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Leader (1850-1860), 27th November 1858, Edition 2 of 2, Page 24, t ' ¦ . ¦ ¦ ¦ BAILWAY INTELLIGENCE. On T...

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      Trade Of Ten Months. Indirect Taxation. ...

      trade so stimulated , requiring a greatly increased quantity , of shipping " ' for its purposes in addition to the purposes of trade , is to be ' much regretted . We may justly commiserate the shipowners who were , by political as well as mercantile causes , excited into unwonted exertions in 1845-0-7 , but we must not think of assenting to their prayer for relief by reimposing any restrictions whatever on our trade . These would only prolong the declension of trade , and add in the end to their sufferings . A very important fact just now , when the

      customs revenue in France and in the United States is falling off , is that the consumption of almost every article , except corn , spirits , and timber , subject to our customs duties , has increased in October , 1858 , as compared to October , 1857 ; and the consumption of articles subject to customs duties , with the exception of clocks and watches , provisions , spirits , timber , wine , & 3 ., has increased through the whole ten months . According to a rough calculation , the increase of customs revenue from corn and flour , sugar and tea alone , in the

      tea months , from increased consumption , will not be less than 800 , 000 / . The bulk of our customs duties , it must be remembered , are levied for revenue only—the idea of levying such duties for protection is given up , though the practice is still unhappily continued on many articles in a manner wholly indefensible—while the whole of-the customs duties in the United States and many customs duties in France are levied solely on the principle of protection . Contrasting , therefore , the continued increase of our customs duties with the

      great falling off in these two other countries of customs duties , we see a strong bureaucratic reason , independently of the public welfare , why customs duties for protection should be given up . The state where they are levied cannot rely on them for a continuous and steady revenue . They subject the treasury to alternations of plethora and void , which involve the Government in a career of extravagance at one time and oppression at another . According to the return of the French customs revenue for October , 1 S 58 , the yield is l , 450 , 782 fr .

      less than on the corresponding month of 1 S 57 . In the ten months of 1858 , the yield is 5 , 845 , 744 fr . less than in the ten mouths of 1857 , about 3 £ per cent . In the United States also , the Federal income , raised almost wholly from indirect taxation , has fallen off so much , not less than 50 per cent ., that the Government has run into debt , and now means , it is said , to levy taxes on tea and coffee . These facts suggest an additional doubt , in spite of our own increasing revenue , of the pro-Sriety of still relying on indirect taxation . In ounshing periodsthe large income induces

      , Government to embark in numberless schemes of amelioration or supposed improvements . It rebuilds cities , it makes grants to learned bodies , it gives bounties on mail steamers , it enlarges profusely postage accommodation , it increases its own functions and its own rewards , it is lavisli of the public money , in order to make the expenditureon a too weUJknown principle of all Governments and all spendthrifts- ^ equal to the income } and when a time of depression comes , its expenses cannot be diminished , and it is loudly proclaimed that the necessities—the absolute necessities—of the

      Government require additional taxes . So indirect taxation , by encouraging extravagance , in the end imposes additional and unnecessary burdens on the community . Incorrectly does the Times , one of the advocates of wanton expenditure , say , " Reduction of taxation has been carried to such an extent in the United States , that the revenue begins to cry out . " Some alterations have within a year or two been made in the American tariff , but no reductions of taxation of any importance , since the revenue was amply sufficient for the purposes of the Government . It could not expend it all , though its expenditure , was much increased . Not reduction of taxation , but extravagant expenditure when the customs revenue from trade was double its present amount , is the cause of the present difficulties of the Government of the United States . To us its dilemma ought to be a warning , Let us reduce our outgoings in good time . The value of the principal imports wo must further remark , as enumerated up to the end of September , was 95 , 378 , 609 / . ns against 109 , 959 , 688 / . to the end of September , 1857 . On the nine months this ia on average decline of about . 1 , 500 , 000 / . per jnonth , In the month of September itself , however , the value of the imports was 12 , ^ 75 , G 4 i 8 Z . as agaitost 12 , 076 , 315 / , It was therefore in excess in September , 1858 . Ihia confirms the statement we

      have frequentl y made , that our imports declined more in value than in quantities , and now that the decline in value has ceased , they are found to be as great or greater than in 1857 . We must add , to guard ourselves from the chance of error being imputed to us , that the trade tables contain two returns of the computed value of imports to the end of September , Tbut one is of all merchandise imported , and the other of the principal articles imported . The former gives 114 , 799 , 194 / . as the value , and the latter 95 , 378 , 609 / . We have used the latter because it is accompanied by a return o £ the value in the month , which the other is not . The great difference between the two amounts surprises us , and shows how little dependence can be prises us , ana snows now nine aepenuence can oc

