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Leader (1850-1860), 13th December 1851, Edition Town of 2, Page 1179, Untitled Article

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      Untitled Article

      CUSTOMS' REFORM . A deputation waited on Lord John Russell , on Tuesday , appointed by the public meeting on Customs' Reform , held on Wednesday-week , in the City . Fourteen members of Parliament , headed by Mr . Masterman , and accompanied by a numerous body of merchants , composed the deputation . Mr . Travers , the chairman of the committee of merchants , read a lone statement , comprising the case of the merchants against the Board of Customs , and being a recapitulation in an official form of the facts brought to light bv the February trials and their attendant circum-In reply Lord John Russell fenced with the question . He introduced his answer by observing that he could not be expected to accede to the statement of facts or reject it ; that the Customs and the Treasury were very intimately connected ; he had heard Mr . Huskisson say he had reformed the customs' laws , and Mr . Huskisson was a man who ought to know ; and yet in spite of all this the laws possibly were capable of being improved . At length he reached the kernel of the matter . " Looking at the very grave charges against the Board , it is my bounden duty to do them the justice not to suppose that the Board of Customs are guilty because they are charged ; but to inquire into the facts alleged , and

      learn from the head of the Board and from the other members what they have to say in answer to them . Without entering into the various particulars stated with regard to the dock prosecutions , I should say generally that it does not follow because there are very respectable men belonging to the dock companies , that therefore frauds may not have occurred , or that their officers may not have participated in those frauds . The Board of Customs were persuaded of the existence of these frauds to a very great extent—perhaps wrongly persuaded , but they made that representation to the Treasury ; and it would have been a very grave responsibility for the Treasury to take upon itself , and certainly ( if I may be allowed to say soj for me , as a

      representative of the city of London , to take upon myself to say , if the Commissioners of Customs were fully advised by their legal officer that they had been defrauded , ^ and that they ought to go before a court of law , that we would not allow it , but prevent them from protecting the revenue from loss , and the merchants of London in general from interference with their trade . And when at a former interview , at which the Chancellor of the Exchrquer was present with me , we were asked to put a stop to the proceedings altogether , we did not find that the Commissioners of Customs had any doubt as to the course they were pursuing ; and it would , therefore , have been a serious matter for the Treasury to have aTrested them . With regard to the Chancellor of the Exchequer , something

      is stated here [ the document handed in by Mr . Travers ] about ' remonstrances against such unbeard-of acts ' having been received by him ' with disregard , and dismissed with "discourtesy / ' He has persevered in the infliction of wron # until its very enormity has alarmed its victims into submission . ' I cannot admit the justice of these complaints . I think he was bound not to interfere with the course which the Board of Customsrecommended . Ho stated the whole mutter to me , we conferred upon it , and we thought , it was notpossible for us to interfere . Another allegation is that ' lie has broken the conditions of

      an honourable understanding , ' and ' technical legal admissions were drawn from the London Dock Company , which rendered future resistance , impracticable / I do not know what this alludes to ; but there , is a certain allegation about a £ 5 ( me being rained to £ 100 . Now , a representation was made to me that when a case of this kind occurred in 1817 or 1818 , a payment was made of one per cent , on all that had been seized , together with all the expenses of the suit ; and the Chancellor of the KxcluMjufr said it would be much belter to get rid of this mutter altogether , and that , instead of £ 5 , an arrangement should be made to take £ 100 , and so pu « . an end to

      it at once . " With regard to the general statement that the Board of Customs , if they were wrong , ought not to be exculpated , and if they were right , ought to have proved their charges , in id should not have entered into ; iny compromise , every gentleman knows , with regard to revenue board's , that ov < r and over again prosecutions have , been instituted with regard to irregularities , and that constantly the practice has been to give up the certain

      whole of the proceedings on the pn . yino . nt of a Hum . With regard to that very important point , the roappoiutincnt of the ne . lect committee , I know of no actual objection to it . 8 i < appointment , but . I do not pledge myself to that course now ; because , on connideri / ig thin paper , I should like , perhaps to confer with the cbuir-«» au of the committee of last session ( Mr . Mitchell ) with respect to the advantages which are likely to accrue from the step . "

      Mr . Aldorinim Thompson rejoined , that both the Commissioners of the Customs and the Chancellor of the Exchequer had refused a . joint inquiry into pos-« ible irregularities , offered by the dock companies , with discourtesy ; in fact , that , tin : committee , had treated them , not as merchants of the city of London , hut " like a set of ( swindlers or smugglers on the coast of Kent . " Mr . Powles , secretary of the London Dock Company , Htuteil that the understanding about , the payment , of a fin , ; of live pounds was " an clear and distinct as any understanding contained in any coiumunicution could be , " and that uinleistunding had been nnreicmoniouKly broken by the Goveiiuii-ent . Mr . Mitchell , M . l \ , HUggeHted Unit Lord Granville , who wua preuent , should bo requested to read thu

      evidence of the Select Committee , issued to-day , and " come to an unbiassed opinion on the case . " After a statement of individual grievance from Mr . Hall , the deputation retired .

