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8 THE NORTHERN STAR. Oorom O/lW. L ~ ' ~...
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AN EFFECTUAL CURE FOR PILES, FJSTITLAS, &c.
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A ROMANCE OF LOVE AND MARRIAGE.
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Coachmen and guards—guards in particnlar...
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How seldom do wefeel, perceive, or think of the small ^iujjui ga uineusB which
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DELEGATED TAXATION. BT WIILIAH HOWITT. T...
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PROJECTED IifPROVEMBNia IS THB PoST-OmCS...
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Transcript
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
8 The Northern Star. Oorom O/Lw. L ~ ' ~...
8 THE NORTHERN STAR . _Oorom O _/ _lW _. L ' ~ - ' ' - ' _„ : _• _. _"Vv' ~ ¦ ¦ _•< . . V ' V ' ¦ ' - ' - ' ¦ ' . _•¦**>¦ ' _^_ . _^^ . _^^ . _^ m _^ mmm _^ mm . _^ _mmmmmmmm _^^ m _^^ mm _^ mmmmmm , _^^^^^^^ m _^ m _^ m _^ mm _^ m 0 _^ _maa _^ mmm _»^ m _^ _mmmmmmmmmmaBmmm _^ _mmmmmimmmmmmmmmmm _ __ _^ * _" _* - ** - » -- -- * - » - _»»»« -- _»» - »» - » _M «
An Effectual Cure For Piles, Fjstitlas, &C.
AN _EFFECTUAL CURE FOR PILES , _FJSTITLAS , & c .
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_AEERHSTHY'S PILE OINTMENT * _'• _aatapaiiiMandnoHous disease is the Piles » and comparatively haw few of . the _^ ted have been _permaoHtlvciiredhvordinarva-inaals to medical skill' Tins , no doubt , arises from the use of powerful aperients toa _Smcomplaint Tha proprietor of the above . intment , after _yeariSpf acute suffering , plflcedhlmself under th » ¦ mc _^ v _^ out the _slJshtestreturn of the disorder , over a period of fifteen jears , during . which timeithe sawe Aber . _wthian-n _^ _pfianS n « fflber _^ _- _^ _T _Z _^^ V _^^ Z _^^ jfiete ' _acirclesoffriends , most of which cases had been under medical care , and _W" < _taft » ni » _sfflerabwtime . Abernethy's Pile Ointment was introduced to the pnbhe by the desire of many who had been perapy healed by ita application , and since its introduction theifame of _ttoomtment has spread far and vnde ; even 3 _feMedieal _Profession , alway _^ _Islow and unwilling to acknowledge ftewtnestf any memciae _^ wives , do now freely and fraVkly admit that Abernethy ' s Pile Ointment is not only a valuable preparation , but a _neverfailki-rmedvineveiT stogeandvarieryofthatappa * dingmalady . ,,. ' « ¦ - ,,. _SuffererslomthepUes will _notrcpsnt _givinj the ointment a tnaU Multitudes ofcases of its efficacy might he produced if the nature of the complaint did not render those _wha have been cured unwilling to publish _^ Ubfcfverei Pots , at 4 s . 6 d . or the quantity of three 4 s . 6 d . pots in one for lis ., with full directions for use , bj _fc-r _^ fStofteir-wprieto _^^ Iondt , n * wh , _^ -i _* can be procured _erfery Patent _Hefflciae of repute , direct from the original makers , with an allowance on taking _sut at a tame . * I * BesuM toask for "ABERNETHY'S PILE OINTMENT . The Public are requested to be on their guard _tfKiHo _. isprmtedontoe . ' overa-aentStempan _^^ we WWe Bt _Jhce the proprietor u ansHeil to sell it at . owine to the ereat expense of the _inerei _;;^ .
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CORNS AND BUNIONS . PAUL'S EVERY SEAN'S PB 1 EWD , Patronised by the Boyal Family , _Nt & _Uity , Clergy , ia . Isa sure and speedy Cure for those severe annoyances , without causing the least pain or inconvenience . U-Uika all other remedies for Corns , its operation te such as to render the cutting of Corns altegther unnecessary ; indeed , we mav say , the practice of cutting Coras is at all limes highly dangerous , and has been frequently attended with lamentable consequences , besides its liability to increase their growth ; it adheres with the most gentle pressure , prodaces an instant and delightful relief from torture , and , with perseverance in ite application , entirely eradicates tbe most inveterate Corns and Bunions . ......... ' _ , c __ .... _ . Testimonials have been received from upwards of one hundred Physicians and Surgeons of tne greatest eminence , as well as from many Officers of both Army and Navy , and nearly one thousand private letters from the gentry in town and country , speaking in high terms ofthis valuable remedy . _ , _ ..., ......... Prepared by John Fox , in boxes at ls . lU ., or three small boxes in tna for 2 s . Sd ., and to be had , with full direc fions & ruse , of C . Bans , No . 3 t , Napier-street . Hoxton New Town , London , andaU wholesale and retail medicine vendors in town and country . The genuine has the name of John Fox en the stamp , 2 s . 9 d . Box cures the most oodurate Corns . _ .. „ ,, _, _ . . _ Askfor - 'Paul _' sEveryMan _' _aPncnd . " Abernethy ' s Pile Ointment , Paul ' s Cora Plaster , and Abernethy ' s Pile Powders are soldhy the following respectable Chemists "md Dealers in Patent Medicine : — „„ .. _„ , . . _„ ., . „ ., _,, . Barclay and Sons , _Parringdon-street ; Edwards , 67 , St . Paul's Church-yard ; Butler , 4 , Cheapside ; Newbery , St . Paul ' s ; Sutton , Bow Church-yard ; Johnson , 68 , Cornhill ; Sanger , 150 , Oxford street ; Willoughby and Co ., 61 , * 3 i _shopsgate-street _Withaut ; Owen , 52 , Marchmond _^ treet , Burton-crescent ; Bade , 39 , _QosweU-street ; Prout , 229 , Strand Hannay and Co ., 63 , Oxford-street ; and retail by all respectable chemists and medicine vendors in London . CotJKTM _Aoests . —Bains aad Newsome : Mr Buckton , TimeB Office ; Heaton Smeeton , Allen , Hall , Bernhardt and Sons , J . C . Browne , 48 , Briggate Thornton . 