The Express. — London, England, 1847-10-21 00:00:00

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TaJleaaci • —Karam. aka. pea 0 Anevaaa. 19 AA. Ma 11. LONDON, THURSDAY, OCT. 21. Toe grand plea for ministers doing nothing towards the restoration of credit and monetary ease is, that even those who demand remedies are not agreed or clear-headed on the subject. We do not think that it is of such very great importance to decide how the support is to be given ; the grand point and the use ful thing being the fact, that government will step forward. The assurance and certainty of that would alone work wonders. Our weekly contemporary, the Economist, seems to be of opinion that any relief which could be gained by a relaxation of the Bank Charter Act of 1844 would be at the cost of the safety of the position of the Bank of England, by a diminution of the amount of bullion which it would hold, in exact proportion to the relief afforded. The argument is thus stated : " That were the Bank Act of 1814 relaxed to-mor row, so as to enable the Bank to issue notes against government securities to the extent of sixteen in place of fourteen millions, not a single pound would thereby be added to the circulation. The operation would be this. The Bank would be entitled to issue 2,000,0001. more. In order to do so bills of exchange would be discounted tu that amount, and notes would be issued, but the notes not being required for circulation would be taken to the Bank and exchanged for bullion, and in a few days the simple effect of the change would be, that the Bank would be found with less bullion by 2,000,000/., and with more securities by that sum." There is no argument to prove why this effect should take place—nothing but the assertion of the editor of the Economist, that " when parties talk of increasing the amount of issue above fipirteen millions on securities, it really means that the reserve of gold held as a guarantee for the notes in circulation, should be diminished." It is of great importance that the public should not be misled as to what the real effects of such a mea sure would be. We shall therefore endeavour to point out briefly, what the working of the relaxation of the act of 1844 would be in practice, giving, at the same time, as concisely as we can, the rea sons why the results would be such as we are about to state. If a relaxation to the extent of 2,000,0001., as suggested in the Economist, were to take place, the effect would be that the amount of the reserve of notes in the banking department would at once be raised from 3,321,700!. to 5,321,7001. The immediate consequence of this alteration would be such a change in the feelings of all those whose busi ness is the distribution of capital on mercantile securities, that the great discount houses, the doors of which are now all but closed against even the most unexceptionable securities, would again enter into competition with the Bank. The next consequence would be, that the private and joint-stock banks which have been preparing for a storm, by providinq themselves with larger reserves both of Bank of England notes and coin, than their experience has taught them that it is necessary or desirable for them to hold in ordinary times, would find that the times no longer looked so threatening. The notes and the gold would both find their way back to the Bank of England ; confidence would be restored; the rates of interest and discount would fall; our markets for produce would cease to be depressed below the natural range of prices ; the pro gress of manufactures, i. e., the creation of wealth, would be resumed, instead of being in course of stop page as it is now; and trade would gradually return to that healthy state which does not exist now, only because of the insane adherence on the part of our rulers to the absurd provisions of an impracticable law. The editor of the Economist asserts that the Bank would discount more bills to the extent of 2,000,0001., if the issue department was allowed to hand over to the banking department notes to that amount. We have given a sufficient reason to show that in all pro bability the Bank of England would discount fewer bills, if such a change were made; namely, because that change would at once bring the bill discounting houses again into competition with it, whereas now, nearly the whole business of discounting is thrown into the hands of the Bank of England, which would be glad to be relieved of a portion of it. But even were we to grant that the consequence of the supposed change would be that the Bank would discount more bills to the full amount of 2,000,0001., still it would by no means follow that F old would be taken out. For what pur pose would it be taken out ? It would not be taken out for exportation, for the exchanges are all the other way, and there would be a certain loss on the transaction. It is not likely that it would be taken out to increase the