The Statesman.
London, England, 1815-01-24 00:00:00

!.

,'ii

THE S'TAT'ESMAN;

NAVAL INTELLIGENCE.

prAL, JAN. 23.—Came down from the River the
ion. for Tobago ; Union East lediaman, for
Lady Ridley, for Antigua ; and the Hope,
Ilan*, and have all sailed to Westward.—Ar..,
red the Larne and Lee sloop.: , and Swan
tier, from the Nore; the t 'former have
led for Portsmouth, the latter remains.

PORTMOUTH, J. 23.--teme into harbour his
ijesty's ship Pioneer.—Went out his Majesty's
lip Dextrous.
- -

F totorrru, JAw.2l.—Arrived the Active, Barnes,
Waterford.—Sailed the Snap gun-brig, on a
size; and Duke of Kent packet, with a Mail for
;boa.

'The Pallas, ifollman, from Newfoundland, was
,uured in let. 41. long. 48.1 y. the Amelia pri-
'ter. and put lute Cadiz the 24th alt. In distress.
The Se. Jana, from Riga to Amsterdam, was
It 20th December, off Lindao.

The Duke of NoaTnumatnr.Aron has ordered 201.
to tie distrilieted to the crew of the Northumberland .
life-Amt, who so gallantly preserved the seamen of
the veel µ hirh was lately lost off Shields..
On Tuesday last, J. G. LtstaTox, Esq. M. P.
eve a most brilliant and splendid entertainment to a
namerous party of Gentlemen, of the counties of
Dirham and Northumberland, and of Newcaste, con-
sisting principally of Members of the Lambton Hunt;
end acmintmorlated with beds, within his extensive
mansion, upwards of 20 Gentlemen.
BREAD.—The LORD MAYOR ordered the price of
Bread to continue the sane as last week.
Died on the 12th instant, Mr. TIICrMAS WARDLE,
%ha was one of the twelve in the indictment for high
treason, with HARDY, TOOKE, THELWALL, &c. in
the year 1791.--He was not in prison as the others
were, for he went to Holland, and there remained until
all the trials terminated and the prisoners honourably
acquitted.

• On Sunday; se'nnight some villains entered the
toll-bar-house at Wartilowe Myers, near Tideswell,
in Derbyshire, kept a by poor widow woman of the
name of Oliver, about 70 years of age, e hOin the
inhuman wretches strangled.
The shop of Mr. Davis, butcher:: in Carnaby-
market, was broken into and robbed of a quantity
& meat on the night of Sunday. The shutters were
forced, and the robbers got off undisturbed by the
watchman with a quantity of meat.
An experiment was made on Tues:'ay last on the
Serpentine River, in the presence of a few scientific
persons, to discover i hat practical improvement might
be made in a portable apparatus (intended to be kept
in readiness at the Canal, in St. James's Park, during
the frost, where there is neither boat nor other ar-1
rangement for affortling assistance at that perilousl
time), for sating persons who may fall through the
ice. In this apparatus a thin copper case, three feet
by two, covered by basket-work, to protect it from
injury, in which the air was closely confined, gave a
buoyancy sufficient to support a folding ladder, with
two men placed on it, to direct the means of rescue;
they had with them a portable drag, the handle of
vl,irft could expeditiously be lengthened to 24 feet,
to nithdrew bodies from under the ice, or raise
them, if sunk to the bottom. The design was well
adapted to its purpose, and with a very Mills altera-
tion, will prove an infallible mode of relief in acci-
dents hitherto fatal. Captain Manby further pro-
posed, in cases where the distance precluded assist-
ance by ordinary means, to project a rope by a rocket
to the persons its jeopardy. The rocket, he stated,
might he an accompaniment of the above described
apparatus, and the ladder be made a stand at any
degree of eleiation from which to fire it. The
rocket exhibited for this purpose was for greater
monvenience adapted to-be, and without a stick, and
could be fired by percussion with any hard substance
at hand. •

