The Demetian Mirror

(From the Times.) The return of the quarter's revenue is a melancholy illustration of Swift's remark, that in the arithme- tic of the Customs two and two do not always make four; they sometimes make only one." The great financial measure of the last Session, which was to cover the additional charge for Canada, and the de- ficit of the Post-office, was a further duty of 5 per cent. upon all articles before paying duty in the de- partments of the Customs and Excise. The result is now before the country, and it is material to show, in figures, what it should have been, had that measure been based in a sound calculation of consequences, and what it is. In the quarter ending October 1839, the total clear receipt was in round numbers:— Customs X5,780,000 Excise 4,120,000 Making a total of 9,900,000 5 per cent on this would be 495,000 Requiring, in order to equal the Revenue of October, 1839, a total of £ 10.395.000 Taking-now the actual produce of the revenue for these two departments in the quarter ending October, 1840, the account stands thus Customs X5,660,000 Excise 3,916,000 Total X9,576,000 and the deficiency therefore, keeping up the compa- rison between the two October quarters, and giving the benefit of the additional five per cent. to the last, is about 820,000/. on the quarter; and there occurs an actual deficiency, leaving that additional five per cent. entirely out of the question, of 324,0001. in the two departments of the Customs and Excise. The other items in the present account are comparatively of little importance. What the Chancellor of the Exchequer is to obtain from the new survey, and ad- dition to the assessed taxes, will not appear until the returns for the January quarter are made. In the Stamps there has been a trifling improvement, quite unimportant either way. The Post-office does not look well, but some progress at least seems to be making, and we are not disposed to deal rigidly with a mea- sure which was only faulty in being commenced too early, and which is conferring and will confer an im- mense benefit on all classes of the community. At the present rate of production, the Post-office will still yield a revenue to the country of about half a million annually. With this deficiency, however, added to the others already described, and taking the Ministerial estimates of the year as the basis of the account, the quarterly return, compared with the cor- responding period of 1839, may fairlv be said to pre- sent a falling off of not less than one million one hun- dred thousand pounds This is a serious state of things for a country threatened with war; and the more so, as the Treasury journals, in fearful anticipa- tion of what the nation may say of them and of their masters, have evinced a disposition to misrepresent and to conceal which is peculiarly reprehensible in the present situation of public affairs. We are treat- ed, for example, with some unintelligible nonsense about "bills" received in payment for revenue and not yet carried to account and disadvantages arising from the last quarter having ended on a Sunday, which prevented the excise collectors from commenc- ing their "rounds" till a week later, and causing a loss, therefore, of seven days to the quarter's col- lections as if these things had never happened be- fore, and as if they did not always find their level, taking one quarter with another The fact, too, is carefully kept out of sight, that Parliament did in July last make an addition of five per cent. to the old Customs and Excise Duties. We readily agree, and have often expressed the opinion as well as ob- served the practice, that party feeling should never- enter into a discussion on the state of the national resources; but what respect can be entertained for men who cannot present a fair and honest account, and who do all in their power to garble and distort it when presented to the public view P They shut out the sympathy and regard of all true patriots, who must feel the inutility of any attempt to help those dealers in false pretences and deceit out of their difficulties. We purposely abstain from any analysis of the yearly account now presented. A new state of things with respect to taxation has arisen since this period of last year, and until it has spread itself over the whole four quarters, the comparison can serve no purpose but that of misleading. It may be left as an additional aid in that line to the misleading Treasury Journals. A further consideration, of the very high- est general importance, arises out of the result thus communicated, of the experiment of an increase in the duties of Customs and Excise. It is a truth ad- mitted in all sound reasonings on the subject, that there is a point in taxation on articles of consump- tion which cannot be passed without lessening instead of adding to the total product, and if this shall prove to be the case with the measure of last Session, then will the Treasury be placed in the predicament of having thrown impediments in the way of commerce, without adding a shilling, and even with actual loss, to the revenue of the country. Undoubtedly this is a conclusion not to be adopted on the trial of one quarter only but if it should be found, on the as- sembling of Parliament, that there is no chance for the better, then must some other form of taxation without delay be resorted to. Does any one doubt, notwithstanding all these circumstances, if the mis- fortune of a war should befal this country, that her resources to meet it are ample, abundant? Let him reflect on what England has done since this century began, and that she is now far richer and more power- ful than then. We only want better and wiser heads to develope and to guide those resources.

(From the Sun.) RAILWAYS An important Act for the regulation of railways and the protection of the public came into operation on Saturday. The Board of Trade are entrusted with the regulation of all railways, and no line in future, or any portion of a line, can be opened, without a month's notice in writing being given to the Committee of the Board, who are au- thorised to make all by-laws, An inspector of railways" will be appointed, and have power to exa- mine the works, trains, &c., used for the safety of the public. Penalties of £20, to be recovered for an in- fringement of any directions of the Board of Trade. Any person wilfully obstructing any of the officers of a railway can, under this Act, be taken into custody without a warrant, and be fined any sum not exceed- ing £ 20. and in default ofpayment committed to prison. The most important provision for the protection of the public is the 13th section. By that section it is enacted that any officer or agent of a Company, or any special constable duly appointed, may seize and detain without warrant any engine-driver or other servant in the employ of a Company, Ifound drunk while employed on the railway, or violating any of the by-laws, or wilfully,, maliciously, doing, or neg- lecting, anything whereby the life or limb of any per- son may be endangered: and in such cases a Magis- trate is authorised to fine or commit the offender, with or without hard labour, for a period not exceed- ing two calencar months. This clause, it is expected, will prove highly beneficial; engineers will be cau- tious of the responsibility they undertake, or it may induce Directors to appoint scientific men to regulate the engines, and protect the public from careless or ignorant persons. The Act was passed on the 10th of August, and did not come into operation until the 10th inst. In the interval many dreadful accidents have happened on railroads.

The following quantities of Lead Ore have been shipped from Aberystwith in the present week. From Messrs. Goulding, Morris and Co. from Pen- ycefn Mines, 20 tons by the Fanny and Betty, Davies, Master. From Goginan Mines, on board the Catherine, Delahoyde Master, 46 tons. And From the Lisburne Mines, on board the Dove, Jones, Master, 50 tons, all for the River Dee. Ten tons of Copper Ore were also shipped by the Llanidloes Mining Company, on board the George, Griffiths, Master, consigned to Messrs. Henry Bath and Sons, of Swansea, for sale.

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will fancy it time to let the law take its course in that country. Railroad accidents have occurred plentifully dur- ing the week, but they have been accidents which might have occurred on any other roads, chiefly to fools who tried to run across, or sit down, or do some such absurdity on the rails-if a man likes to put his head in a rut on the King's highway, and let a heavy waggon squash it, the man is a jackass, and the wag- goner is not to blame. There has been a great Conservative meeting at Cheltenham, and we specially mention it here, because Mr. CODRINGTON, the son-in-law of the Duke of BEAUFORT, thought it right to deny and repudiate with scorn and indignation a report whieh has been disseminated of his Grace's defection from the Con- servative party, and even of his acceptance of high office under the present Ministry.. Some weeks since we casually noticed this absurd report, but as we find the DUKE'S son-in-law thinking it worth his while to make this public declaration, we feel it our duty to do all in our power to circulate the contra- diction of a calumny which, till now, we never thought sufficiently worthy of notice to refute.