reserves of private and joint-stock banks, for we have already shown that the effect of the change would be to allay those fears which have caused these banks to increase their re serves beyond the proportion which they usually think necessary ; and besides, if it bad not that effect, these increased discounts would not add to the facility which those who require such reserves already pos sess for increasing them, for it would not alter the rule of the Bank, which prevents it from discounting bills endorsed by other banks of issue. There can be no more convincing proof of the ab sence of any real danger to be apprehended from the relaxation of this law, than the chimerical nature of the objections which are raised against it. The writer in the Economist, in common with Sir C. WOOD and many other excellent persons who deal in theories about commerce, misapprehends or misstates the connexion which exists between capital and cur rency. Capital is net bank-notes or pieces of metal—it ' is the things necessary for the comforts and luxuries of man. A capitalist is a person who poesesses a great quantity of those things, or the means of pur chasing them. Money is useful only as a means for facilitating the interchange and prod uction of wealth; and currency is a structure o credit, based upon money, for increasing its usefulness, as a further means for carrying on the industrial operations which produce this wealth. A diminution in the quantity of money used by the industrious classes destroys credit or currency to an enormous extent, thereby re moving the ability to continue the production of wealth. Wealth, therefore, or capital, becomes dimi nished in proportion as men consume what is required for living, without a corresponding exercise of their labour in producing commodities. Such theories as those advocated by the Economist, first destroy ca pital, and having done so, they say that " want of capital" is the evil from which we suffer! Viz proverb says that "facts are stubborn things," but the stubbornness of facts is as nothing against the slipperiness of words. The fact can be grappled with, taken to pieces, turned inside out, accepted for what it declares itself to be, or kicked out of an argu ment as an impostor. It may be stubborn, but it is palpable. The word defies the hold of reason, as the image in the concave mirror mocks the grasp of the 1 It presents itself with an imposing solidity, but there is nothing to seize. It seta itself up against every fact, professing to include all facts of the class. It leads disputants away like a Will-o'-the-wisp. Hurl a clinching syllogism at it, and it opens to give it passage. Array a safe line of deductions against it, and it disappears, like the mirage before the thirsty caravan. The solid reasoner on facts is as unfairly matched against the airy brand Sher of words as BUCEACD against ABD-EL-KADEK. The one carries baggage and artillery, the other appears and vanishes, light as the wind, with neither. The trouble which " word? occasion is unluckily proportioned to the importano.° of the question in so w hich they appear. In none hel ve they sho distracti wn on mischievous an activity, or caused such and delay, as in the paramount subject of the time, ethuntioa. Even edecation itself has two existences, as a word and as a fact. Energy and effort, practical and controversial, have been wasted on the shadow that might have been bestowed to ;purpose on the sub stance. It would be well if, until - the stragg le is over, at least, we could get rid of the term altogether, and substitute what we mean to include under it. Instead of raying "education is a good thing," which may give rise to an argument, we might say "a knowledge of reading, writing, and arithmetic, with habits of order, industry, cleanlinees, and eta-respect, are good things," which not even Mr. BAINES would deny." But it the naked substantive, " Education," has distracted men from the realities it ought to represent, the addition of an epithet or two has completely paralysed efficient action, and turned into bitter talkers those who should be harmonious workers. " Religious education" and " secular education" have been elevated into watchwords, inscribed on party banners, tattooed on adverse breasts, trum peted from platforms, stack upon walls, and set to all moaner of lay and clerical instruments, wind and brass. The clash and clamour with which the phrases have been bandied to and fro have completely drowned the still small voice of humanity, or the graver bass of crime and suffering. The words " protestant education " and " catholic education" have created the same confusion and dis traction in the strongest quarters. The onslaughts of such reverend Drawcansirs as Mr. lawirr, or Dr. MILLER, or the National Board in Ireland, might have been anticipated. It would have been strange had not Irish Protestantism, robbed of its ascendancy, vented a parting curse