      placed on one of the returns as a representation of the trade of the country . "We must further add , to show the continual general prosperity of the people in conjunction with the increase of our customs revenue , that the excise returns for nine months , now published , show , in spite of the credit convulsion , only a small decrease in the quantities of malt , spirits , and paper consumed in 1858 , as compared to 1857 . The reduction in the quantity of paper is partly due to the general use of paper of a less substantial character , which reduce ? the number of pounds reported to the excise , while the number of sheets usea is probably much greater . Tbe distribution of our trade to different countries , which these returns enable us to decribc , will furnish an appropriate article for our next number .

      1296 The Ii Babe B. [No .453, November 2...

      1296 THE Ii BABE B . [ No . 453 , November 27 , 1858 .

      T ' ¦ . ¦ ¦ ¦ Bailway Intelligence. On T...

      t ' ¦ . ¦ ¦ ¦ BAILWAY INTELLIGENCE . On Tuesday a meeting of the shareholders * in the Midland Railway Company who are not } interested in the Little North-Western Company , was held at Leeds to consider the proposed'lease of the line to the latter . It was resolved not to lease the Little North-Western Railway , but continue to work the line for the next seven years , in accordance with the agreement in 1852 . An agreement has been signed by the London and North-Western and the Great Western Railway Companies respectively , which will have the effect of placing as large a sum as 80 , 000 / . at the disposal of the latter company on the 1 st of January next .

      The joint occupancy by these two companies of the high level railway -station at Wolyerharnpton will then cease . The Great Western will hand over to the London and North-Western Company a goods shed , with its appliances , erected near the passenger station , by the use of which the latter company will , after erecting an iron girder bridge , and making extensive additions and alterations , be able to carry on their goods and their passenger traffic almost upon the game spot * instead of the two departments being conducted apart ; and the Great Western

      Company , by extending their goods station at the Victoria Basin , will be able to concentrate at that point the energies divided between three goods stations at "Wolverhampton . It is understood that , ia a short time , subscriptions will be invited for the construction of the railway from Lisbon to Oporto , the concession of which has been obtained by Sir Morton Peto . The capital will be about 3 , 500 , 000 / ., and it is said tlj « Portuguese Government guarantees a minimum dividend of 6 per cent .

      At an extraordinary general meeting of the shareholders in the Calcutta and South-Eastern Railway , hold on Wednesday , resolutions were passed reducing the capital to 250 , 000 ; ., being the amount on which interest at 5 percent , is to be guaranteed by the Government of India . It was stated that the shareholders who have paid their calls will have a preference in the redistribution of the shares , and that the unregistered soripholders will be only dealt with as a matter of grace . A . n extraordinary general meeting of the Scottish North-Eastern Company was held on Thursday , to consider an agreement proposed to be entered into for the perpetual leasing of the Dundee and Arbrpath

      Railway . A resolutiou to that effect having been put by the chairman , and lost , Ho said another meeting would be held , and tbe opinion of the whole body of shareholders in the company would bo taken . The directors wore unanimously in favour of tlie measure . A vote of thanka was passed to Mr . Weeth , the secretary , for his long cervices , and h teetiraonial of 850 / . vraa presented to him on Jhe occasion of leaving the service of the company . A prospectus for the extonsionoftbQ East Somerset lino to WolU hns just been issued , The addltional Uno is only nboirt flvo miles in length , and would be the means of affording direct communication between the important towns of Fromo , Shopton Mullet , Glustonbury , Brldgewator , Ttiunton , & c ,

      Danube And Biaok. 3ba Ium-Way.—A Report

      Danube and Biaok . 3 ba IUm-way . —A report

      Danube And Biaok. 3ba Ium-Way.—A Report

      just issued ^ of this company describes the proerc ^ thus far to have been satisfactory Sufficient Wh is obtainable , and the necessary lands have £ secured at small cost . The expens e of the lino-in * be 230 , 000 / . and it is hoped to be completed so it S commence traffic in the spring of ! 860 . . SboTn Yorkshire Railway Company —Dr Robert Dymond , chairman of the company ' sud denly expired on Monday . Dr . Dymond has been connected with tlie South Yorkshire Railway since its commencement . He was for several years vice chairman of the company , and on the death of the late Earl Fitzwilliam , he was appointed chairman The present vice-chairman is Mr . G . H . Packe ' M . P ., who is also deputy-chairman of the Cite ** Northern Railway Company . UKa *

