in the pound on a half year's
income in the greater part of a small parish, and Ss. in
the remainder, sweeping away the whole at one blow !
The remedy is in your Lordship's hands. If an income
of £2OO a-year he not considered too high for the duties
we hare to perform, let the impost (which is the merest
fraction to those who receive it,) be altogether removed.
But if a deduction must be made, let it be such as shall be
paid bona fide, for the use of the poor, and let no man
have the power, as at present, of demanding, say three
shillings in the pound, under the name of poor rate, and
then applying two shillings of it to his own use !—I have
the honour to be, my Lord, your Lordship's very obedient
humble servant, EDWARD NORMAN, A.M.
Rector of Brosna, Diocese of Ardfert, &c.
Brosna, Abbeyfeale, 30th July, 1852.

DISTRICT NEWS.

ST. HELENS

AGRICULTURAL REPORT.—The corn harvest bas begun
Oats are being cut, and wheat is ripening faster than will
expected. Barley is full ready for the scythe. Bean:
are going on nicely. Cabbage, vetches, and turnips ari
thriving rapidly. Potatoes are rotting very fast; indeed
those that are got up good and sound one day -
the next. Cows are milking well, and butter is

e rotten

t of eddi

said to be light, but good
ling in the ordinary w

The us

oni are proce

a scarcity of hands; what it is to be attributed

-CORN SET ON FIRE

afternoon, a most aw

ed in tt

new bu