The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1833-11-05 00:00:00

TUESDAY MORNING, NOVEMBER 5, 1833.

Up to the momenti of our going to press nothing new
had reached us from Spain or Portugal. The Cornubian
of Saturday gives a short detail, in the form of a Diary,
from an Individual of high rank in Lisbon, of the pro-
ceedings from the 12th to the 19th October. It is proved
that the statement of the five gun•boats spoken of as
destroyed by Don 111louEL's forces is correct.

By the New York packet ship South America, Cap-
tain Marshall, which has made a remarkably quick pas-
sage, we have received files of American papers down to
the 17th October,. and from Canada to the 11th. She
brings accounts of the arrival out of the John Jay, the
packet ship of the Bth September, from hence. Mr. Clay
has bees making a tour of the northern and eastern
states, and has met with a very flattering reception where-
ever he has moved. The controversy brought about by
the PRESIDENT'S withdrawal of the government deposits
from the United States Bank, and the consequent change
in the secretaryship of the Treasury, seems to acquire
more force as the period approaches for the meeting of
congress. Our limits do not permit us to give the vari-
ous observations which the papers present on this sub-
ject. But some opinion may be formed of the warmth
thrown into the discussion, when terms like " ruthless
tyrant," and other hard names, are freely bandied about,
especially as applicable to the PRESIDENT.

An explosion of the boilers of the steam=boat New
England, from New York to Hartford, which took place
on the 9th of last month, has caused considerable agita-
tion in that quarter. There were one hundred passen-
gers on board at the time the accident occurred, which
was at an early hour in the morning, and, consequently,
when the greater portion of the passengers were in their
berths. In consequence, the loss of life was not so great
as it otherwise would have been. But at the date of the
last accounts from the packet, received in New York,
fourteen or sixteen of the passengers were dead, and
many more were so seriously injured that it was feared
several of them would not recover.

These papers also bring us later accounts from the Ri-
ver Plate than any thing we had previously received;
from which we make the following extracts, dated Bue-
nos Ayres, the 24th August :
" Senores Ugarteche and Tagle have been formally installed in
office,—the former as Minister of Foreign Affairs; the latter as
Minister of the Home Department. The Department of Fi-
nance remains unoccupied.

Despatches have been received from General Rosas, dated
Head-Quarters on the river Colorado, 15th ult., which state
Martiniano Rodriguez, who was in pursuit of an Indian force
commanded by the Cacique Chocori, had forwarded a note sta t
ing that he believed the said Cacique had fallen back upon a
larger force, and that probably altogether it did not amount to
more than 300 men; still he did not think it advisable to attack
unless he had nearly equal numbers. Colonel Rodriguez was
therefore reinforced by Colonel Miguel Miranda's troop ; and
having thus 250 cavalry, he proceeded by forced marches in
search of the enemy ; but they fled to the woodsy abandoning
rooganos Indians; and they pursued the Ranqueles Indians,
totally defeating them. A message was sent to the latter, of-
fering them their lives, provided they brought in with them the
head of the Cacique Llanquetruz, and of his son Pichun ; but
Llanquetruz had disappeared with 60 Indians, all that now re-
mained with him. A number of Ranqueles came over to Ge-
neral Roses : he ordered them to be disarmed, and the Boro-
ganos to become responsible for their good conduct; and all
the Christian prisoners they had made were to be returned, &c.
General Rosas also states, that the few Indians which now
remain are in such a destitute condition, that they cannot any
longer make incursions on the frontiers of Buenos Ayres,
Santa Fe, Cordova, San Luis, and Mendoza; but that all these
advantages will be speedily lost, if the domestic disputes which
now so unfortunately exist in the country should interfere so
as to prevent the confederate governments continuing the pre.
sent operations.

General Pacheco's division occupied the island of Chuelechel.
This island is 10 leagues long and 21 broad, with excellent
pastures, wood, and water. In fact, the despatch states that it
is a complete " pass.;" and that the occupation of it is of the
highest importance both to this Republic and to that of Chili :
also, that 400 men permanently stationed on the said island
would effectually restrain the Indians from further incursions."

We have elsewhere given some further extracts, derived
from the several American and Canadian journals which
have reached us. There has been some severe weather
on the coast of the United States, from %Odell some da-
mage has been done to the shipping.

It is admitted on all hands that the present govern-
ment have been more rigorous in the collection of the
taxes than any of the administrations which have pre-
ceded them during the present century. The surcharges
for house and window duties during the last two years
have been innumerable and beyond all former example.
They have professed economy, and, perhaps, to a certain
extent, they have acted up to these professions; but the
severity of their exactions, and the sharpness of their
practice, have entailed much hardship and oppression on
the middle classes. They profess also to be charitable ;
but their charity inflicts degradation, and, in many cases,
exposes to ruin the parties whom they wish to relieve.—
For instance, they inform the public that no assessed
taxes shall be levied upon those who are in narrow and
embarrassed circumstances. The announcement looks
beautiful upon- paper; it indicates a kindly and conside-
rate disposition, and its tendency is to convince the sim-
ple that Lord ALTHORP'S benevolence is not confined to
fat sheep and horned cattle.