85 , Boar-lane , Denton , Garland , Mann , Bean , Harvey Haigh , lata Tarbottom Bolland and Kemplay , Land Moron , C . Hay , 186 , Briggate / Bhodes , Bell aad Brooke Lord , B . C . Hay , Medical Hall , Leeds ; Pratt , Blackburn , Newby , Bimmington , Mand and Wilson , Bogerson , Stanfield , Bradford ; Hartley , Denton , Waterhouse , Jepson _, Wood , Dyer , Parker , Jennings , and Ley Und . Halifax ; Smith , Elland ; Hurst , Cs _? aVelL Cell , and Smith , Wakefield ; Harrison . Barnsley _; Knowels , Tborue Brook , « nd Spivey , Hud . _SddrHudsonl _Keighle , ; Lofthouse , Bernhardt , KirUn , _Alcock , Batae ., Burrell , Bdl , Barton Healey , Mel . eon , Freeman . _Pickering , _GarVon . W « n ™ . _«**»— -. _fa-moea WWII- Walker . At « K Noble , Poster , _^ _dmanTstephenson , Weir , Byder and Barker , HnU ; Pipes , Kemngham , Johnsen , Earte , Cornwall , Bobwson . _Brigham Beverley ; Brooks , Doncaster ; Matthews , Creaser , Driffield ; _Cass . Coole ; Miliner , Pickering ; Stevenson ! Whitby - Bolton , Barn-hard and Co ., Hargrove . Fisher , Otley _. Linney , York ; Marston _. Brigg , Hurst ; Bobson , Armitage Ingoldby _. Longbottom , Louth ; Wainwrighf , Howden ; Rayner , Smith , Burlington ; _Horsby , Wrangham , Jeff-r * on , Molton ; Bhodes , Snaith ; Champley , Broomhead , Ireland , _Buckali , Scarborough ; Smith , Furby , Bridling , ton- Adams , Colton , PnUen , Selby ; Omblier , Market _Weigbton ; Fleck Marsh , Rotherham ; Hattersley , Ball , _Oifi-er _, Barton ; Brown , Gainsborough ; Qledhill , Old Delph ; Priestmay , Fox , Pontefract ; Dalby , Wetherby ; Slater , ' Bedale ; Dixon , Sorthallerton ; Ward , Richmond ; Ward , _Stokesley ; _Feggitt aud Thompson , Thirsk ; Monkhouse , Barnard Castle ; Pease , Darlington ; Jennett _, Stockton . And by all respectable Chemists and Medicine Vendors in every Market Town in England . Wholesale Agents : —Messrs Bolton , _Blansaard and Co ., Druggists , Mecklegate , York .
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TWENTT-FIFTH EDITION . ffltutrated hy _Twenty-slx Auatomical Engravings on Steel . On Physical Disqualifications , Generative Incapacity , and Impediments to Marriage . A new and improved edition , enlarged to 196 pages , price 2 s . 6 d . ; by post , direct from the Establishment , 3 s . 6 d . in postage stamps ,
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DISPENSARY FOR THE CURE OF DISEASES OF TBE SKIN AND ALL CUTANEOUS AFFECTIONS , HAHP 5 TEAD SX & EET , _FlTZBOT _SqSABE . P . _- _. uric ' _0-i—THOMAS INNIS , M . D ., 33 , Fit-roy square , Member of the Boyal College of Surgeons , Dmdon ; Uie Assistant Surgeon in the Bon . East India Company ' s Sercice . TT IS a strange anomaly in tbe practice and progress 1 of medicil science in this country , that amongst all the benevolent acd noble institutions established for the alleviation of human misery , thereexists but one devoted to Secure or amelioration of Diseases ofthe Skin It fe a truth well _^ _nowa to the members of the faculty , ILt the rar . i «? s cf these stubborn and -mdunng _plaguf s of _hnmSf are more extensive tban those of any other _knoZdUorder , there being little short of _half-a-million If turn
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mportance and necessity of a simlar establishment in England ean never be too mnch insisted upon . The peculiar nature of the diseases in question , and the almost _insurmountable difficulty of acquiring accurate knowledge as to their modes of treatment—connected with the immense numbers of the suffering parties—render this desideratum actually the greatest under whieh these islands at present labour , in a sanatory point ol view . These diseases are so numerous and multiform in appeirance and effect , and present such an infinite variety . in diagnosis , tbat it is hopeless to expect any approach to specific remedies from the uncertain results of individual and scattered practice . Notwithstanding ths laudable endeavours of the various British Authors who have written upon this subjectand the highest talent has not heen wanting in the res . pect—still , of actual curative progress little or nothing has been aebieved ; and this , plainly , from tbe want of a theatre of action , where the operations and results of curative appliances might be ocularly tested , compared ,
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_j _^ _4 al _^ v Instant Relief and Bpeedy _^^ _l _^^^ el COUGHS , COLDS , _^^^^^^^^^ § _t Hoarseness , Asthma , Hoop-HQt _^^^^^^^^ a f _jjsj ing Cough , Influenza , _Conzt £ _MXKU _** M _* _x ? _er _« _v-jri sumption , & c , by BROOKF . 'a
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And sold wholesale by them j Messrs Barclay and Sons , Farringdon-street ; Hannay and Co ., _Oxford-street ; DavyMackmurdoandCo ., Upper Thames-street ; and Thomas Marsden and Sons , _Queen-street , London . Thomas E yre and Co ., Liverpool . ; Bolton , Blanchard and Co ., York . And retail by all respectable patent medicine vendors . >¦
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FRAMPTON'S PILL OF HEALTH . Price Is l } d per box , THIS excellent Family PILL is a Medicine of Iong . tried efficacy for correcting all disorders of tho Stomach and Bowels , the common symptoms of which are Cost ! - veness , Flatulency , Spasms , Loss of appetite , Sick Headache , Giddiness , Sense of Fulness after meals , Dizziness ofthe Eyes , Drowsiness , and Pains in the Stomach and Bowels : Indigestion , producing a Torpid state of tho Liver , and a consequent _fjnactivity of the Bowels , causing a disorganisation of every function of the frame , will in this most excellent preparation , by a little perseverance ,
A Romance Of Love And Marriage.
