EXTRACTS FROM ENGLISH PAPERS.

New Zealand Colonist and Port Nicholson Advertiser, Volume I, Issue 94, 23 June 1843, Page 3

EXTRACTS FROM ENGLISH PAPERS.

Arrest of Feargus O’CoNNORi—-Yester-' day, October Ist* shortly after one o’clock, Feargus Q’Condor and John Archibald. Campbell* who keeps a shop for the sale of cheap publications* 180* High Holborn, drefe conveyed to BoW-street police-court* in the custody of Inspector Hughes* of the A division, and M‘Mullln, of the Manchester, police, for the purpose of entering into recognizances on a charge of sedition at Manchester, in the month of August last. The' -Bh’sd r 'was disposed of in the magistrates’ room, Mr. Hail, not being the sitting magistrate of. the day. Mr. Waddington, the barrister, and Mr. Faulkner, the solicitor, attended on the part, of the'crown to watch the proceedings; and Mr: Cbncannon, a solicitor, appeared on the part of Mr. O’Connor. Mr. Henry, the magistrate of Lambeth-street, and Mr. Wray, the receiver-general of the police force, were also present. : Mr. O’Connor being conducted into the room, Mr. Burneley, the chief clerk, proceeded to rCad thes warrant of John Frederick Foster, Esq.', a magistrate/of Manchester, which charged ;him with haying, on the 17 th of August, with divers other persons, unlawfully and wickedly conspired, confederated, and agreed to excite, her;Majesty’s liege subjects to sedition and disaffection against the laws of this realm* and to cause insurrection, to prevent certain of her Majesty’s subjects from following their lawful occupations, and to force them to depart therefrom, and to disturb the peace of our said lady the Queen and the Kingdom of England,” Mr. Waddington said, he had the honour to appear on the part of the

crown, anti he was/ willing, to- what the defendant had to make to the charge. The defendant, replied, that he had to perform a most in preventing the people from committing outrages,- and he never, considered he would be called upon to account for such conduct, -. Mr. Hall said that, whatever confessions the defendant had to make, or whatever examihationshe had to undergo, should be taken in the regular course before the magistrates at Manchester, it being his duty merely to apportion the ainount of bail, after a plea had been put in to the charge. The defendant replied that he had no answer to make, except that he was not guilty of the charge; but he wished the evidence of his physician to be taken as to the state of his health. He would, in a short time, be prepared with bail, if required; and, as to the- charge, he had no more to say, except that, in consequence of the active measures he had adopted to prevent serious outrages taking placp,upon the corn-law question, he had been charged by the press with being in the pay of the tory. party. Mr. Hall: Then I am to understand that you mean to put in bail. The defendant replied in the affirmative. Mr. Waddington observed that, if bail was procured , in Londdhy the defendant could not know the

nature of the depositions; but, if that was not done, he should be forthwith conveyed to Manchester, where the case would be gone into. The defendant said he would prefer putting in hail before Mr. Hall, from whom he would meet with every kindness ; but if he was compelled to appear before the bench at Manchester, he was sure to meet with insult, although he hac

done much good, which the magistrates there Would not readily admit. Mr. Hall Then you are ready and willing at present to put in bail ? The defendant said he would before the rising of the court. Mf. Hall; Are you under other recognizances at present; Defendant: Yes ? to keep the peace. Mr.. Hall: Was that upon a government prosecution ? Defendant: Yes; I was obliged to find bail after I was dischargee from York castle. Mr. Waddington begged to observe that the government did not wish to press for excessive bail, although the charge, was of a very serious nature. Mr. Hall said the charge in the warrant was of a character very little short of treason, and the public would naturally expiect that the amount of bail required would be commensurate with the offence, and, in case it was procured within a reasonable time, the defendant might ‘be saved the trouble o' being Sent to Manchester. The amount of bai he should call upon the defendant to enter into would be, himself .in the sum of 1,000/., anc two sureties in 500/. each, to answer to the charge at the next gabl delivery at Manchester. The deferidatit' thanked the; magistrate, and he was conducted into an adjoining room. The other defendant was then brought in, and having admitted he was the person charged in the warranty said that bejng ; only a few hours in custody he had had no time to communicate with his friends, who could procure the required sureties. . Mr. Waddington told him the sarnie time Would be allowed him to find bail as if the offence was committed in London, which was until the rising of the court. Mr s Hall told the defendant he had time enough to send to* his friends, and the amount df bail he required would ibe himself in 800/., and two sureties in 400/.?; each; to answer the change at the next gaol delivery at Manchester. Defendant: Oh ! : that's impossible ; in fact> its tantamount to saying I must be sent to prison, for I cannot .procure "such bail. Mr. Hall said the only reason why he, made any difference in the amount of bail was, that he was in a more humble sphere in life than the other defendant, although the nature of the charge in the warrant was the same. Mr. Waddington said it only remained to have the defehdant conveyed to Manchester in custody ofrthe officer. The defendant was then removed. In the course of the evening Mr. Cleave, of Shoe-lane, Fleetstreety and Mr* Oldfield, of Bolt-court, Fleetstreet, were accepted as sureties for Mr. O’Connor, and, after a description was taken of the several'letters which were found upon hinii he left the court accompanied liy his friends; .. .v.r : .?■;