      Untitled Article

      A DEFENDER OF " LAW AND ORDER . " "Whig officials are driven to choose strange champions of " law and order , " as those abused terms have been employed during the last three years . From proceedings in the Dublin law courts we obtain a specimen defender of law and order—for a consideration—whom the Whigs delighted to honour , through Mr . Corry Connelan . The facts are extremely simple . Mr . Birch is the proprietor of a Dublin newspaper , designated the World , which , in the year 1848 , became the organ of the Castle . At that time , as everybody knows , Ireland was in a very dangerous

      state ; and , whilst the revolutionary or " Young Ireland " party was represented in the public press by writers who combined very high ability with exuberant political enthusiasm , the Government possessed no literary allies whatever . The Dublin officials , with a respect for public op inion which does them great credit , were deeply grieved at the absence of all popular support ; and , with a view to repair their inferiority of moral force , they descended into the nrena of journalism , and retained the World .

      That newspaper became the exponent of the policy of the Castle , and , for a certain consideration , undertook , in those troublous times , to promote the cause of " law and order . " The patriotic and conscientious Birch became the advocate and apologist of Lord Clarendon , and devoted the columns of his journal to supporting the interests of the Irish Government . It appears from the evidence that the World was strictly conscientious ; yet Lord Clarendon successfully coquetted with it , and obtained its unswerving advocacy . of the

      Lord Palmerston also came in for a share benefits derived from the stupendous alliance . For two years the Government " subsidized" this " power "; that is , so long as in Whig estimation law and order were endangered . But Birch , animated by a fiery zeal and devotion for the cause , continued to indite articles which nobody read . Then Government , ungrateful , ceased to pay , and Birch brought his action . So long as he came before the public menacing the Castle with war there was romance and mystery in the case . atmo

      But the romance is dispelled in the prosaic - sphere of the Queen ' s Bench . A regular debtor and creditor account is submitted by Birch , from which we learn that a large sum of money has been actually paid by Lord Clarendon , from his personal resources , to reward the assistance afforded by the World to his Government ; and we also find that its distinguished proprietor , —not contented with the reward which he had received , and strongly impressed with a sense of the magnitude of the services which he had rendered—boldly asked for a ijr wy . iarge additional subsidy . As the original trtfilpjiletion had taken place in the oflicc cf the Irish Secretary , Sir William Somerville was the ostensible defendant . The witnesses who were called

      fully established tin ? agreement between the eminent journalist and his official clients , and the only question which remained to be decided was , whether the services rendered by the plaintiff had been fairly remunerated . Some ' thousands of pounds had been already received by Birch during the years 1 K 48 and 1819 , but he placed his demands at a much higher figure . In his evidence he drew a nice distinction ; for , whilst he admitted that all that had been written by himself or his subordinates had been a conscientious expression of his real opinions , lie rested his claims to recompense on the great unpopularity of the Government . The case was fairly gone into ; and , after a patient and elaborate investigation , the . jury trave him damages to the amount of sixpence .

      Nothing could surpass in candour and amiability th <; evidence both of Mr . Birch and Lord Clarendon . Birch admitted his position , of course , as a hireling : Clarendon confessed , with complacent sarcasm , to the hiring of the " defender " ; confessed that he paid the money out of his own pocket , " every farthing " of . upwards of three thousand pounds . This is nil very well . But what shall we say of the came of Irish " laiv and order" us administered by YVhign . when we lind that , the Government had not , one spontaneous defender in the capital of the country ? One thing is clear , some of the ministerial press are hired . Possibly they an * the " base exceptions" — for there are more than one .