A ROMANCE OF LOVE AND MARRIAGE .
Coachmen And Guards—Guards In Particnlar...
Coachmen and guards—guards in particnlar—time out of mind , have been proverbial for their gallantry ; and events justify the conclusion thatthe modern race do no dishonour to their predecessors in thia particular . It is not , therefore , to be wondered at that Mr Robert Moore , guard ofthe London and Holybead mail , as he passed every day through the Abbey Fore-gate , Shrewsbury , looked with some inte . rest , which probably . displayed itself in his counten . ance , at the possessor of a pair of fine eyes which peered regularly from the window , as tho coach rattled through the street . The admiring look gradually expanded to a _smile , and then he ventured on a bow of friendly recognition , which waa coquettish ly but onmistakeably returned . This was in the month of April . A week or two of this pantomimic
courtship passed , when an opportunity occurred , which brought them into more immediate contact . As the coach dashed along the street the lady was absent from the window ; but ou the road stood a well-known female figure , which requested to be conveyed to Welsh Pool . She was invited to tako her seat by the guard , and from that moment he was a doomed man . In tbe course of an interesting conversation she inadvertently let drop a . few _expressions which showed that she was the widow of Colonel Tripp , allied to a noble family , and left with a very handsome maintenance . She was lonely , however , and amused herself with ber brother ' s children . Mr _Moera naturally felt increased interest in the lady , was highly delighted with her manner and conversation , and parted with her with much regret . They
met again ; the favourable _impression she bad made on him at first was deepened ; interviews were more frequent , and at length he asked the important question , and was after a considerable amount of hesitation , accepted . As was due to the lady of Colonel Tripp , Mr Moore and his bride drove to Birmingham in handsome style ; and on the 25 th of June ( about two months from the time tbey had first seen each other ) , they were married ly license at the Old Church , _Edgbaston . After the ceremony they immediately started to London , and took apartments at the _Euston-square Hotel . Here they resided for ten weeks , in a continual round of gaiety ; and Mrs Moore took occasion , while in London , to visit some of her aristocratic acquaintances . A fashionable equipage was always at their service ; the parks were
regularly visited ; and Mr Moore felt renewed delight and interest in the recognition by his lady of the nobility as they lolled easily along in carriages scarcely more handsome than his own . As it was necessary , however , that some settlement with _Regard to her money should take place , she expressed a wish to call on Glynn and Co ., of Lombard-street , her bankers , to ascertain exactly in what condition her affairs were . She accordingly did eo , and found that , instead of having £ 5 , 000 as she expected , Messrs Glyn bad not more than £ 2 . 000 ; but that _dE 3 . O 0 O were invested in a club at the Thatched House Tavern , which could easily be made available . Satisfied with the explanation , they had time to enjoy themselves . Mrs Moore , wbo was particularly acquainted with the
Earl of Jersey , made frequent vitits to his lordship ' s house , in Berkeley-square ; called on the Duke of Wellington , at _Apsley House ; visited at Lord Palmerston ' s , and lefther cards atthe residence of many of her titled friends . Accordingly , finding that she was possessed of ample fortune , she . entreated Mr Moore to give up his situation as guard of the mail , as not only was it unnecessary bo far as pecuniary matters were concerned , but derogatory to a lady of her birth and connections . This proposition , however , he took time to consider , and ten weeks having elapsed since they arrived in London , they returned to Birmingham . Then it was that whispers began to reach his ears that his wile was not exactly so nobly connected as he had imagined ; and although ho did think it strange that , while visiting the houses
of the nobility with his wife , be had to remain in the carriage , yet he gave no heed to the slander , and threatened actions against some of his friends who propagated it . Writing , however , to Mr Yates , of Pontypool , who had a _soffic _/ ehf sum of money of hers in hb hands to defray incidental expenses—their trip to London being somewhat expensive , costing about £ 500—Mr Yates returned an answer that he had not a farthing belonging to the lady . Subsequent inquiry made more alarming disclosures . It was found that the lady had not a farthing in the world , was neither nobly born nor aristocratically connected , was not the widow of Colonel Tripp , and what was far worse , was ne widow at all , but tbe wife of a commercial traveller , with four children . Mra _> . d Mrs Tripp , however , continued to live together for several years , and four children were born ; but
from some cause or other they eventually , about two years ago , separated , Mr Tripp allowing his wife sufficient maintenance for herself and children . Here was a discovery for Mr Mooro-duped , disappointed , cheated out of upwards ef £ 500 , and married to another man ' s wife ; he cave her into custody at Birmingham , ou a charge of bigamy . She was taken on Friday _Ja 9 t to Shrewsbury , in custody of Inspector GIossop , the marriages proved against her , and the fact ofber first husband being alive satisfactorily demonstrated by his being at Shrewsbury . On Monday she was remitted to Birmingham , arid brought up at the public office here , but no prosecutor appearing against her , she was discharged ; and so ended one ofthe most consummate pieces of deception , admirably contrived , and skilfully executed , wbicb has taken place in tbis part of the country for S 6 me time . —Birmingham Journal .
How Seldom Do Wefeel, Perceive, Or Think Of The Small ^Iujjui Ga Uineusb Which
How seldom do wefeel , perceive , or think of the small _^ _iujjui _ga _uineusB which
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vc w surround ana operate upon us inonr enjoyments and intercourses witb the world . ' The young disease , which must subdue at length , Grows with our growth , and strengthens with our strength . ' An improper regimen acting npon a particular kind of constitution , late hours , both of retiring to rest and rising in the morning , lay the foundation of intestinal as well as skin diseases . To all such w * would recommend first a change of system , ond , secondly , as anowerfulnsslstant for the recovery of health , ths _efficwious " amU medicine , Frampton _' _s Pill of Health , _whichSrocSred tbe _ajmrobauon of persons in every station in society . We beg to direct the attention ofour readers to another letter addressed to the proprietor of _AbernVthv's Me ? i , " _! ; nt . _^ ? _^~ . ? PPears Tn tb another ¦ ¦
Delegated Taxation. Bt Wiiliah Howitt. T...