Fires in the Metropolis.—November 14

—From the hour of nine o’clock on Monday night, until the same hour on Tuesday morning, a period of only twelve hours, no less than nine fires occurred in various parts of the metropolis ; the result was, that the engines of the various stations of the. London fire ? brigade, and the one belonging to the West of England, were to be seen running about- in different directions during the night. Although speedily at each fire, a very considerable loss of property has been sustained. The most extensive

of the fires broke out at nine o’clock on Tues-

day morning, at No. 9, Little St. Thomas

Apostle, Queeii-street* in the occupation of Mr. Edmunds, by which nearly the whole of th,e contents of the warehouse was

consumed. A large quantity of ppper-cuttings were paCked.up, which by'some meanS caught fire; and although Mr. Braidwood, With tHe eriginea/svas; on the spot within five minutes after the discovery, yet, before the deVouririg element could be extinguished, the whole of the contents were either destroyed or damaged. It was only through the united ex-

ertions of the fireman- that .the" fire was? prevented from running through the house. The property .destroyed is fortunately, insured.—The qf. ,the fires, which took place on .the previous evening broke out, in the house of Mr. Perry, baker, of Wellington-place, Back-road, St. George’svin-the-East. The fire was first discovered in one of the, bedrrooms, and the inmates had great difficulty in effecting their escape. Although the Wellclose-square engines, and those stationed at the east end of the metropolis, were quickly on the spot, nearly the whole of the upper part, as well as the furniture, was consumed before the fire could be got under. Mr. Perry, we regret, to state, is uninsured. —About eleven o’clock the second one broke out, in the house of Mr, Hastwortb, Three HerringVcourt, Redcross-street, Cripplegate. The engines .from the Whitecrossstreet and Farringdon-street stations were in a few minutes on the spot* and although coupled with a good supply of water, a portion, of, the building and furniture were destroyed "before it was extinquished. Not the slightest information as to the origin could be obtained.—At twelve o’clock the' tliird'o’rie was discovered, in .the .of. leather..stainer, Beech-street, Barbjcanv '"Here the stoclc was considerably damaged before the fire was ex-tinguished.-r-About the. same time another fire, the fourth, occurred in the workshop of Mr. Scarlett, wheelwright, Hargrave-terrace, Bermondsey. Although a plentiful supply of water was obtained, and several engines were in attendance, nearly the whole , of the stock was consumed. Between this peri.bd and the above named fire, four others, what'are termed jobs, . occurred in different parts of the metropolis, but were extinguished without doing much injury.—On Tuesday morning, about twenty mi-

nutes before one o’clock,, much alarm was created in the immediate vicinity of Holbornhill; owing to a fire (which at .first- threatened to be attended with the most disastrous consequences) breaking out on the premises in the occupation of Messrs. Martyn, wholesale tea-

dealers, &c., situate at No, 76, Holborn-hill. The flames were first discovered by one of the inmates, at which time they were raging;with great rapidity in the lower part of the premises.

An alarm having been raised, the various per-

sons in the house were aroused to a sense of their danger, and no sooner was that accomplished than the dairies reached the staircase, cutting off all communication by that means, and the different persons in the establishment were compelled to escape over the back of the

house by means of a portable fire-escape. The engines from the Farringdon-street and Wat-ling-street stations were soon on the spot, and also the Weßt of England'engine, with Mr. Connorton, the superiiiteudant of that company ; when, owing to much exertion on the part of the firemen, coupled with an excellent supply of water, the fire ,was soon subdued, but not before damage to the amount of nearly 500/. was sustained, which will fall upon the West of England Insurance Company. The fire was caused by an escape of gas under the shop. THE REVENUE FRAUDS. Before going into further detail upon this now interesting subject, and in illustration of the lax mode in which the customs department is controlled, we have to announce the startling fact, that within 48 hours of the period this article was written, and directly under the nose of the officials, an attempt has been made to defraud the revenue of from 300/. or may be 6001. A case marked V. M., brought by the Emerald steamer from Boulogne, consigned to a party named Malliet, was entered by Mr. Sylvester, of 65, Lower Thames-street, to be landed at a legal quay, by “ slight” entry. The case remained in the warehouse until Tuesday afternoon. It was then lowered from the sjlk-floor loophole, into the cart'of a carman naihed Robinson. A labouring man named May, who had been formerly emplo'yed at the legal quays by Mr. Wilson, the late Custom-house clerk of Messrs. W. and D. Condingby', whose necessities compelled him to ask pecuniary assistance from his late employers, being refused, declared ie would take an opportunity. of revenging limself, and this oppojtupity. noW; arose/; In his capacity as jobbing labourer, he observed the delivery of the case;? and suspicions being excited by a tarpauling being thrown over it, le determined upon following u the cart. The carman observing this, becatne confused, when May, to establish the fact that-something wrong was on the tapis, called on the assistance of the jolice, and the cart, with its contents, was placed under surveillance , and taken to the Bishopsgate station, being in the vicinity, of the Excise office. Information was given to the exciseofficers. The carman then admitted that his directions were to carry the case to Mr.-Wilson, Grocer’s-hall-court, Poultry. The instructions were, in the event of the package being delivered at the warehouse of Mr. Wilson, to have returned by the carman a “ Quaker,” alias $ "Dummy,” (already prepared, and since seized . with the goods,) to the silk-flpor of Nicholson’s 1:; bonded warehouse, where an examination would have been made, and the “sight” perfected. But for the,suspicions of the unemployed functionary, this dis'cbvery would not have been effected. The corollary to this fact is simply this, that if when the fair trader and the public