against the spoilers and their educa tional representatives. We did not look for reason, having long ceased to find justice, in a certain party of Irish clergymen. But we were not prepared to see the warfare of sectarianism carried into the ragged school Here, at least, we should have supposed there was a field neglected enough and wide enough for all Christian beliefs to work in harmoniously. Reclaimers of a great moss do not quarrel about five-course or four-course systems of crop- I ping. There seemed so much to be done with the little pariahs of the street, before it became necessary to give them orthodox notions on transubstantiation and the supremacy of the Pope. We had not heard that in Aberdeen, for example, where the industrial school system had been carried furthest, that any horrible results had followed from allowing little protestant vagabonds and little Roman catholic vagabonds to con the same lessons, dine oat of the same porridge-pot, or weave their nets from the same ball of twine. Nay, we are not aware that a single " perversion" ever followed from these lati tudinarian freedoms. Both protestant vagabond and Roman catholic vagabond have learnt the unfamiliar rudiments of their duty to GOD and to their neigh bours. But hitherto the Council of Trent and the Diet of Worms have not come on the topis. Edinburgh avoids the laxity of Aberdeen. It is true that when funds for industrial schools in that city were first raised, in answer to the appeal of the Rev. T. GUTHRIE, it was boasted that the work to be done was not of sect or party, but belonged to all de nominations whatever. 'I do hope and trust," said Mr. Fox MA ULE, at the meeting held for the winol setting on foot of such schools in the Music-hall, at Edinburgh, in May last, " I do hope and trust, on this question of education, we may not hear in these industrial schools of the appearance of sectarianism at all. Did any one ever hear of crime being con fined to any sect? And inasmuch as crime is con fined to no sect, but extends over all, so must Chris tian education be extended upon broad bases and general principles." Easier said than done. The secretaries of this asso ciation for the reclaiming of "the neglected or pro fligate children of Edinburgh by affording them the benefits of a good common and Christian education, and by training them to habits of regular industry," soon contrived, with the sanction no doubt, of their committee, to disable Mr. MAULE'S sensible hope. Declaring "that they have no intention of excluding Roman catholic children from the schools," they in sist, at the same time, on daily religions instruction " according with the belief and understanding of protcstants," with simple religious lessons, " doubt less those in use in protestant schools." On Sundays, moreover, this religions instruction is to go much further. In addition to religious protestant instruction, the children are to attend one protestant service in church or their own school-room. If, however, the pa rents of a child undertake to take charge of that child daring the hours of worship on Sundays, and the com mittee see cause to be satisfied with the promise thus given, they will generously allow the child to accom pany the parent, even though that parent be Roman catholic. It is hardly necessary to say that this announce ment of a strictly protestant tendency in the school teaching of religion has divided the friends of ragged schools in Edinburgh into opposing sections. A se cond association has been formed to carry out the principle of non-sectarian schools, in which the for mal religious instruction is to be kept separate from the non-religions. The strength of a united body has thus given place to the weakness of two disunited fragments, while another concession has been made to the great begbear of religions difference, and that under circumstances which rendered the exclusion of that angel of discord comparatively easy. The history of the ragged schools in Edinburgh furnishes a typo of the state of • education in this country. Sectarianism is e distracting agent in the one case, u it is the main obstacle to all effi cient effort in the other. It appears in Edinburgh, in the ragged school, where there would appear to be no loop-hole for its entrance, and no food for it when it had entered. It has never invaded the High School or the Naval and Military Academy of that city, where are congregated lads of all creeds, and of that station in life which does feel interested in sectarian questions. Just so with England. The national school is the battle-ground for sects, which combine harmoniously in the private or proprietary school. This fact may go with others to mark how completely the great sectarian battles of English education are carried on with ammunition of words ; how the combatants are beating the air, or fighting, as Homes's heroes occasionally do, with a cloud dressed out in portentous