DELEGATED TAXATION . BT _WIILIAH HOWITT . There is no subject which has more eacaped the attention of the peoplo of England than that which may bs denominated Delegated ; Taxation ; there is none which demands It moro . If corruption-and dishonest }' . hare played a high game in the province of the ordinary taxation of the count-y _^ by which Ithas been raised to the astounding amount of upwards of fifty millions per annum , and . that almost all _wlthinJhelast hundred and fifty ycari ; what shall be said of the corruption and dishonesty wbich have been more secretly , but more effectually , at work in the sphere of Delegated Taxation , which within one hundred years have saddled us with another fifty millions per annum , of which we take little account , and
of which , indeed , we seem little aware ; many , in fact , really do not dream of such , a thing . They are totally ignorant that the mass of taxation of which we io bitterly complain , is but one half . ' of that under whioh we labour . Tho taxation which at this moment demands , more than all others , the promptest , the most immediate , the most searching attention by every man who pretend * to the smallest portion of common sense or common vigilance , is not the ordinary taxation dealt with by the ordinary functionaries of the government , and forthe discharge of the government costs , but a taxation delegated by acts of Parliament to piivate and , for tbe most part , irresponsible Individuals , not for the public demands , but for their own private emolument .
What I allude to is the fact—and a great and startling fact it is , if we will but look fairly at it . That for a century the English Parliament has gone on granting charters to almost every man or cempany of men who have p leased to ask for them , to tax and fleece the publio at tbeir pleasure . That tbey have done this , again , for the meat part witbout taking the smallest guarantee for securing the due discharge of the duties which these individuals have assumed towards tbe public , or having provided securities In the acts passed , for their doing at the cheapest rate , and in tbe most efficient manner , what tbey have undertaken to do . Such a system of random , reckless , dishonest , and criminal legislation never wai beard of from tbe foundation of tbe world ; and what is more extraordinary , never did a people so thoroughly and perseveringly avert their eyes from these dark and ruinous doings as the peoplo of England havo done .
Conld it bare been believed tbat while we were crying out pretty obstreperously against the extravagant expenditure for war and for placemen , we were allowing our government to licence a whole legion of private companies , wbose sole object was private gain—although tboir ostensible one waB pnblio good—to tax us to what extent they pleased ; and that these private companies bare gone on to levy demands on onr purses to aa extent equal to that of the whole pnblic taxation of the nation . The companies to which I allude are _water-companfes , gas-companies , _highway-trusts , sewerage-companies , canal-companies , commissioners and collectors of county rates , bighway . rates , poor-rates , church-rates , bridgecompanies , and tbe like . These companies , for the most part , bave an unrestricted power of levjing unlimited taxes on tbe population , and tbat they do levy them to at least fifty millions per annum it will be my business to show .
But before proceeding further , as lt is most important that this fact should be clearly established inthe reader ' s mind , we may , by a very simple process , enable every one to test tbis assertion—namely , that this delegated and private taxation equals tbe whole public taxation , of the realm , whether direct or indireot—by a very simple process . Let every man take , tben , the amount of _hisassessed taxes , and compare them with the amount _' _. of the rates wbicb he is coiled upon annually to pay for tbe premises so taxed , and he will soon see what is th ? result . An individual will furnish a case applicable to tbe whole . Take my own case . The _astessed . taxes for the premises I occupy are £ 12 12 s . Cd . Tbe rates , of one kind er another , _averaes about £ 21 . Mere , then , the rates , or delegated taxation , doubles the assessed _, taxes for the premises . Say that year indirect taxation was aB much more as your direct , you bare still but the same amount of government taxation as of local or delegated taxation .
It has , indeed , been stated in Parliament tbat tbe local taxation amounts to twenty millions ; at this rate , and I believe it to be a sound one , tbe delegated taxation will , on proper inquiry , be fonnd to equal the government tax * atton , or , in other woids , amount not to twenty but to fifty millions a year . Surely this is a subject which demands the serious consideration of every Englishman , and should hot pass another session witbout a strict parliamentary inquiry . Imagine the public , with all its other and overwhelming burthens , given over to a troop of licensed harpies , with , in most cases , an unlimited power of pecuniary _suetitn I
But , tn order not to frighten ourselves with an imaginary terror , let us ezatriue more closely the _working of these licensed companies ; let us see what they have done , how they have done ; with what hand , light or heavy , they bave exercised their ; power of taxation , and to what extent they bave enriched themselves . Alas ' , the inquiry will only add to oar alarm . Ara Rebecca of Wales and ber children forgotten ! What brought them into such action and prominence ? This very state of things ! Since , then , local inquiries , and especially in _Londoa , have led to discoveries of imposition as gross , and abuses as astounding .
The' Quarterly Review' of June , 1844 , in speaking of turnpike-trusts—one class only of this delegated taxation —said , 'In Parliament , if any one wishes to designate the very type of negligent and perfunctory legislation , no illustration is so apposite as a turnpike-trust bill . Mine illoe lachrymm . It is simply because Parliament has , in times past , reckoned nothing of turnpike bills ; has let anybody who wanted one have it , and suffered interested parties to legislate as bestsuited their convenience—delegating to irresponsible bodies tbe dangerous power of taxation , and omitting all control over a system peculiarly liable to abuse , —that tbe manifold confusions of the system bave arisen . Tbe oppressions , the vexations ,
the iniquities of the turnpike laws , the _deatnesa of tolls , ond tbe badness of roads , eight millions of debt in England , Rebecca and her daughters in Wales , are the legitimate results of this general default and oversight of the legislature in respect to the great national interest of the public roads . jWe are not now arraigning tbe system on tbe ground ofits local administration , or as tbe advocates of centralised powers ; it is enough to say that , such as it hath hitherto existed , it bas _besn left utterly destitute of those checks from wbicb no delegated powers ought to be exempted , and that it has been regulated by no principles of equality or consistency , but private interest and bap-hazard have been tbe main elements of Its origin and constitution . '—p . 14 * .
