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Leader (1850-1860), 21st May 1853, Edition 1 of 1, Page 488, Untitled Article

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      Untitled Article

      as sewage-producers , entitled to a share of the profits , Those profits , I am prepared to show , will not only extinguish existing sewage-rates , but will leave an excess equivalent to a large reduction of the rates , provided always , however , thafc the London sewers be considered as Guano-mines ; that the excess of brook-water by which those mines are deluged and made unworkable be shut out ; and that their valuable nitrogeneous produce , thus reduced to an uniform and manageable bulk , be conveyed by costless gravitation and cheap steam-lifts , to its proper market —the barren Surrey and Hampshire moors . "

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      THE " FREE PRESS" QUESTION" . Oue report last week of the trial of the question raised by Mr . Collet in publishing the Potteries Free Press , was of necessity , brief . We now present a more complete account . The trial took place in the Court of Exchequer on May 15 th . The Attorney-General and Mr . Phinn were counsel for the Crown , and Mr . Collet defended himself in person . The Attorney-General observed that this was a prosecution for the publication of a newspaper without the stamp required by law . The defendant had taken upon himself to violate the law by publishing a periodical newspaper , subject to stamp duty , without being stamped . The subject had been already before the Court of Exchequer , and the construction put upon it there had led to the belief that the statute might be violated . By the 6 th and 7 th Wm . IV ., cap . 76 , sec . 24 , it was enacted that every publication containing public news , intelligence , or occurrences , or comments upon news or occurrences , should be taken to be a newspaper . By the 17 th section , a penalty of 201 . was imposed upon any person who should print or publish any newspaper or paper not duly stamped according to law , or who should sell any such paper . The schedules annexed to the act defined what were to be considered newspapers , but a question had arisen lately , whether the third part of the schedule superseded or absorbed the first ; and it was held in the case of Messrs . Bradbury and Evans that , supposing a paper not published within the interval of twenty-six days was within the first clause of the schedule , but not within the third , it might be exempt from the stamp . He was , however , at a loss to sec how the decision of the Court in that case

      could aifect the present case , for the Potteries Free Press was within the first and the third clauses of the schedule . It was of the size which did not exempt it from stamp duty ; it was published , not at intervals exceeding twenty-six days , but every week , and it contained advertisements , news , and comments upon news . He could not see upon what pretext a publication , containing such varied matter , could escape from the stamp . Whatever opinion the public might entertain with regard to the advisability of removing the stamps upon newspapers , it was not for any individual to set himself up in defiance of the law , because the law was to be administered as it stood . He had been informed that the line of defence would be , that the Board of Inland Revenue had allowed other papers to bo

      published without the stamp ; but even admitting this , it by no means followed as a necessary consequence that becauso others escaped , the defendant was justified in violating the law . The jury were , no doubt , aware that there were publications of a class character which bore no stamp , such as the Jiuilder , the Athenceum , and the Art Journal . The Jiuilder , however , was devoted to architecture , the Athenceum to literature , and the Art Journal to the fine arts ; and none of theso papers , except incidentally , included any tonics of news . They camo within the clasa of reviews and periodicals of that description , and

      therefore tho Board of Inland Rcvenuo had not interfered with thorn . It might bo that in doing tso tho Board had acted with great liberality , for those papers were , perhaps , chargeable with tho stamp ; but ho thought as so much doubt existed on tho subject , tho Board had exercised a wise discretion in not pressing for tho imposition of tho stamp . The Potteries Free , Press was in no way similar to any of tho publications he had mentioned , because it was avowedly a newspaper—it was published at shorter intervals than twenty-six days , and was sold at a loss price than ( id .