Friday, the 20th instant, Benjamin Lambdin, the
driver of the hackney-coach, No. 453, was committed
to prison, by the Hackney Coach Commissioners;
for fourteen days, for having refused to pay a fine
set *whim by the Commissioners, for refusing to carry
a Gentleman in his coach from Oxford-street to Hyde
Park-corner, on the Sth inst. attended with rude
and coutcmptuoA behaviour. •The *same day the
drivers of live other hackney-coaches were convicted,
and paid the full penalty, for being absent from their
coaches in Bridge-street, Blackfriers.
• CORON xa's INQUEST.—Yesterday an Inquisition
mai held at the Cooper's. Arms, Hampden-street,
Somers' Town, before -G. Honoson, Esq. Coroner ,
for Middlesex, on the body of Mrs. Butler, a re.
spectabld widow lady's a resident of that place, who
suddenly expired on Friday last. Mrs. Butler had
intimated to some of her neighboure, in the begin-
sing of the week, that she meant to spend a few j
days with her friends in town, and on Tuesday, as I
we understand, she set off to transact some business -
at the Bank, and did not return until Friday, when
she returned in company with Mr. O'Farrel, a Gen-
tleman who was lately a Major in the army, and who
as the only witness examined before the Coroner.
lie deposed that the deceased went to visit Lady
Frazer, where she dined on Thursday ; did not hear
her complain of illness until she was returning home
through Russell-square, when she complained of a
pain in the stomach ; when she came to the corner of
Ossulston-street, she again complained and went into
a green grocer's shop, where she sat for a few mi.-
nutes; on coming out she only went n few yards
from the door, when she said she must. again return
into the shop; as she felt very ill ; she sat down and
almost instantly expired ;.Messrs. Squirrel and Moss,
surgeons, were called in, but before their arrival life
was extinct. Verdict—hied by the Visitation of God.
DIIXADIPUL A4CIDIXT.—At an early hour in the
morning of Thursday se'nnight, a man and woman
travelling in a-gig from 'faunton to Chard, were up-
set in passing the precipice of Castle-ne-Roche, In
consequence of which the man was killed on the spot,
the woman had her thigh broken, and the vehicle was
flashed to pieces. From the summit of the hill to the
abyss into which they fell; the depth is not leas than
JOO feet.

But why, continued Mr. V. is this obnoxious,
this.enslaTing, tax to remain ? Are there no Win
ways of Pioviding for national wants, and of meet
log tbss,enormous expences of the late war ? If ti.
weight"Of those expences is to fall upon our poste.
rity, why should we load our children with a chai
worse ,than despotism itself?—let us rather behold the
asseised taxes doubled and trebled. Set the highest
impost upon the luxury of life. Spare -not the en..,
iny.ments et the wealthy. But deliver the laced:44
lof the merchant; the mechanic, the artist, from t
, votive eye of an inspector; and from the arbltrarylire.
cisisseof a commissioner.2Retrench all tttakmpeneee
—futrotlece in every deparithent of Government ti
sollitalti tee most rigid economy; trent' no mei
petadond "nth the finances of the state bre able
pei ildmis=-call upon Parliament, call upon eve'
person to attend to the means of sustaining publ
credit,idAbo manner that credit can alone be sus
taitted;by punctuality and if recodrse must be had
to the Sinking Fund, go to that—the laws of or
country allow it—rather than continue an Inquisi,
tpriel Property Tax. When the Act enforcing the
Tax was first devised in 1805 as it at present stand
the victory at Austerlitz had filled all Europe, wit
terror, and the power of Austria was laid low at tht
fate( the coqueror now the victor In that battle)