¦ It adds— 'Established witb competing interests and independent powers , tbe natural object of each trust is to enrioh itself , and to outflank its neighbour . 'Every one for itself , and the publie for us alll' is their maxim , and between so many competitors the unhappy wayfarer gets fairly cleared out _!'—p . 147 . Tbe review says , finally , tbat' tbe system has worked ill in every way ; and the rapacity of trusts bas left tbe country in many places witbout roads , and in enormous debt ' Tbis is pretty well for the good old Conservative organ to say—but this is but a glimpse ofthe real subject . What haB been doing in roads has been doing throughout all the large brood of licensed companies of the kind . The whole kith and kin of these delegated taxing com . panles are tarred with the same brush ; tbey are one series of the most enormous and frightful jobbing , peculation _, pnblic plunder , and corruption .
It is bad enough tbat our road system has incurred a debt of eight millions ; that ithas left tbis an everlasting burden on ihe country , the interest of wbich is alone to be defrayed by the extravagant tolls everywhere established ; while the parishes , for the most part , are compelled to maintain the roads , and are liable to indictments if they are not kept up . It is bad enough that in Wales , though the spirited conduct of Rebecca and ber daughters tended in some degree to reduce _tbanuisance , that tbe principality still continues to be covered with a boBt of distinct and conflicting trusts ; that toll-bar often stands staring at toll-bar as two distinct trusts , and the traveller has to pay at both within a hundred yards . It
is bad enough tbat even in an economical country like Scotland , going out of tbe town of Ayr in gig to visit tbe residence of Robert Burns , a distance of twelve miles , I paid at nine tollbars , chiefly sixpence each . These things are bad enough , but they are but a small and in . significant sample of the whole gigantic system . Trace it everywhere , and it is everywhere the same . Tbe same jobbing , the same shameless rapacity ; the same waste of tbe public money , and , as will be seen , to the destruction of tbo comfort , the health , and the lives of the plundered people . You must go on and trace the nuisance through _bridge-trusts , sewerage commissions , water . work com . panies , gas companies , and the like .
It appearsfrom Sp » ckman ' _s Tables that the amount of capital invested in public companies in England is £ 345 , 731 , 174 . Now , if theso companies were reasonable enough to content themselves with five per cent , per annum on the capital advanced , this would amount to an annual sum of £ 15 , 025 , 000 to be levied , on the public . Bat where are tbe companies that ore contented with any such rate of interest ? Parliament , in restricting railways , —a late practice with it even there , whioh ought to hare been the practice frem the first in all companies let loose on the public by enactment , — allows ten per cent . Take ten per cent , as the average , and you get thirty millions ; but this in many cases is far below the mark . What is the interest paid upon the original capital invested in certain old wooden bridges over tbe Thames—as Putney and Hampton Court ?
Putney bridge co * t in thc 12 _thyearof Georgel . £ 23 , 978 ! Over tbis crozy old bridge no foot-passenger " can pass without paying a halfpenny , or return without paying another . I believe a gig pays sixpence , a four-wheeled carriage and pair a shilling , and so on . How , considering the immense increase of population and traffio on this road , what must be tbe interest paid for this old lumbering _roacbiae at tbe present moment ? It must be at least cent , per cent . The same is the case at Hampton Court . Ilere a brid ge was built in 1750 , a Mr James Clark , being _empowered by Act of Parliament to erect it aad take toll , with a promise that if tbe kin * on he expiration of tbe lease of the manor if Baft _Moulsey should defray the expenses ofthe work _E tha right of the said Mr Clarke to thtoH _, should expire . I suppose tho king did not _feol in » _LT itiont 0 defrny , a 8 ki _JMJ _^ ot fee -JJte pjj an ton ' T ** P _? Smi COn , i _™ to _^ _SiSmt _teUdj , for passing over this old _woodU . _Elre as Is the country never to he relieved of these _enctm .
Delegated Taxation. Bt Wiiliah Howitt. T...