array of armour. They resemble the great European battles in only two particulars. They do infinite mischief, and they are always fought, if possible, on ground lying out of the dominions of either combatant The primary school is the Belgium of educational warfare. Trig Board for the Relief of the Destitution in the Highlands and Islands, seem to be fully aware of the causes that have reduced the Celtic population of Scotland to a potato diet ; that have thinned their ranks ; that have prevented them from becoming la bourers ; that have deprived them of all stimulus to, and reward of, continued exertion ; and that have made the Highlands a grouse-producing, sheep-rear ing, bat not men-maintaining country. As we said in a previous article, they have touched but lightly upon the remedy in their report. They seem to think a total reform a hopeless matter, and recom mend palliatives instead of a cure for the misery and degradation of the people. Bat I. there never to be an en to appeals to oar charity to keep the Highlanders from starvation? Are the landlords of that region never to do anything for the benefit of the people upon their estates? Are they always to be allowed to keep millions of cultivable land in a state of nature, and cry out, at the same time, against the superabundance of the population ? Are they always to be allowed to clear their lands of the people whom they ought to be compelled either to employ es labourers, or to support as paupers ? Are they always to shift their responsibilities upon Edinburgh, Glasgow, Liverpool, London, and appeal to public sympathy for the relief of misery, which it is their paramount duty to prevent? Can we, is a nation, much longer afford to allow either the impoverished entailed proprietors, or the rich Nimrod. of the north, to keep or make hunting grounds of large portions of land that require only the expenditure of labour to produce grain ? To each of these questions, the reply is the same—a reply which will become louder and more indignant with time, and which, when we shall have added a few millions to our population, will be uttered with startling emphasis, unless a change of system be adopted in the interval. That our readers may see how little courage the board have displayed in their statements of the remedies for these evils, we present in their own words the only suggestions they have to offer. They state that, " independently of affording direct relief" (i, e., from the charity of the merchants, manufac turers, and traders, of Great Britain), the wants of THE EXPRESS, THURSDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 21, 1847. the people can only be met in two ways : " first, by improving the cultivation of the crofts, and increasing the amount of food produced from them ; and, 2nd, by procuring employ ment in the localities or elsewhere for those who do not derive subsistence from the land." They recom mend accordingly that part of the balance of 75,0001. which remains in their hands should be employed in assisting crofters or small tenantry to improve their land, and thus increase the amount of food derived from it, prodded the proprietors will giro such leases, or such a tenure of the land as will enable the tenant to reap the benefit °JAI* improrements. With regard to em ployment they are of opinion " that part of the funds might be most legitimately employed in encouraging the fishing, in various localities, and thereby putting many of the poorer classes who cannot otherwise find employment in the way of supporting themselves, and also of aiding their neighbours." They are of opinion also that part of the funds might be moat properly and beneficially employed in aiding loci' exertions in 'making piers and harbours in some of the districts where they are much required. From these sugges lions, which are all the board have to offer, it will seen that the whole of the improvements in the condi tion of the people, upon which they calculate, are o be effected by the 75,000/. which they have in hand, or by such additional sums as may be raised hereafter by the same agency—that of the begging-box ; that the landlords, as a body, are not to be called upon, except to grant leases, securing to the small tenants the benefit of their outlay upon the land, and that the board are in the meantime to take all the trouble off the hands of the landlords, and stand in loco parentis to the pea ple. This is certainly very kind and philanthropic on the part of the board, for while we deny them the praise of wisdom, courage, or comprehensiveness of mind, it would be ungrateful and unjust to deny then the fullest meed of honour for benevolence of inters. tion, disinterestedness, and the sincerest desire to elle. viate the distresses of their oppressed fellow-citizens. The monster evils of the Highlands and islands are the laws of entail, and the absence of a thorough poor law. In the manufacturing and commercial