But what is the effect of this boasted lenity and bene-
volence upon tradesmen ? For a man of stinted means,
who is struggling to maintain his position in society, and
suppof t his family, as he has hitherto done, by his indus-
try, to confess that he is unable to pay six, eight, or ten
pounds due for taxes is tantamount to a declaration of
insolvency. I-Ie who should confess thus much must have
no creditors, otherwise a run upon his till, and a demand
of instant payment of his outstanding accounts, would be
inevitable. The payment of even so small a sum must,
in many thousands of instances, be an inconvenience ;
but the moment the tradesman or shopkeeper admits it
to be so, from that moment he is a marked and ruined
man. The liberality of the Whigs, therefore, is an in-
sult. It is a mere mockery of distress. It is a hypocri-
tical evasion of their pledges and the duties of humanity.
We do not wonder, then, seeing what we see, that the
people are driven ,to desperate measures in their resist-
ance to the assessed totes. The illegality of their pro-
ceedings has been encouraged by ministers themselves
for the meanest and most selfish of all purposes, and now
that their objects are accomplished, the ministers affect a
show of liberality and forbearance which is as hollow and
rotten as Whig principles and Whig promises are now
proved to be.

We notice these facts, en passant, as Lady MORGAN would
say, in order to show the deceitful character and the piti-
ful chicanery of his MAJESTY'S ministers ; for, after the
demonstrations which have taken place, and the failure of
the attempt to levy the taxes by means of the Royal
Horse Guards, and two regiments of Infantry, we take
for granted that the home and windc w duties will be
repealed in the next session of Parli. ment. We are
satisfied of this. upon other grounds. The enormous
pressure of these taxes is beginning to e felt by some o

the aristocratic Whigs, who occupy splendid mansions in
London. One case to which we more particularly allude
is that of the Parish of St. James's, in London, versus;
the Earl of BURLINGTON. We admit, however, that the
point under dispute has relation only to the poor rates.
The parish officers have raised the rates upon Lord BUR-
LINGTON'S house from about £l,OOO to near £3,000,
against which rate the noble earl has appealed, and,
owing to some informality, in which that very respectable
radical, Mr. BARBER BEAUMONT, and some other magis-
trate, are concerned, the case is referred to the decision
of the Court of King's Bench. But we draw from what
has transpired this important fact, that the parish officers
of St. James's are of opinion that Lord BURLINGTON has
hitherto, and for a long period of years, been underrated,
and, if underrated to the poor, the inference is, that he
has been equally underrated to the KING. It follows,
therefore, that if an increased assessment be justifiable in
the one case, it must be equally so in the other, and that
if a rate of two thousand pounds per annum additional
can be wrung for the support of the poor, the same increase
must be levied for the taxes. This increased taxation
' will, of course, drive Lord BURLINGTON out of London
altogether. Better to set fire to his princely mansion at
once, or level it to the ground, than pay so dearly for the
honour of spending his income among the " discontented
spirits" of the capital. This new twist in parish proceed-
ings will do more to effect the repeal of the assessed
taxes than all the orations of Mr. BRAIN, or the " passive
resistance" of Mr. SAVAGE. It is quite delectable to see
these worthy people cutting their own throats