branoeif Does Parliament never . mean "to > ok into he « rraa « . re , and put aa end to'tbei * disgraceful monopolies ! A few thousands _oxpendea at the-proper time on these bridges would bave made them publie property , and open ways to all . ' "' ., ¦ , . But the same utter disregard of ithe _ppor _vlctim of a public , on which Parliament has from time to time let loose such licensed locust * . Is ' ma & ifsiiltfery where , Taw an example or two in the water line . The Hew River Company was projected and established by . Sir Hugh Middleton . It was so _fll-patronised at first tbat It ruined the projector , and the original hundred pound shares fell to nil . Ifthe reader will
refer to Spackman ' s Tobies , p . 155 , he will perceive that though other water companies wero willing to state to him tbeir amouBt of capital paid up , this company is _slleHt on that head . It was well ; for so shameful in impoiitkm on the public never was permitted by any government in any quarter of the world . This company , which supplies , accerdfng to its own engineer , 900 , 000 inhabitants of the metropolis , has , Instead of putting on its water at a _propertionably cheap rate as its profits increased , raiBed the value _etlts original hundred shares to £ 21 , 000 eaoh I That is , they fetch that in the market . One has been sold since I came to reside in Clapton by auction for tha * money , and were one to be sold to-morrow , I believe it would fetch
more . _ Now , what has the government been about hero l Has it allowed a company , the taxing powers of _wbiohhave been created by itself , to increase the value of its shares _twenty-one thousand times , —for be It reoollected these shares were onoe at nil , —and has pnt In no veto on the exercise of this power t bas made no effort to reduce tbe charges tor this water to the public ! to have it laid oh every day instead of three days a week ! to have the supply of water extended ; 70 , 000 houses ia the metropolis , according to the last returns , having no supply at all tor to hav . the pipes made more secure against the gas getting into them , which often render _, the water really noisome and -rawholesome ! Nothing
of the kind . The supply of water In the metropolis , _an 4 many other towns , is not ' only very deficient , but tbe quality of tbe water supplied Is of tho most disgraceful Mna . Por evidence of this I refer to the Reports ofthe Commissioners of Inquiry on , tho subject , whicb abounds with proofs seen _ofthedeleterlous nature of the water furnished by pnblio companies . I know by actual inspection tbat the East London Water-works Company supplies a water into which a eopper _. and other mills , various _dye-hoBsis , and a mass of very low population , discharge tbeir filth ; and at what a price I My supply , although I have a pump in _thekitoben , amounts to' £ 5 . ' Ms . a y ««" , for three days per week , or a sum equal * to very nearly one-half of my
assessedtaxes , - _- . Now that this is perfectly unnecessary is proved by Mr Hawksley , the engineer tothe water-works at Nottingham . He showed befora the commissioners that the Trent Water Company furnished a constant supply of excellent water to the Inhabitants at 7 s . _fid . per annum atahy level required , even into the attics of four and five story buildings ; and that the poor were furnished in their houses en the principle of constant supply at Id . per week . Thus , while the East London Water Company is sup . plying an impure water at £ 5 . 12 s ., and so on , per house , tbe Nottingham Company supplies a good , water at 7 a . 6 d , per annum to the wealthy , and 4 s , id . per
annum to tbe poor . Here is pretty strong cause shown tbat the government ougbt to look to what _ft Is doing . It has no right to delegate the power of taxing the pnblio witbout taking the necessary . guarantees for cheapness , purity of quality , and full supply . But so far from this , with the grossest and most cv . lpa . ble neglect , it permits these ' water companies to monopolise tbe rivers to an extent that shuts out competition , and exercises n » authority to compel these companies to take their supply of water from where it is pare , or to forbid them taking It where it Is not pure . It does worse tban tbis , It allows these licensed and interested companies , as I sball show , to deprive the inhabitants of their private wells , in order to lay In what a certain writer styles 'their physle . '
Such is tho effect of tbis delegation system , as far as the supply of water Ib concerned ' . It would be easy to quote whole pages of the evidence of medical and other gentlemen to show thatmostof tbe water supplied bytbese companies is actually filthy , unwholesome , and , ln some cases , poisonous : and it is doled out _stiB ' edly at the enormous prices ' mentioned , while at Nottingham it is supplied in any quantity at Id . per week per house ; at Campbell Town , in Scotland , at the rate of _ls . 4 d . per annum ; at Paisley 2 s . 9 d . ; at Greenock 2 s . 6 d . I If the health of towns is to be consulted , all this must be reformed entirely .
But ,, perhaps , the effect of this system is nowhere more strikingly shown tban In the commissioners of sewers The Committee of tbe Health of Towns Association have , in their Report on Lord Lincoln ' s Drainage BiU , presented us with a mass offsets ofthe most amasing kind . Wo may select afew specimens ; tbey are most instructive . I now . quote from tbe Health of Towns Report : — _< Amongst tbe results of the inquiry ofber Majesty ' s Commissioners , perhaps at once the most remarkable and the most instructive , are the in * stance * which it has bronght to light of the waste of the public money , and the injury done tothe public health , consequent on granting to an irresponsible body the power to adopt or reject public works , of tbe true _character of wbich they are incompetent to form a judgment , ond at the same time in the execution of wbich they bave a sinister interest . Yeur committee tbink it important , as an illustration of this , to direct attention to two or three facts wbich are stated in evidence in
relation to the administration of the Westminster Court of Sewers . Mr Butler Williams , civil engineer , states tbat in tbe Westminster district upwards of forty miles of covered sewers have beta built within the last ten years ; that tbe whole wf these sewers are faulty both in form and construction ; that the differences of expense between the construction of the _qpright-sided sowars with man-holes , ( the form adopted in the Westminster district , ) and tha egg-shaped , or arched sewers , with flushing apparatus , ( the improved form adopted in the Finsbury district , ) is about £ 1 , 800 per mile , and tbst by the adoption ofthe former instead of the latter by tbe Westminster Commissioners of Sewers , there has been a positive loss of £ 66 , 66915 * ,, ' a sum , ' addB tbis witness , ' sufficiently startling to came the inquirer to scrutinise with care the reasons tbat are advanced in favour of the adoption ofa form theoretically imperfect , and found practically not to answer so well In some cases at tbe more perfect theoretical shape which would produce such a great saving I '
Mr John Leslie , one of tbeir own body , explains the mystery of tbis : he states that a large proportion ef the acting Commissioners of Sewers for Westminster are in practice here as architects , surveyors , agents , and solicitors , or are otherwise connected with building property ; and he regards such appointments as highly detrimental to the ' _public interests ; and he gives a history of the King ' s College scholars ' pond sewer as an illustration of the manner in which the business of this court Is conducted . It appears tbat Mr John Ronnie , civil engineer , reported that this line of sewer was se badly laid
down and constructed , thatit would be a waste" of money to nttempttorenderh perfect . Thfs opinion was corroborated by their own surveyor yet , after this official condemnation of It b y both their professional advisers , the commissioners have actually expended upon it nearly two hundred thousand pounds I On 5 , 233 feet only of this lineit appears they have expended £ 70 , 104 _I 7 s . 4 d ., and yet this portion , with the exception of 1 , 009 feet covered in by _MrGubltt at his own expense , remains at this moment an open sewer , with an outlet so bad that the water is penned hack for six hours of each tide I