fattention is so keenly alive to the “frauds of ► the customs,” and when, as might naturally he •. supposed, the officers of the revenue ought to have been doubly, nay trebly, vigilant, and their knowledge broughtiinto active operation, this new feat of fraud has been attempted, what musthave been the extent of similar frauds not long since, when no one dreamt of’them but the parties concerned ? It ought to be noticed, that in this recent-flagrant case, the seizure was made not by v Custom-house officers, but by officers of the excise. The landing waiters at the time this transaction occurred are said to have been : absent. Pursuing the enquiry in its legitimate course, we find that since our last notice, it has, in several points, shaped itself different to what the facts that had transpired, and our information, led us to assume. It is now said that Hastings has been proved an accomplice in several transactions connected with the-smug-gling of spices and coculus indicus; that'Burnby stands principally implicated in the wine drawbacks ; and that Homershan, Laing, Foote, and others, have severally to account for the share they took in the frauds which have been discovered in the silk, lace, and glove entries. Another fact is also stated which goes some way to explain the • situation ju which Burnby stands as approver before the board; and this is, that though charges are openly made against him, they are suffered to lie dormant till he has ad- - duced evidence, which he states he can bring, before the commissioners to implicate parties, forty in number, who, including many grades of officers connected with the water-side busi- ' ness, he asserts have for the last five or six

‘ years participated in the smuggling transactions, in some way or other, now the subject of inquiry. This is a startling announcement, but it was not more than was otherwise expected from a person of the unenviable character this man

holds among his colleagues, who have only regarded him as the accomplice of another party high in power, who, possessing the ear of the

board, could command that partial investigation of which the less-favoured of the accused so much complain. The number of parties who have now to be examined, including, it is rumoured, the acting Custom-house clerks of several leading firms in the French silk and other fancy, goods trades, exceeds in all about twenty-five persons; and though no further suspensions are yetannounced, the whole of the officers are acting under that surveillance that discovery is certain should an attempt be made to escape or evade the regular course of justice dealt out by the board of commissioners. From what has further transpired of the first trace of the frauds, it now appears beyond doubt that though the surveyors, had they exercised ordinary prudence, might have long since discovered them, the proceedings in the Court of Bankruptcy under the fiat of Williams and Mottram, where certain disclosures were made relative to the “loss” ofia package of French goods, valued at 615/., were what attracted the attention of the government authorities. A reference to these proceedings, drawn out in private and protracted inquiry, shows how anxious the bankrupts were to keep the subject a secret, but how, as it invariably happens in such cases, they gave it that strong appearance of fraud as to open the eyes of the government authorities, and induced them to institute investigations. That our premises are well founded let the reader attend to the following extract of examination in the Court of Bankruptcy on the 17th May last; —Mr. Commissioner Evans said, if the creditors required any further particulars, the bankrupts must furnish - them. He thought, in order to make out the . account for the “ stolen goods,” the proper plan v would be to make 1 the bankrupts charge themvsblves with the goods received, and show their disbursement with the greatest minuteness.

The bankrupt Mottrano, said it would be impossible for them to show how the goods were /lost. Thousands of pounds worth of goods were • lost in a similar manner every year, in the city , of London, but nobody could tell how they went. Mr. Wright submitted that the court would . hardly wish -a bankrupt to state what might impose -fines or penalties upon him. Mr. Commissioner .Evans : A bankrupt is bound to answer any question put. to?him, if it hanged him. The bankrupt Mottram: They were French . goods, that'is allj can state about them. You will never be able to discover them, and if you were to impose the task you propose, it would never discover the loss of those goods. Mr. Commissioner Evans said, that if he was. to understand that something inexplicable in open court would prevent the discovery, .and the creditors did not desire it should be pushed further, he should not say anything more on the subject. It was, we may assert, very prudent on the. part of the court, not to push this • subject , further, as an extent from the crown -might have been issued, and the claimants under the fiat damaged. The further details of this affair will, we trust, fully develope how the “ frauds on the . customs” have beemso successfully carried on.