PROPERTY. TAX. .. 0' • of feelings that revolted against this 'inquisitorial or- the terrific conqueror of Europe, itshorn 'of la Oat es
—eswees. - 1- deal, jio disgusting to freemen, and to sign the pen- made him dreadful. Of hi. military strewth and his
LIVERPOOL ToymINALL MEETING. tion" to the House of-Commons, as the true tonsil. extensive domains he now retains enly a barren rock
On Tuesday last, in ire i' sequence of a Requisi. tutional means of demanding and iusisting upon the in the; nidst of the ocean, where'he lies, like:Mtn in-
tion to the Mayor, signed-by many of the most re- extinction of grievances so abhorrent to the very ancient fable, on whose entrails a never-d% to vulture 7
spectable inhabitants, a public meeting took place in nature of Britons. In petitioning Parliament they' continually preyed, unable to pollute the soil of that,
the Town-hall, to take into consideration the pro. , could not do wrong, nor could they repeatedly peti. Continent with his presence winch he had deluged with
priety of petitioning Parliament against the medi- tion in vain. There was no power in the realm, that ..Wood. The very cause in which this tax originated
tated renewal of the Property Tax. We never, on could long disregard the voices of the people,for the is at an eud. If the:war with America afforded any
any former occasion, remember so crowded a meeting Repretentatives of the people always heard with at: hope of its continuance, to those who support it,—
in the same place ; the pressure indeed was so great, tention the voice of the people. ; that too is now happily extinct; aud the vessel which
as to render it almost impracticable to lake any notes : Mr. V. then adverted to the inequality with which ' carried oat the Treaty .of Peace, is, ere this, arrived
of what passed. We were pleased to see that there the tax operated. It classed together the inn il of ; With the olive-branch on her' tisg. It rernents only
was no evidence of the slightest partiality in the ad- 20,0001. per annum and the men of 2001. What : with the people to call on Parliament to put an end
mission ; as we observed many individuals mixed in- was the scale of deprivation in these two cases ? Of to an impost of so obnoxious a character, and they
discriminately with the crowd, who upon former oc.. what comfort, what luxury, what enjoyment was the i will succeed.
casions have generally contrived to gain entrance man of 20,0001. per annum deprived, in comparison'' Mr. Venablea concluded with moving the Resole.
either by private doors, or at an earlier hour. with the' many gratifications, nay, necessaries to a ; tions.
The Mayor took the Cltair precisely at 12 o'clock ; ' man surrounded by an infant family, which were I Mr. Taos. FLeerettaa then addressed the Chair u
and it is no flattery to say, that we never witnessod surrendered by him who had to give 201. oqt of a , follows:
, more independence, decision, and impartiality in any bare income of 2001. Nor was there any morel Mr. Mayor,- in offering tertelf to your notice, for
i
Chairman, upon any occasion. equality in the operation of the lax upon the man of ; the purpose of
.seconding the motion, 1 feel that I
1 After briefly stating the object of the Meeting; and inheritable income and the aunuitnnt. The latter , need not use many words. The Resolutions which
bespeaking a patient hearing forevery gentleman who might be 70 years of age, his annuity of 3001. not' have" just bred read, I am. Jure, must recommend .
might address the company ; the Requisition was . worth a month's or even a day's put-chase, and yet :themselves to the good sense of this Meeting; anti e"
read by the Town Clerk. :he paid 301. a year, while the possessor of an income after the very able manner in which they have.been„.
Mr. VEN AISLES, the Barrister, then rose. He said of 3001. per ann. in perpetuity paid no more. Could introduced by the Learned G'enttemani•it cannot hie
that he felt the warmest thanks to be due from every any thieg be more unequal—nothing surely—unless we expected-that any observations of mine will add much
person present, to the Mayor, for his open, candid, take into consideration a third comparison, which-was, I-to the impression which has liven made. But I limns
and impartial conduct, in attending to the circum- that of the man who drew.loool.perame from property ; the indulgence of the Meeting Will ;now me briefly
stances of the Requisition, notwithstanding the strong and the man who, by thentraordinary exertions of his - to state the views and motives which have Induced me
i and high-toned opposition which he understood had industry and genius, had• made during the last year ;to step forward on the present occasion.
Ibeen set up against it. Those thanks were not due profits to the amount of 10001. • What equality really I I consider the Property Tax (or as it should rather
from him alone, not from that Assembly only, but was there in suffering these two men to lie under i be called, the Income Tax, for income, not proper.