But, after all, we are bound to admit that the diffi-
culty of our position as a nation will not be removed by
this repeal of the assessed taxes, and it is equally clear
that the condition of the people of London will be ren-
dered much worse. The assessed taxes are represented,
we know not how truly, to be war taxes, which, beside
their inequality, are objectionable as a source of reve-
nue in a period of peace. The people who offer this
objection cannot surely be the advocates of an income
tax. A tax upon property, and not upon income, would
be deliberate robbery. The injustice of such a measure
is so glaring that we shall not waste another word upon
it. If the defalcation caused by the repeal of the as 7
sessed taxes is to be made good at all, it must be by
means of an income tax, and we should like to see the
man who would dare to propose such a remedy in the
reformed House of Commons. If the BRAINS, STEELS,
and SAVAGES consider a saving of ten or twenty pounds
per annum to be an object in the present depressed state
of trade in London, twice these sums in the shape of an
income tax would be a more serious inroad upon their
means. The new financial measure would extort from
then twenty shillings for every ten of which they had
disburthened themselves by clamour and agitation.
Are they prepared for this ? are they ready to exchange
the lesser for the greater evil ? We think not. They
seek present relief, and do not dream of any ulterior mea.
sures of assessment. They imagine that the compulsory
repeal of the house and window duties will be a salutary
lesson to the noble CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER, and
that economy alone will provide for the deficiency. The
people who talk in this way know nothing of the misera-
ble establishments in which, and the paucity of the offi-
cers by whom the affairs of the state and the business of
the country are conducted. It is impossible to effect any
further reductions in these offices, without injuring, in a
very serious degree, the commerce of the united king-
dom. It is a notorious fact, that, in the Customs depart-
ment, the number of clerks and subordinate officers is so
inadequate to discharge the necessary duty in a prompt
manner, that merchants are daily incurring losses from
delay. There is not a merchant or broker's counting-
house in England in which the business is not better con-
ducted than in the Custom-house of Liverpool. This is
not caused by mal-arrangement, or indolence, or by the
intricacy of the system, but by the inefficiency of the esta-
blishment. Vexatious experiments and imbecile forma-
lities, under the pretext of preventing fraud, do certainly
interrupt business and aggravate the other evils. But
the chief source of evil is in the beggarly economy that
prevails, inflicting far more injury on the country gene-
rally than would be sustained by an additional expendi-
-.
officers.

As in the Customs so is it in every other department.
The working men are literally starved. A subordinate
situation in the Excise is hardly more respectable, and
certainly not so profitable, as that of a footman. Com-
parisons are odious between a half-pay lieutenant in the
army or navy and the driver of a stage-coach. Even in
the more important and hitherto more profitable offices of
Whitehall and Downing-street they have been so re-
duced that no gentleman of any talent whatever, who
could earn twenty pounds per month from 'FRASER,
BLACrWOOD, or CURRIE, would condescend to accept a
situation there. Economy, in point of fact, has been
carried as near as possible, to a single degree above pau-
perism.

How then are these reductions of the public income to
be met We have answered the question before, and
leave our readers to find a better one if they can.

In our number of this day week we published a letter
of the captain and mate of the emigrant ship Cumberland,
put back to this port, upon which we made no comment.
In our last publication we referred to the conviction of
two men connected with the emigration ships; and we
were led, by a knowledge of certain facts, to extend our
observations on the question a little beyond the mere
consideration of the case of the convicted parties. In
short, we stated some of those facts, as applicable to cer-
tain vessels that have quitted, or are about to quit, this
port for foreign countries, with emigrants on board; and
it must he admitted that most astounding facts they were.
Our exposures have roused the ire of some of the parties
implicated ; and contradictions and accusations of false-
hood, directed against those opposed to them—ourselves,
we suppose, included—pour in upon us. We have no
objection to this. Do the parties concerned think to in.
timidate. us by such a course ? They shall see.
We begin by denouncing the practices of many of
these people as in the highest degree disgraceful— as
outrages upon humanity—as calling for the prompt inter-
ference of the higher powers to put a stop to their further
continuance. Do we use too strong language ? Let the
following show :—On Tuesday last, when the trial of
O'NEIL and FOY was expected to come on, some of the
myrmidons of these people—haying their offices in the
vicinity of the Prince's Dock—enticed PATRICK MAGEE,
the principal witness against O'NEILL and FOY, into a
public-house in the neighbourhood, where they made him
drunk; and he was found in a state of insensibility by
the officers, who removed him to a place of security for
the night. So effectually did they succeed in their object,
that MAGEE did not open his eyes until daylight on Wed-
nesday morning, when he declared that the liquor he had
taken must have been drugged. The same opinion has
been expressed by other persons in an affidavit, which
was produced in court, and has since been sent before
higher authorities. The names of the parties concerned
in this transaction are known to us, but we forbear, at
present, from mentioning them. So much for tampering
with witnesses, and impeding the course of justice.
Next for a vessel now in the river bound to Australia.
Fortunately for the passengers this vessel had not cleared
out when the gales of the last few days set in on Thurs-
day night. It is the opinion of several experienced
nautical men that if she had been out, and should have
succeeded in weathering the gale at all, which they con-
sider very doubtful, there would have been little hope of
many of the passengers escaping drowning or suffocation,
even in their berths, from their nature and situation.
As something more may in a few days be heard of this
vessel, we shall leave her for the present, and come back
to the Cumberland.

In a paper of Saturday appears a long letter addressed
to the Editor, bearing the signature of, " ROBINSON
BROTHERS." They there deny the truth of the statement
of the captain and mate, before referred to, and go into
a laboured attempt at justification of their proceedings.
On perusing this letter we thought we might have been
misled by the statements which have been laid before us;
and immediately resolved to visit the ship ourselves.
We have done so; and found her at the furthest extre-