      Untitled Article

      A PLAN FOR UKLIKVLNd T 1 IK HUSH I'OOH . [ We have received tin ; following letter to Lord John RusncII , from Sir James Anderson , ' ltaronet . | London , Dci-pmlxT fi , lH . ) l . My Loin ) ,---Since the Kxodus of the Israelites , no nation ever emigrated in such masses as the Irish people arc now doing , and unless . some prompt and decided plan be adopted by Government , the brave iind hardy working clusses of the Krnerald Isle will , ere long , luivo become the , bubjuctu pf a foreign rival

      state . Such an irremediable loss is beyond human calculation , and will inevitably be the precursor of the decadence of British power . It , therefore , becomes the duty of every lover of his country to endeavour to point out a remedy to prevent so calamitous an event . The last dreadful famine has aroused the sympathy of the English and the Scotch . The honest and liberal of both , nations have willed that justice shall at length be rendered to their fellow Irish subjects . I consequently anticipate a glorious change for the better . ,. , That it is the duty of Parliament to enact such , laws as will permanently secure to the Irish their rights no reasonable man can deny . To accomplish that desirable end , I hold it would be unjust to the overtaxed people of Great Britain to augment their burdens when ample means are within our reach . By the labour of man the wealth and power of a state is solely augmented , and it behoves a wise Government to secure to all industrious persons a permanent interest in their native land . So circumstanced , no rational being will quit the country of his birth . Fully believing this to be the case , I take the liberty to suggest the following outline of a plan for profitably employing and relieving the Irish poor , and thus make it their interest not to emigrate , which I hope will meet your Lordship's approval . I propose that Gov ernment be empowered by 1 arliament to issue £ 16 , 000 , 000 in labour notes , which should be made a legal tender in Ireland , and not convertible . That Government be also empowered to purchase from the present owners all the reclaimable waste lands , to be paid for in labour notes at one shilling an acre , at twenty years' purchase , to bo vested in commissioners in trust , for the purpose of locating thereon the ablebodieri poor , appropriating to each family twenty acres . That £ 100 in labour notes be laid out fo establishing each tenant , as follows : — For erecting a cottage £ 34 0 0 A cow , four sheep , and one pig .. 12 0 0 Furniture 10 ° ° Seeds and implements 1 0 0 One year ' s rations 20 0 0 The produce of 20 acres , Is . an acre , at 20 years' purchase .... 20 0 0 £ 100 0 0 That ' no rent be charged during the first three years . This indulgence wilL enable the tenants to get their lands into cultivation . At the expiration of three years a rent of £ 5 per annum to be paid for each location . The lands to be free from tithes , county and poor rates , for twenty years . On 3 , 000 , 000 acres , allowing twenty acres to each tenant , 150 , 000 locations can be established by an advance of £ 16 , 000 , 000 in labour notes , viz . : — 1 / 50 , 000 locations , at £ 100 each £ 15 , 000 , 000 Making roads and draining lands , &c ... 1 , 000 , 000 £ 10 , 000 , 000 That all minerals shall be the property of the state . That leases shall be granted for thirty-one years , renewable for ever on good behaviour ; but subletting on no account to he permitted . The leases to be lorfcited should the tenants aid in rebellion , join illegal associations , or be implicated in murders or robberies . The men on the locations to be regularly chilled . Thus a force of at least 100 , 000 men , costing the nation nothing , unless when culled into active service , would be ready to defend the kingdom in case of invasion , and each man , possessing an interest in the land , could always be depended on . At the end of the fourth j r ear and thenceforward , from LOO , 000 locations , at £ 5 each , £ 7 < > 0 , 000 would he the annual rental . All the necessary expenses for managing these home colonies , for building places of worship , for schools , hospitals , and medical attendance to be first , paid out , of the proceeds . The balance to be expended in working the mines which may be found in the lands , in establishing ( isheries , and in giving other useful and profitable employment to the people . That tliis annual expenditure be continued for lii ' ty years , when in that period lands now unproductive will have produced in rent £ ! 57 , < > 00 , 0 () 0 , besides providing amply for an industrious population . That sum expended on reproductive works , cannot fail to raise the destitute Irish to a state of comfort , independence , and happiness ; and the heart-rending misery , so long and so patiently endured by that oppressed people , will cease to exist . The ; bond ot union between the Hritish and Irish nations will be permanently cemented , the power of the state consequently augmented , and all these- great advantages can bo attained without either loans or increased taxation . As capital is the great ; want in Ireland , I havo proposed that labour notes to the extent , of £ l ( i , 000 , 000 shall continue , in circulation for fifty years . At tho expiration of that period , £ 700 , 000 of those notes received for the rent ( if tho locations , can be annually destroyed , should it he considered advisable tixlo no leaving £ /»() , ()()(» a-year to defray the expense oY schools , hospitals , management , &e . Tin ; object L havo in view in making the lubour notes nonconvort-

      Untitled Article

      dec . , i 35 i ] mtt $ nt an ex . 1179

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 13, 1851, page 1179, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1913/page/7/