      Movement in tub Eastern Counties —The East Suffolk Company will apply for powers in tlie ensuing session to construct an extension to Aldborough . The proposed line is to commence at Leiston , and , if carried out , will there form a junction with the company's Leiston branch . The SpaldiiM ? and Holbeach line , which has been a very long time on hand , has been at last opened for traffic . French Railways . —It is said that the directors of the various French railway companies have held a conference , at which it was resolved to establish a uniformity in . their fares . .

      Sardinian Railways . —The merchants of Genoa are now regarding -with favour two railway projects —one being for a line along the coast , the other the Luck-manier . It appears to have been resolved that the latter shall be a mixed system of rail and ordinary high roads . Mr . Brassey has placed himself at the head of the undertakingj and is endeavouring to gain over to the cause the chief shareholders of the Swiss Central Railway . Unfortunately for him , however , Rothschild and Fould are both of them extensively mixed up with the Swiss line , and ' their interest lies in another direction , so that they favour the French route between Marseilles and Paris .

      - New Express Df-Spatcm Steamers For The...

      - New Express Df-spatcm Steamers for the Galway Line . —The directors of this company intimate that they arc so satisfied with the present state of affairs that they have completed a contract with the eminent iron steam shipbuilders , Messrs . Palmer Brothers and Go ., of Newcastle-on-Tyne , for the immediate construction of three new express despatch steamers . Messrs . Palmer and Co . have contracted that these vessels shall exceed in speed anv ocean steamers that

      have yet been launched . They have guaranteed a minimum speed of twenty statute miles an hour . While they will thus be considerably faster than the fastest despatch steamer at present running , they arc also guaranteed to require leas than half the coal . They are to carry 200 first-class saloon passengers , and 300 second-class . The plans , models , and specifications will be submitted for Government inspection this week . The distance from Galway to St . John's , Newfoundland , being 1661 miles , these vessels , at fourteen knots an hour , will run from port to port within five days . An h the

      opportunity -will then be afforded , throug company s arrangements , of telegraphing from nil parts of luiropo to all parts of America within six days at a cost or twenty shillings for twenty words . Tliuu America will be reached in a shorter time than has ever yet been accomplished , and the Galway line , pending the fliinJ success of the electric cable , will become thei golden linjc of intercourse between the Old and the New \\ orld . Information has arrived by the Pacific that **™**? ry arrangements are in progress whereby n mail suUsi > will bo secured from the United States Government by the negotiations of lord 13 ury , one of the directors ot

      the company . Colonial Timbkk . — For certain purposes m » i » pbuilding North American timber is ns good as torei » , besides being much cheaper . Wo have no idea o j' * annual cost of the wood , or what contracts _ arc mJ - but when we find from the evidence before tlie > Wjeu Commissioners' that the wood supplied to the ° «'" "J : department is little less than 60 , 000 / . a yea department » 9 mire *««» " •»« " » " —; » imi ™ llv estimate

      waggons , carts , & c , we may *« f ™ S contracts at about 1 , 0 OO , QOOJ . Now , this amou ™ spent in Canada » ncl New Brunswick would fcn enormous employment to our lumberers , wno um much of our manufactures , instead <>^ 8 On <\ m V a |{ 0 Prussia , Russia , or other foreign countries wl «*•» l , 80 little from us , Our shipping would bo also ^ ^ Some fdea of tho vastnewof tho timber trade on t « Ottawa and Trent may bo had from tho quantity ro « for shipment last spring : ^ Ottawa , V /^ t of ditto ; feet of white pine ; Trent , l . BW . OOO «» M < . foot of d ^ , Ottawa . 89 B . 000 cubic feet of red pUio , ooo , » w « ,

      taft of ' elm , and 100 , 000 cubic feet of tam uae ; j ^ largo quantities of these woods from *¦»« 'K & c > Canada West and Eaat , { with black * aln ** lX »**** Prom New Brunswick the ehlpmonts are " ^ 'fJL . i nlM ! as from Canada . When the wood is bo much pruw ^ used by our privato BlUpbuUdors , It « PP ° " f ° ]) lflnthere is scarcely any uaed in tho construction of our of-war . — 'Dubhn Evening Mail ,

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 27, 1858, page 24, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_27111858/page/24/