Star.
London, England, 1828-05-02 00:00:00

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-ions. one equivalent to the other but how was the
revenue to be pierect.4lX- not know precisely
what' • the proposition of the i firrenur able- .Gehilalban
Was.' He .talked or establishing' e Akira
tribenale 'lt is impossible •that ehr teiboula
could be more efficient than the Boat& already
existing. ' that; 'the bdtiftesi coditt be Utter
administered by
any body of men. If any other cribs-.
nal should be established, it would soon become mach
more odious than the present. The Hon. (Indianan
alluded to 69 cases, in each of which the costs'vrere XS&
He-did not, however, point them otirdistinctly.
did nit deny that there might be cases in which, thou&
the penalties sought were trilling. the expense Might be
considerable.-.cases in which peculiar circurnilktees
mighteender the prosecatido accessary, though the kilh.
natty to be received could not be large. He.wasccd•
cerned in twocases is which died= to be recovered was
trifling, though the costs Were large. One was a case of
lass, in which it was necessary that all the statutes hens:
mg upon the point should be brought tegetberend
castigated. Allusion was made to the clerks in the .
chequer, and their place was rept-seated intli scni:eute.
He could assure the House cher WINE IS/ lurmeatm
sinecure. A vacancy lately Oecurrecho which he ap•
pointed a Gentleman every way fit forthe sittiation•ibalf
before the appointment he had a promise from him, kW,
in wilting and by word, that he. would make 'himself
master of the 'revenue laws'connected with'his depute.:
ment, and take notes of every case which occurs ed.t hat the
Batons Might- afterwatds have recourse to them for It*.
formation. But it seemed the Attorney General and do
Solicitor Gesittat were too largely paid for these Odra.
cutions. For Isis part, he could assure'the Hon. Mu.'
denten that he was frequently detained in the Cam
of Exchequer, on tevenne • causes, very much
hiccinvenitnee, and that ie point of professional einolb.
Meat be was a loser rather than a grlineeits suchprotteed.
ings. These observations were addressed bi
Gentleman—not to him persenallj, but to theciffiCa. of
Attorney-General. Had Ahoy been addressed to-hiall
personally. he would not' bare descencktltet.the ditty
condescension of noticing them; With respect-to-6e
case of Captain Bryant, he 'was oft-acquainted .with it,
except from the statement-of the. Honourable. (eettle-
.
man. me had incited, heard something•tabobt
mete stint pude to *NO. The CORlplisitlC was, that,afteir
having been. allowed- to amend his manifest; it* siktt
proceeded against and put to great expense. • He um
unacquainted with the circumstances o•f the sass, Ms
in matters of this kind. the utmost ataratimr• was
necessary •to prevent frauds oh the reeetine." He
recovered penalties for valuable pictures:conees
between twit slabs of marble, the. entry being itt
manifest only so many pounds of marble. Wiehie.
'spect to Mr. Stock, be was proceeded againsit hat
not giving the regular notice required .14. the Stem
Laws. • a notice on which the whohtsprotectfon •of
revenue depended. The witness' was afterward;
found 'guilty of 'perjury; but the Clerical' Berate;
to whom the HonOttable Gentleman alluded, wee
not to blame: They acted upon the'etridetwas brought
before them. It was, he would admit, a hardship
fornletly when all revenue cases lade brought up to
London.for trial. But that was not thecase now, tot
three 'out of ellery four cases were 'decided before lota
tribunals in the country, andvhe never yet, since the'ilfs
troductinti of the 'Act by the Master of the Mint fMr.
}ferries), heard of any charge of' misconduct on the
part of the Magistrates. told the Honourable Gentle.
Man propose to abolish thhi' Act of Parliament? By so
doing he would again let in oneof the principal evils
of which he complained. After swine further ob.erva-
tions, the Hon. and Learned-Gentleman concluded by
giving the motion his decided negative.
. Mr. WESTERN admitted that the Honourable
Member fortolchester had 'not pointed out any reme-
dy for the evils. burstill he did not think the local 'tri-
bunals were adequate to the relief of those charged
with offences against the revenue. He contended, too,
that those charged with these offences were deterred
from defending prosecutions by the:want of means, as
well as the want of courage, when they saw the whole
power of the Crown arrayed against them. lie ad-
verted to the case of Mr. Sticks, which was one,
in -his . opinion, • of extreme hardship;' the pro.
mention against him bad been instituted on
insufficient grounds—the conviction founded upon
it had been supported by perjury—and in eyes),
respect in which it could be received, it was a case art
ethanee with the-principles of justice. The iHon.
Member considered this case peculiarly entitled to the
consideration of Governmetst.: He proceeded to state
the subsequent proceedings. *hit hbad b.enadopteeby
Mr. Stocks, bat which yielded him no -seisfactory
relief. He gave credit to the general dispositioaahat
existed on the part of the Excise to an impartial Omni-
nistration, but he did not think that a sufficientljeffi-
cient.conuoul was exercised over the administration of
the department.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER ad.
' omitted that the case feinted to bi the Hon: Mentter
who bad just sat down, was one entitled to the serious
attention of Government ; and he could assurethe 11. n.
Member, that it was the intention of the Lords of stye
'Treasury to bestow upon this case, as They had dor*
upon others of a similar nature, the most m ante con-
sideration. If the case were one entitted.to relief, it
-would be afforded. Indeed, from what had fallen from
the Hon. Member who had just spoken, it would appear
that his objection was not so much to the form of pro.
ceedings, or even to the tribunals before whick those pro.
ceedings took place, as to the perjury which took place,
and whet no tribunals, no mode of proceedings,. could
-quite prevent. Ho could bear testimony to the vigilance
esercised by the. Board Excise in laying informations.
-They usual', took the precaution to have a previously
wellesseblishest case before informations were laid. As
a proof of this, be would sta:e, that out of 954 infot.
,mations, there had been 971 convictions.-(Hear, him).
He knew that there wawa disposition sometimes to god
fault with whatever-trammel was instituted. If it were
proposed that the trial should- take place before the
Court of Exchequer, the expense was complained 01.-.
-and if 'it were referred to the local jurisdiction of two
Magistrates, the competency of the tribunal erns at-
tacked. But it should be remembered, that if-the de-
cision of the Magistrates was impugned, these was an
appeal from it to-the Quarter Sessions.
Mr. BRIGHT objected to the local jutisdietion of
the Magistrates and to the proceeding in theEttete.
goer. Some reform of the law was requisite.
Mr. HERRIES spoke in terms of comuseudation of
the consolidation of the Excise Laws. .Bomoinconve.
nience might have arisen from the summary process of
the Magistrates: but it should be remembered, that
these was a power of appeal to the Quarter Sessis ns
from their decision. By that means relief from 'airy
grievance, under these laws, was secured. Hews* sun-
prised at the extraordinary error into which the Hon.
Mover had fallen, in supposing that dooblefees were
given, on conviction, to Exchequer dorms. Hs had
applied fee information, since the debate began, to a
Gentleman who had practised for thirty years in that
Court, andhad understood chest it was foisuerly. the

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