Much evidence is then given ofthe mischievous effects of this wretched state of these sewers , of the enormous sum of £ 10 , 000 given for a house for the commissioners , the greater part ofthis prioe being rank jobbing . Fur * tber specimens of the like mlcmanagement and extravagant waste are given inthe Ranelagh line , and of the peculation in contracts . ' Ofthe magnitude of the sumB , it is there added , ' which are thus lost , some conception may he formed from the evidence of Mr Butler Williams , who says , « When we consider tbo number of miles of covered sewerage in the metropolis , which I suppose cannotbe less than about 500 , we can form an idea ofthe saving or waste , as tbe case may be , which must result from tbe adoption of one or the other plan . Consider _, ing tbe work done within tbe last ten years , for wbich we bave exact information , It appears
that—, . „ , „ , _KILIB . In thc City of London the increase has been . _**? ve , 18 In Westminster i 0 In Holborn and _Plnsbury 21 In Tower Hamlets ... ... > t "' -g In Surrey and Kent ' , ' _, ' , \\\ 81 Making upwards of ... ... built in ten years . Now tbe difference in exp ' eiiBe , as hhs already been stated , between the construction of upright-sided sewers with _man-boleB , and egg-shaped , or arched sewers with flushing apparatus , would ba about £ 1 , 800 per mile , or for 118 miles , nearly a quarter of a million '
That is pretty well ; but in sewerage jobbery I can far outgo tbis exposure by the Health of Towns Committee in the Haokney district , which has escaped their notice . In a'Letter tothe Parishioners of Hackney upon the subject of the _sower-rates , ' etc ., published in 1841 , by J . Masters , Alders _^ _ate-street . and Edmund Fry _. _predecesior of Charles Gilpin , _Bishopsgate . street , and said to be written by George Collins , author of 'Cel It appears that this large parish , resolving not to he _^ _t _^**** «* « _- » vagan t expense ! theml 8 l 0 nWSof 8
Zrt _/ v _vr- ewe » «« * - » _Taw « 5 £ f n ; _S Sh _' i v a a er _W-w J-o _*** _Tenterdenin oSn UI _i ° ° f Kln 8 _' - <* . « -d attained thoir object of being separately rated . But it wonld seem , that though they obtained this they did not escape the vengeance of the _commissions , who immediately commenced operations in Hackney parish of tha most ruinously . expensive kind . They laid down in the winter of 1840 sewers in Hackney and Homerton , which cost five thousand pounds 1 and which the inhabitants , says the writer , so little needed tbat not one dozen sewers were conneoted by their owners with this new drainage . But if the Inhabitants did not
want this drainage for their sewerage , the commissioners had taken care to drain them in another important respect—they hnd managed to lay every private well dry
Delegated Taxation. Bt Wiiliah Howitt. T...
without an exception ! _The _' ootfot tbe sewers wa 9 pronounced to be double what they ougbt to hare been and the writer significantly adds , 'It would appear almost as if tbe honourable Corporation of the East Lon * dou Water Works , having some ill-natured designs upon the parish , had cozened the commissioners of sewers into absorbing all the spring mter , in order that the East London mixture of water ( by courtesy to called ) and oxide of iron may be in large demand amongst us ! Water-rate payers look to thi *!' But the water-rate _payers sbould have looked ta an . other fact . Are not a considerable number of these Commissioners of Sewers and the shareholders of the East London Water Company identical " - believe they
are ; and tbeir works bear still farther testimony to this looking after their own interests , Since these _exploits _' in Hackney and Homerton , a new sewer has been carried to the top of Clapton at an enormous expense to the is . habitants , and with the rery same effect of laying all the private wells dry ; and then the E 3 » t London Water Company stepping in to supply the deficiency with their costly mixture , wbich , as I have shown , if of a tar mora impure kind than is stated by the writer of this pam . phlet . This sewer was also totally unneeded , there being already an excellent drainage . What is worse , for want of proper traps , the effluvia Bteams out every few dozen yards all up to Clapton close to the footpath , and a real injury instead of a benefit to tbe publio health is ereeted .
The writer of this'Letter'adds some very delectable raorceaux from tbe charges of tha Commissioner * of Sewers for the Tower Hamlets , for such very useful _werks . In the Spltalfields aud Wapping level there was a charge for Worki and Cleansing £ 17 , 455 / out of which £ 9 , 003 . 18 s . 7 d . were expenses for working tho commission , and £ 1 , 635 fer commission oh collection , so tbat tke poor inhabitants of Spltalfields have to pay £ 10 , 639 for the management of the outlay of £ 17 , 455 ! Again , ' Work for Cleansing , * c , £ 17 . 19 s . 8 d ., Working Commission , £ 284 . 9 s . lOd . l Commission on Collec tion , £ 27 . 9 s . 4 d . l' or in other words , the Commissioners , to _expead £ 17 . 19 s . 8 d . in work , charged for their attention about £ 285 , and £ 27 odd for tho collection of the money , for defraying about £ 181 or eighteen times the amount expended in tbe work , was swamped in the mystification of Working Commission !'
Once more— _'Uppix _Limehous _*" , —Works for Cleansing , £ 2 . 15 _» . 9 d . Expenses , working Commission , £ 64 . 17 s ; 7 d . !! ' ' Hackbut Bbook Lxvxr .: —Work * for Cleansing , £ 268 . 15 s . 8 d . Expenses , working Commission , £ 39 * . 2 s . 4 d . J-1 ' Surely I have quoted enough ofthe merry doings or these Commissioners of Sewerage . How these rogues must laugh ln their sleeves at the gullibility of the English publio ! There is no other such public to a car . talnty in this or any other world . But these Commissioners of Sewers , these Water Companies , are but part and parcel of a ' upendous system of public fraud wbich is carrying ..- through tbe mast _cnlpsble neglect of the body called the British Parliament . It is thus that those people who are _natreally sent to Westminster by tho people aB tbeir representatives , sit wrangling , in most long-winded speeches , about often mera personal matters , while tbey fling tbe actual business ef tho country to any set of sharpers which requests to be al * lowed to doit f
The question is , What is to be done » It is vain to talk of carrying out plans for the Health of Towna while these chartered speculators are left alone . Tho board ond body of these interested companies will rise up and shriek about vested rights : At every step every improvement will be met and hampered , if not strangled . Already the cry has begun . Tbe Corpora _, tion of London , with tho most frightful bills of mor tality before tbem , and whole square miles of misery , filtb , and destitution around tbem , sweeping the poor to destruction , beg to leave tbis revolting scene , as uuder its excellent and improving management , exempted from any bill on the subject—and , of course , it ia granted I Just the heart , the body , and head of tha diseased frame are left out , and the Angers and toes are to ba doctored 1
What , then , must he dona ? The people must look _to > it . They must call on government , aud insist on it , that government shall take tbis great subject of Delegated Taxation into Us earnest and most searching care . Tbat the whole bundle of flagrant abuses and rank Im . positions carried on under tbe names of public com * panles-hall be grappled with and _sjstematised ; shell be brought ont to full daylight ; a distinct department of Government be instituted to manage a machinery which taxes the country to tbe very same extent as oil Hb other machinery . That the whole of these compa * nies shall be placed under a system of inspection , control , and restriction ef profits ; and that such measures shall be adopted ai shall compel all such companies not only to do what they have undertaken to do , but to do it in tbe most efficient and economical manner .