i from the town at largo, aud he was sure that from the i the equal operation of this tax ? One paid upon an ! ty, is the criterion of assessment) to be a measure,
itown at large they would be as kindly received as unalterable income, the other upon an income, that ; the adoption of which could only be justified by im-
they were most cordially offered. With some re- , from the nature of things could never remain two ; perious necessity. This necessity arose out of im.
i luctance (wishing that some person of greater rank years or two months alike. What rendered the in- . minent danger to,the country, from the hostility of
! and influence than himself bad stood forward on the , equality more apparent, and more fearful was thp a 'powerful, ambitious, and exasperated enemy—it
i occasion), but with no dissatisfaction, he had taken circumstance, that the trader is assessed for the . was a danger which could be successfully resisted
upon himself the task of opening the business of the ensuing year, according to the profits of the year only-by.e anion of all'our means and all our eller-
i Meeting, and he felt pride and pleasure in saying he past. It is true, he may appeal should his profits de- time, military and financial. The people of this
I did so at the request of the honourable and respect- . crease, but who does not perceive the distressing and country felte.Str, 'that there we. a call upon them
able persons who had signed the Requisition, and of fatal disclosures to which an appeal, in such circom. Ito put forth•all their strength, and to submit to every
proposing Resolutions, which would presently be stances, would lead ? and who will not readily 1 privation, in order to defend its prosperity, its con-
reed by the Town Clerk. Every person who reflected imagine that the unfortunate tradesman will pay a • sequence, and, perhaps, its very existence as an in•
for a moment, on the calls perpetually made on ac- ' tax, beyond the legal claim of Government, rather dependent State. Under this impression, they sub-
count of the Property Tax, would acknowledge thelthan acknowledge, perhaps to his very creditors, the ; milted with wonderful patience to the continually
close and personal importance of the subject now decay of his business ? t increasing burdens which the war imposed on them,
introduced to the consideration of the Meeting.— , The Commissioners may, generally speaking, be and, in particular, to this enormous Property Tax,
It was to that subject alone-that he intended to fie ' directed in their conduct, by principles of humanity, with its train of arbitrary assessments amid inquisi.
their attention. He had no wish to attach blame to,idelicacy, aud honour s but they never could be tonal investigations, insomuch that 1 know not which
or to call for applause on, any Administration, i enough guarded against the most unjust and contra- . was the greater, the valour of his Majesty's forces
or to censure any men or their measures. For the' dictory results. And here, said Mr. V. let me bear labroad, or the patience and constancy of the people
last twenty years or more, every Administration ; testimony to the mild and humane manner in which lat home.
had been involved in financial difficulties, in conse- the Commissioners in this town have conducted them.
quence of the character of a war which had demanded selves : they have uniformly stood between the haw'
ell the energies aud resources of the nation. Various and his prey, and have,,as far as with them lay, mi
methods had been devised to support the credit, and tigated the severity of the Act. In this they have
to supply the actual wants of tile Treasury. Whether been assisted by their clerks, Messrs. Stanistreet and
the means resorted to had, or had not, been adequate Eden, to whose merits and urbanity the Gentleman.
to the calls of the war—whether they had or had is ho seconds the motion, and all the town, will bear
not been constitutional or popular, formed no part of with me, the most ample testimony.
the present question. All that he had to keep in his It frequently happened, the absence or the ur,
nsind,and to press upon the minds of those who heard gency of particular affairs rendered it impossible '
him, was this, that in the process of the war, Mr. appeal against an extravagant surcharge. This, sal
Pitt had found it necessary to come directly to the Mr. V. has happeowile myself: A surcharge, against
pockets of the people, and to frame what was at first which I had more their once appealed, and, by show.
called the " Income Tax." This was the ground. , ing its injustice, bed-ohtaitreviita *emission, was la/
Iwork, the origin of the subject now before the meet- at length, at a period, when distant business render.
; ing. He was not addressing that meeting with the ed my attendance on the Commissioners impossible:
idea that they would consent to suffer the calls of the consequence was, that the unjust assessment so
iGovernment upon them, for the immense expence• of frequently acknowledged and set aside, is at lar