      The admission in tho case having been put in , and also copies of the publication of tho 12 th , 19 th , and 20 th of last February , ' Mr . Collet justified his alleged violation of tho law by showing that so many weekly unstamped papers contained news , and had been allowed to remain unpunished after being presented to tho Board for prosecution , that he was driven to the belief that there must bo some justification for the conduct of tho authorities , which waa not to bo found in tho words of the act . Ho compared the Spectator of Queen Aniie ' a time , which wan stamped to death as a newspaper , with the Family Herald , which no one would

      call a nowspnper now , but which would have fallen under that description in tho days of Anne , though tho words of the act wero the name now , only with tho addition of a greater stringency . IIo pointeu also to tho Athonaium and the Builder , which he contended wore newspapers , though the Potteries Fret ) J ' rons waa not . JIo submitted that a certain degree of lneagroncss in u publication provented it from being a newspaper though it contained news , and cjt . ed Lord Lyndhurat ' s words in the case of Ilothorington ' n Poor Man ' s Guardian , " it hcoiiih to mo a meagre afliiir , " which were followed by an acquittal , though one of the jiumberH prosecuted contained tho King ' s Speech .

      Baron I ' urko—That wuh not a legal opinion of Lord LyndhurHt ' H , and therefore is of no vuTuo . Mr . Collet , thought , that Chief Baron Pollock ' s referonco , in tho ciiho of the Household Narrative , to the monthly pupern being exempt , bccaimo they did not compels wiLh the h ( limped press , wns in his favour ; his paper could not so compete , and therefore did not injure the revenue , which would lone the paper and advertisement duties now paid , if tho paper woro put down . Ho submitted tiiut the moaning of t ] u ) Umn nowupuper wjiu littblo to development ; that what wan a nowepajxjr in 1713 wa » jnpj , a

      Mr . Collet contended that he was not guilty of - ingly and wilfully publishing , as it was notorious that nobody knew what a newspaper was , and called witnesses who proved that he had been to the Stamp Office , and had requested to be allowed to comply with the twentyfourth section of the act , so as to give him the protection of the twenty-fifth , which allowed no penalties to be enforced till after notice of the Stamp OiSce , which he had neyer received . The Attorney-General having replied . Baron Parke ruled that the protection granted under the act was limited to the case of an actuaT printer possessed of a press , which the defendant , by his own admission , waa not ; and that the words knowingly and wilfully referred only to his knowledge of the contents of his publication . The facts were admitted , and the jury had to take the law from him . There could be no doubt that

      know newspaper in 1853 ; and , in short , that the law was not to be found in the words of the act . Baron Parke . —Then it is my duty to tell you that the words of the act constitute the law . Having thus decided that the practice of the Board of Inland Revenue had nothing to do with the law , the learned judge refused to hear evidence on that subject , it being irrelevant . .. Mr . Collet reminded the Court that the Board made a distinction in favour of class news ; if this were legal , the Free Press was a class paper , but he found nothing about class news in the act . Baron Parke . —No ; there is nothing about class news in the act . . . _ . -.

      the Potteries Free Press was a newspaper ; they had nothing to do with the question whether other papers had not been prosecuted which were also newspapers . The description of a newspaper was to be found in the schedule to the 6 and 7 William IV ., cap . 76 . The first definition was , any paper containing public news , intelligence , or occurrences—that is , any paper whose main object was to give news ; it had , however , been decided by the majority of the court that the third clause modified the first , and that no paper was a newspaper if published ^ at intervals greater than twenty-six days , and by this decision he must be bound till it was reversed in a Court of Error . But the third clause required a stamp on any paper under a certain size and under sixpence in p rice , published offcener than once in twenty-six days , if it contained any news , and the Potteries Free Press was under that price and size , and was published weekly . Verdict for the Crown .