Let it be remembered , tbat they aro not only Water Companies , and Commissioners of Sewers tbat we refer to , bnt to every company that is authorised by act of parliament to tax the population of these kingdoms . Parliament has no light to authorise any body of peo . pie whatever to tax us , without at tbe same time taking tbe most stringent guarantees for these parties doing their work well , and keeping their hands out of our pockets beyond a certain limit . I have laid the ease fairly before the public , let some public-spirited member or members of the Legislature lay it before that body . Here is a fine subject for the foundation ef s great popular reputation , through oue of tbe greatest conceivable popular reforms . It must come one of these days , and the sooner tbe better for us all . _—Howitt ' t Journal .
Projected Iifprovembnia Is Thb Post-Omcs...
PROJECTED _IifPROVEMBNia IS THB _PoST-OmCS . —i Several important alterations , it is stated , will take place in theabove department of the publie service at the ensuing quarter-day , which is on the 10 th of the present month . Inthe Money Order-office ex * tensive changes will be made , both in the manner of the issne and payment of money orders , and in the mode of registering them , the whole ofthe routine of the duty having been recently so much simplified that , while a smaller number of employees will be employed , more business will be done in a lesa amount of time than is taken up by the present system . Mr Rowland Hill has for some time turned his attention to this useful branch of the Post-offiee establishment , with the view of reducing the enor *
_mous outlay now expended iu the execution ofthe duty . In the London district Post-office preparations have been made for the extension of the business , and the more ready performance of that already thrown into that department , by taking into the old sorting-office the adjoining rooms , lately used forthe purpose of the money order-office , when that branch of the service waa carried on at the Post-office in St Martin _' _s-le-Grand . __ The new district office windows in the hall ofthe chief office , were opened on Monday morning . It is also said that , from the ensuing quarter , a change will be made in the salaries of all the officers , and that many ofthe anomalies of tha existing scale will be removed . When these preliminaries are settled , several additional appointments will be made in the inland aud letter carriers ' offices .
_. _Hebrinq Fishery . —Off the Irish coasts the her * rings have appeared in enormous shoals , although peculiar in their range , for the Penzance and St Ives boats failed for more than ten days in meeting them in the usual tracks . Last week incredible quantities were taken in Dungarvan Bay , and several large vessels are tbere saving them en masse oa board , and taking them to Liverpool . Herrings never were finer nor in such numbers as thia season in Greatman ' _s and _Oostello Bays , Galway . Pablby . _—Siatk of Fever . —We are sorry to intimate that fever still continues rapidly en the increase . Ihe _deceaseseems to have broken out with renewed virulence . There were no less that 152
patients in the House of Recovery and the adjoining apartments connected with the establishment . This is within two or three ofthe greatest number that was accommodated when the decease was at the worst , in the month of July ; aad if the malady do not speedily abate _. the directors will again be put to their shifts to obtain additional accommodation for the helpless objects , who have no resource but to rely ou their exertions for protection . A subscription ia at present in progress over the tewn , for the purpose of raising funds to meet the increased expenditure , and from the large additional expense that is in . curred by such a number of patients on tbe books . — Renfrewshire Reformer .
Notices were issued on Tuesday , by order of Lord J . Russell , to all the Cabinet Ministers , to attend a Cabinet Council ( the first since the close of the last session of Parliament ) , en Tuesday , the 12 th of October , at tbe Foreign-office , Downingstreet . Nearly the whole ofthe Ministers are expected to attend tha meeting . o . Ar _" _?^ _' _^? 1 -- - - e , , en _eccurredatBishop _' sOffley , Staffordshire , that of death itself overtaking a thiei whilst in the act of plunder . The man's name was Joseph Boulton , residing at Bishop ' s Offley , and hia dead body was found lying between the pit-wheel of MrPetcheil ' _s mill aad the bolster which supported it . His head was bo firmly jammed between the
wheel and the bolster , that it required the united Btrength of six men to disengage it . The coat pockets ot the deceased were filled with wheat , and a basket which lay near had barley in the bottom , and some wheat tied up in a pinafore , whilst some small pieces of wood lay at the top . It is presumed that the unfortunate man had entered the mill through a hole which had been made by the workmen for the purpose of repairing the wheel ; and that after obtaining hia booty , be was attempting to return the same way , when he lost his footing , and the force of his weight upon the wheel setting it in motion , he fell head-foremost between the wheel and bolster , and was immediately killed .
_ . Am _Exampm womhy or Imhation . —The Judg _« meat ofthe Tribunal of Mortagne having condemned a grain and flour merchant of the name of Deschamps , residing at Verneuil ( Eure ) to a fine of three thousand francs and six _months'imprisonrae nt , for using fraudulent means to raise the price of corn ; upon hia appealing against this sentence , the case was hoard on the 13 th of last month before tbe Tribunal of Alencon , when the sentence was _changed to six months' imprisonment and a fine oi sis thousand franca "La Reform * . The cultivation of tobacoo in Algeria increases every year .
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), Oct. 9, 1847, page 2, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/ns3_09101847/page/2/
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