districts of the Lowlands, as well as in the remote rural districts of the Highlands, these evils press with fearful severity. The entailed proprietors, who are universally . poor, have neither means nor induce ments for improving their estates ; and when the glens and hill sides produce more human beings than are sufficient to act as shepherds on the extensive sheep farms that employ one man where an arable farm might employ one hundred, they are sent away, per las ant nefas, with the world before them "to choose their place of rest." They swarm in Dundee, Glasgow, Edinburgh, and in all the manufacturing and shipping towns, and become a burden upon the industrious inhabitants of those places ; or else they go farther south, to England, with the same results. But if, by the abolition of the odious and unnatural law of entail, land could be freely brought into the mar ket like any other commodity, and if by the enactment of a poor law on the English system such land were purchasable with the lien of the poor upon it for their support, the Highlands of Scotland would main tain in comfort three, four, aye, six times their pre sent population. It is only in Ireland and Scotland, where there has been no poor law acknowledging the right of the able-bodied to relief, that the people have been reduced to a potato diet. By the enactment of such a poor law we might expect, in the natural course of events, that they would again be raised above this precarious food. The reform of the two abuses we have specified would be, not a mere pallia tive, like the measures recommended by the Destitu tion Board, extending over a year or two, and aided, if not entirely maintained, by the begging-box, but a thorough reform, which would elevate permanently the condition of the people, increase the wealth of the landlords them selves, and add very materially to the strength and resources of the nation. If in the process some in solvent proprietors of the soil should go to the wall, we might pity the fate which their improvidence and mismanagement have brought upon them; but we would not depart in the smallest rota from the grand principle, that property in land is allowed by the whole people for the benefit of the whole people, and not merely for that of individuals. The owner of a whole county in Scotland may now, if he be rich, and if such a disposition of his land please him, turn the whole county intro a deer forest, without making one penny of recompense to the hundreds or thousands of able-bodied men, whom by that act be should deprive of their subsistence. If he be poor and entailed, he may let his county or 1 half-eonnty to southern sportsmen for the same pur pose , with the same result to the people, and no one dares to say him nay. The thing is done continually. Thepeople are deprd year after year to a low and a lower point, until at length they rely entirely upon the potato. When that fails they resort to limpets and sea-weed, and the charity of the British public. The time is coming, however, for a searching scrutiny into these matters. The trading community of Scotland, and many of the entailed proprietors themselves, are fully aware of the evils of the entail system. It will not require much exertion to send that to the tomb of all the CAPULETS. The landlords as yet are not quite so well aware how much they, as well as the people, have lost by their adherence to the poor-law crotchets of Dr. CHALMERS and his political followers; but the intelli gent merchants and traders of Scotland are ope ning th i z k eyes to the subject. Let the Destitution Bo ard s out more plainly upon both these matters in t eir next report. They will not speak to an unpre pared or unsympathising audience, either in Scotland or in England. It appears by our Paris despatches of Tuesday, that the public in France generally are invited to par ticipate directly in the contract for the new French loan, through the instrumentality of the receivers general. These functionaries have in the departments issued an invitation to all persons desiring to invest money in the loan to make deposits at their offices commensurate with the exteat of the subscriptions which they desire, at the rate of 250 per cent. of the stock they propose to take, that is, two and a half , francs for every franc of rente to be subscribed for. M. Onkel has called down on himself the indigna tion of the liberal opposition by adopting the term " subject " at the close of one of his recent reports to the Bing. lie there acknowledges himself the "faithful subject "of Louis Philippe. The use of the same term in the Chamber of Deputies by Count Montalivet on a former occasion drew • reclamation from the opposition, in the shape of a protest against the term, which was signed by 167 deputies. The Madrid mails of the 14th have arrived. The journals and correspondence are of course filled with reports of the royal reconciliation, already an nounced