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      LOVELORN . A butcher ' s boy in Camberwell fell in love with his master ' s daughter . It is the old story , but with a new ending . The father opposed the love-making , and attempted to put an end to a correspondence between the young people . This led to a result unexpectedly painful . On last Wednesday , the young lad was found in a copse near the new Crystal Palace , bis head blown to pieces , and a new rifle pistol lying by his side . Two letters were found on him . The first was addressed to his master : — " Sir , —I have been in your service upwards of four years , and I must say J have met with every encouragement I have wished for until lately . I have noticed that Eou did not seem satisfied with what I have done , which as made me answer you at times very Bharp , which you

      have noticed ; and , as I am to be separated from the sole object of my affections , there is no more comfort for me in this world . My heart is ready to burst with grief . Jn fact , my agonies at the present time is more than I can bear , and therefore I am determined to ease myself of them by taking my own life . No doubt by the time you receive this I shall have breathed my last . I hope you will forward my box and all that belongs to me to my afflicted parents . I cannot eay any more , so farewell , for ever . " The second was addressed to his young mistress : — " Theso few lines comes from your broken-heartod lover , whoso happiness is going , never to return again . I hope you will accept this as a last token of my love , and keep it in remombranco of me . I have now loft tho worla , never to see you more , so farewell , for over . No doubt you will hear aumo sad news from your father , after you navo received this note . "

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      MISCELLANEOUS . OsuottWE and its environs is still tho abode and ground of exercise for tho Court . Queen Victoria , Prince Albert , and the children drive out and walk out daily . On Wednesday , Prince Albert and Sir James Graham went on a cruise to tho Needles in the Fairy .

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      In tho line of producing enormous nuggetts Australia is unequalled , " none but itself can be its parallel . " Tho 1001 b . lump is now extinguisher ! by tho latest discovery , a lump of gold weighing 1341 b . It was found about two miles from Ballarat . Tho other news from Australia is cheorful ; business was active and money plentiful ; tho price of gold had risen , but tho yield from tho mines showed no signs of diminution . Tho immigration ia immonao ; over 11 , 000 persons arrived in December , and 8000 in January . Tho usual intelligence has arrived from Buenos Ayros . Tho complicated quarrel , involving Gonoral Urauiza , tho rural population of tho province , tho Argentine Confederation , and the do facto Governors of Buenos Ayros , still

      continues — tho negotiations lor peace having failed . Urquizn . seems likely to succeod in deposing tho Government , but until something decisive is dono no cloar statement can bo given . Wo reported last week an accident on tho railway near Selhy—the York and North Midland line : tho engine run off Uio line , and the drivor and stoker were killed . The accident , has boon investigated . Tho servants of tho Company stated in their evidence that the lino was in propor working order , and tho engine nil right , hut that tho rate of Hpoerl on the day of tho accident wuh too high , causing oscillation of the rail and the overturn of tho ongino . But Cuptuin ( Julton , who inspected the matter for tho Board <> f

      Trade , deposed that the enginu in its construction was unfitted for high speed , and that tho wheels wen ; a littlo worn . His ovidenco regarding the road wftHimportant : — " Ho found tho railn a good deal worn in places and laminated . Tho keys which fixod tho rails to tho ehairfl appeared old . Tim sleepers worn certainly decayed at tho Burfue « , ho should nay generally—and imuiy , ho thought , wero decayed muoh deeper . Ho observed many iiiHtanceS of tho spikon which fix tho chairs to tho eloopers boinjj loose , and when a length of rail was taken uj > , ho perceived tho bods of tho wood on which tho chairs routed woro alep decayed . Tho ballast waa , at the top , brokon limeatono ; but below h « found a quantity of clay mixed with it . On

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      4 S 8 T H E L E A P E R . CP 4 TOTP **

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      From time to timo wo get accounts of the progress of the popular army in the discipline and habits of soldiers . The Royal Sussex Militia , fine able-bodied young 1 men , are rapidly being drilled at Chichester , and their general conduct in reported very good . Tho namo report in innde of tho Dorset Militia , now being trained at Dorchester . Tin ; Royal London Militia are to bo exercised in the City-road , next Friday ; the regiment in complete , the men are " eager and ready for duty , " and tho young officen have been daily drilled with tho Ciuardn . Tho several corps of South Wales Militia liavo been active . The Momnouth Light Infantry mut for training , on Thursday ; tho Glamorganshire Militia was exercised yesterday ; the Breconshiro KHIes mot on tho 10 th ; and the Carmarthenshire Militia will bo called out before tho close of tho month . ( This hint is exceptional in its condition : its number js not completed , and reeourflo to tho ballot will bo necessary . ) The Pembrokeshire Militia ban boon judiciously made an artillery <> orpi .