the war, to go unpaid. But, when he looked to the confirmed. It is thus, that people are compelled .
manner in which this tax, even from its origin, had conform to injustice, through the action of this most
been supported, he coeld not but perceive that the oppressive tax. This oppression was called forth ant'
consent of the people to it, had always been drawn pat into action by men called inspectors. These it
ion from time to time, by the promise of its cessation: specters were to be compared to births of prey, hove
some period had ever been stated at which it was to' ing over the people, threatening destruction IN her,
cease ; and its continued protraction had been al.•' ever they happened to alight. They increased the
ways made to hinge and turn on one point—namely, ' oppression inherent in the very nature and chanter
necessity. When Mr. Pitt first introduced it, he of the tat—a tax which was grating to the feelini
I distinctly stated, that its duration should on no ac. ! of him who paid it with the-least reluctance, and
count exceed the duration of the then war. With j death blow to the confidence due to all pecunia,
this impression the burden of this tax had been borne transactions in a commercial country. Equitable- a,.
with patience, during the remainder of that part of ! the Commissioners might endeavour to be, it must
the war that ended in 1801. At, or soon after, that ,be acknowledged that the 'sewer entrusted with them
period, Parliame4 was assailed by numerous poi- was far greater than what ought to be held by any
Cons against its continuance. It was justly consi. individuals. Their power was nearly arbitrary.—
; dered as a war tax only, and so strictly had the Ad- I Their scrutiny upon oath, by interrogation, and by
ministration of 1801 taken up this popular idea, that i inspection of books, was altogether worse than the
, they felt no possibility of carrying such an obnoxious :scrutiny of Papal Inquisitors. How lamentable war
tax into action during peace. The machine had in- "the case of a man of talent, whose means rested nr
deed been framed'to their hand, by a skilful fabrica.": in the interest of capital, or the ostensible profits ,
"-tor of the instruments of taxation—by one who well , trade, but in the labours of his mind, or the exercise
understood all the combination of the forces and lof some liberal art. Such a man is obliged, probe..
powers of political mechanism, but those Ministersj.bly, to occupy a large house, and to.inaintain a re-
disclaimed the use of it, and let it fall quietly from I spectable appearance in society. In consetegenc
I their hold. Ili the year 1803, it was in substance .of such appearance, he is surcharged—anti if be ap-
i revived, although. it was made to assume a different ; peals, which. frequently an inward and laudable spirit
: denomination, and instead of the Income, was celled of independent pride will prevent his doing, boy
by the less alarming title of the Property Tax. Under ; humiliating is his exposure—confessing, 'that with-
: this 'time it did not at first seem liable to affect those: out ostensible means, he is living in a style, to which,
1 who derived their maintenance from the exercise of ' tome cold Commissioner may think him unentitled
'. their industry or their talents. Some degree of this I—explaining, to these judges,' hopes and
_slaws for
delusion xontinued until the obnoxious machine was I which h no support, but a ceurseisiusness In his
j restored in all its parts, by the well practised hands ! own abilities, which he has nuintaliwiekvoytery w,
of its first inventor. In the year 1805, Mr. Pitt' avow. 1
• I
being then in office, this oppressive work of Minis.l
;' • 1 ingenuity ~
term was brought to all the perfection of
which it was capable. This engine of, financial tor. I
1 -
tore was made to act upon conscience and confidence,
[.
and to tear open the credit, the means, the most
honourable and the most tender pecuniary secrets
of the transactions of society. it had then. All its
train and combination of force—its levers and- its
screws—its commissioners—its surveyors—its collec.
tors—its inspectors—aud its superintendents. The
oie ressive and inquisitotial nature of this abomina-.
ble tax, did not, however, develop itself all at-
once; year after year its efficacy increased ;year after,
year as ie grew more intimate with every man's
affairs, it snuck deeper into all the sources of his
hopes and his happiness. By the practice which has
of late years been added to it, of acting upon propertyl
and income, by means of surcharges, its powers have
become indefinite, and' the honest man, the well-
wisher to the credit amid stability of Government, is
dragged up• to undergo examination as to the state
of his affairs; nay, worse, a scrutiny upon oath, re-
specting his minutest concerns. These surcharges
were as numerous and as frequent as they were vie-
lent ; but surely they must be regarded by every per-,
son who received thew, as pressing invitations to at-
tend this meeting,' to vote for resolutions expressive

1

, .
m- I But, happily, these times of difficulty and danger
wk - are past. The contest has at length been brought to
rni-,'i an honourable, a triumphant termination--triumph.
are t ant beyond what I suppose even the most sanguine .
aid I could have expected. A Treaty of Peace was con. •
an, eluded in the very capital of the enemy; Red the
.ar, Noble Lord who set his hand to that Treaty, signed ' I''''' .
1 the evidence not merely of the security, but. of the .
ur.: glory of his country. At the same time he aped . ...
to the death-warrant of the Property Tax.
aid The American war, it is true, still related, but
. .:..,
nit 'be wit! sty that any danger was to be apprehended
tw. f#bM that Source ? The originel relied* *kite clear.
at ref were at an end, the meals of negociatign were
. :
ler. i prepared, and the two coutitsies intsiOn fact, only •`,
la:. to shake hands and forget Nye animohitier. -Bat Mi. . ..
so { nisters, at this period,- *ad. other schemes-theft;,.
last : wanted a new frontier for Canada. A little intoxi.
Ito 1 cated, perhaps, with their unexampled success in
ost 1 Europe, they imagined they could awe America into
tad e immediate submission to the terms they chose to
in.: l dictate—however, there is new an end of all.
'en.. this. • A Treaty has been signed at Ghent, upon
• -
we. terms fair and equitable between the two countries.
the ' This Treaty, which has been ratif.ed by the Prince
:ter Regent, is now on its way to America; where,. I ...
ngs : have nedciuht, it 01 meet with a prompt will.
ci a.teetiou trot:ll.oe Government of the United States, ..
ary.' and we shall very soon beat peace with all the world. •
vas I ' Under these circumstances, I should not have ti-
ara petted that MluiSters would have propoeed to conti.
tem nue this obnoxious Tax a moment beyond its ap.
tot pointed termination. There is no sufficient ground
. for such a measure. As for the pretext of winding
by'l up-the expences of the war—this object may sorely
the' be attainedly less oppressive means, some of which
was
,my. Learned Friend has adverted to, therefore I shall '
set., Mit Sitter further into,this:pa'rt of the subject. But
iof ',.Nfle{famkplain that, 'Belies the people make a strenn. . •
:Isar eitreplimiltion, the Tax will he renewed, and we
ba. may remain seidect to this grievance foe ay-indefinite - .
re- , length of time. . • :.:,. . -,. ,
nce }. If conrenientseAtetyeccssity, is-to be the groom' .
ap- 1 for'continning the Tea, a pretext vial never be want.
irit . ing for its renewali...... -4, . :-• . . . .
;owl In stating titia.Tar . Ili...grievance, lam happy .
1tia..,1 to bear my humble, '. alley to the Tneritst of the
'Wei Commission,* w duty. it has been to levy it
:led 1 upon us.. 011,,, this subject I can speak from expe. •
for . rience,—and hi every communication with these gen. •.
his denial Akham. mcpaitlt.the, most handsome sad Jibe.
tAral treilta4l% IMP with great civility from their ~. .
tclerks. . . . . .
. . .
,it L ttust we are all disposed to make a proper dis.
her,; Roseate • between the law, of which we complain,
et.. awl iti addinistraters. In fact, we are under obli.k
the gatlens to such respectable and independentgentle.
•
rte- men as are witting to take upon them the office of
...
iain Commissioners. %Vete it not for them we should be
the delivered over to the hired agents of the Treasury, the
test host of inspectors and 'surveyors, who would impose • I
en..., their arbitrary assessments upon us without check or .
talrontronl. .
t . Bit inclined, aclbaveye doubt the Commission.
ire. , Mhave always been, telt' with equity and mode. 1 .
;pertl ration, they could not, pulesi they . could have II- . t
the' tared the law, give relief in many cases of great
; •
ore 'hardship, some of which have come to my ,own i
to, kirowlpige. • And, 7 buleed, •where no peculiar hard-
ery , I
1 ship could be pretended, the necessary exposure of
bile private concerns, and the very payment itself of a - .
...i,,,,a::..,
'al.': tenth of income, in addition to all other taxes, 4 • ,s,-....,..
had : sufficiently distressing. It is surely time that '• -=:-
our , hardships should cease, and it is very certale 'le t° --"!...:
~
tisi- people of this coontry
,are not inclined,...; . _ - . ...„ ...
;fiat them any longer. .. 7.. ;.,it,,,, ' ' s ,''''' '' ."46,7 •-: it
trIN The example of meeting to . f ' .._ ::..‘, . I
rid, further continuance of this 1' ' - '
c
s .
the City of Loudon'-.-it...
it has. , )-•
. ..-^
* ~ .
Ales number of couotiela daft ~ .3
.. , •
..,,z.,, !I t 1: :..,,,,.... .
- . - 40 'I • .
. . ,
....:5;.,•* ,
~... ..•4 .'
. *
.. ..
. ....;
i
. •
..''.'..- ..
... . , . .... .• .
• • ~ „•• ~. .. . •
- . • --. , - .... ~ air , • -
. •