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      MajdHtono ha « returned a Liberal morobor . Tho number * « t the cIqbo of the poll wore , L <* , 747 ; Martin , 737 ,

      The Limerick Chronicle , an untiring gossip , reporfcfl that Mr . E . B . Roche , M . P . for Cork , is to be made a peer , wifh the title of Viscount Fermoy . The petition against Sir Joshua Walmsley and Mr . Gardner having been withdrawn , Leicester has celebrated the Liberal victory b y a meeting , at which some spirited ipeechmaking took place . Kossuth was present . _ Experience ia inducing improvements in the Freehold Land Societies , and their adaptation to the wants of the people is daily becoming more complete . The Reformers ' to

      Freehold Land , Building , and Investment Society seems be constructed pn a simple and honest plan , likel y to be effectual . The payments can be made by " easy instalments , " and all the profits are divided among the members . The society meets at Camden-town on Tuesday , Mr . Duncombe in the chair . The objection of Englishmen to the " spy system , as exemplified in the esp ionage on Kossuth , is taking shape in several district and parish meetings . On Monday , Marylebone is to meet in its Court-house .

      An attempt is about to be made to organize a club for the behoof a very large and hig hly respectable portion of the population oi this metropolis , who ore in effect shut out from the existing clubs by the high rate of entrance fee and annual subscription demanded . Experience has shown the absolute necessity of an entrance fee in these cases , and looking to the fact that this item ranges from twenty to thirty guineas in the west-end clubs , we think that a club on the moderate terms proposed iB worthy of all support . Dr . Reid has been awarded 3 , 250 Z . on account of his claim against the Board of Works for ventilating the new Houses of Parliament .

      Lord Ellesmere , with an " unwearied spirit in doing courtesies , " has again opened his gallery to the public . Cards can be procured at Messrs . Smith , New Bond-street . The Royal Highland School Societv had a dinner on Saturday . Sir Archibald Alison presided , and " Mrs . Stowe was in the gallery . " The statistics of the society are interesting . From 12 , 000 to 16 , 000 children are being educated in its schools at an expense of less than 5 * . per annum for each scholar . The society is now one hundred years old . The visitors at the British Museum on Monday numbered 16 , 668 . 'Those at the Zoological Gardens , Regent ' s-park , amounted to upwards of 20 , 000 . A new establishment for Lloyds is to be built in Broadstreefc , in the City , on the site of the Excise office , sold last and the site itself

      week for 108 , 0002 . The old building have witnessed gome changes . Nearly 300 years ago Sir Thomas Gresham lived there , in a grand mansion ; at his death he left the house to the City of London , as a college , and endowed it respectably . The college was founded ; lecturers , a ^ library , and a museum were attached ; and there the Royal Society was initiated , in the informal meetings of men of science and wit in the chambers of Sir Christopher Wren , who was one of the college professors . But the corporation ( who were trustees of the college ) soon neglected their trust : the college observances fell into desuetude , and the buildings fell , bit by bit , into dilapidation and disrepair . In 1767 , tho city magnates , tired of the onerous dut y of regulating a college , or even keeping the building , ' offered to the Crown " that antient and useless building , Gresham College . " Tho Crown bought it cheap for 600 ; . a year rent , and built a heavy brick Excise office

      on the spot . Tho thirty-second part y of female emigrants , sent out on Sidney Herbert ' s emigration plan , left England on Tuesday . A party of their titled friends bade them goodbye . This is probably tho last party to be forwarded by tho Female Emigration fund , ' us the Government system now offer new advantages to female emigrants ; and thus supersedes tho necessity of private action . A lunar rainbow was seen in Essex on Monday evening . It was very beautiful ; and as perfect in form as if formed by tho sun .

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), May 21, 1853, page 488, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1987/page/8/