by telegraph. The details of this will be found in the letter of our correspondent, which we give below. All reports agree in ascribing this result to the retreat of General Serrano from the palace. The papal nuncio acted a prominent part on the occasion. The Queen Dowager and the Duke of Itianzares arrived in Madrid at five o'clock on the morning of the 14th, having completed the journey from Paris in four days and a half. They were accompanied by only one confidential servant Queen Isabella was not ap prised of the expected arrival of the Queen Dowager until her Majesty had actually reached the capital. At one o'clock on Thursday last Queen Christina and her husband went to the palace, and were received by Queen Isabella. At three o'clock a family con ference was held, at which Gen. Narvaez attended. This was still continued when the mails left. The King had not left his apartments, and had not yet seen the Queen Dowager. Lord Canning had arrived at Madrid. The German Journal of Frankfort says that it has good authority for stating that the three northern powers co-operating with France will intervene, if necessary, in the affairs of Switzerland. This inter vention will be confided to Austria and France, aad the other two powers will sanction it. The extreme case in which it will take place will be on an appeal to be made by the cantons of the Sonderbund. The powers pretend that such a measure is authorised by the act of the congress of Vienna. The resolution of St. Gall against the Sonderbund was carried by a majority of 76 against 73. Tho con sequence of these decisions will be, that the Diet will vote for the forcible execution of its decrees by the same majority exactly as that by which the decrees themselves were voted. Our intelligence from Italy does not contain much that is new. A propos of the mission of Lord Minto, the Espanol, Madrid paper, of the 13th, contains some remarks worthy of ittitice, it says : " Count Bremen seems destined by his government to a peculiar and unique branch of diplomacy. The triumph which he obtained in the affair of the royal marriages, and the manner in which be attacked English policy at that time, caused people to discover in him the bow of Anglophobia. For this reason no sooner was it known at the Tuileries that Lord Minto was charged , with a secret mission in Italy, than M. Bresspn received orders to be in readiness to go to the Italian peninsula. When Lord Minto arrived at Turin, M. Benson was there at the same time. Lord Minto bad an audience with the King of Fardinia— M. Bremen had another. Here ends the parallel. And new comes the divergence. Lord Minto held a language of friendship and good wishes—M. Bros son spoke of interventions and future contingencies." Letters from Naples of the 4th and dth, quoted by the Augsburg Gazette, say that Generals Stratella and Nuoziante occupy the lines from Paula Cosenza to Catanjaro, and from Monteleone to Gerace, so as to exclude the insurgents from passing them. Probable political reforms continue to be mentioned. The King never appears without being overwhelmed with petitions, which are flung in hundreds into his carriage. A letter from Florence, dated the 11th inst., given by La Prase, says that the news from the kingdom of the Two Sicilies are each as to inspire sentiments of horror. Executions are continual. An unexampled system of espionage is established. Premiums are publicly offered for the murder of individuals whose names are proclaimed. The most honourable and re spected persons are daily seized, bound, and thrown into prison. Government appears to be seized with a fit of bloody frenzy. The Grand Duckess of Tuscany, sister of the King of Naples, is plunged in despair, less because of the danger to which her family are exposed than on ac count of the atrocities committed in their name. Letters from Rome of the 9th confirm the reports we have already given from the German journals, that the Pope, not satisfied with the evacuation of the city of Ferrara offered by Austria, and the rotors lion of the status quo, demands the evacuation and surrender of the citadel of Ferrara and the Fortress of Cnmmachio, both of wnich Austria has occupied since 181.5. In consideration of compliance with this de mand, the Pope offers to cede to Austria all that part of the duchy of Ferrara which lies on the left bank of the Po, and which would naturally belong to Lombardy. MADRID, Oct. 14. Narvaez may be skilful : lucky he certainly is. Within ten dais he has effected two results, which were ardently desired and diligently sought by pre ceding ministries, but which mocked their reach. He has got rid of the favourite : he has brought back the King. These achievements may, indeed, torn out rather specious than solid; meantime, let us look at the hopeful side of the future. The reconciliation of Queen Isabel and her husband is an event which deserves to be recorded with some detail. It seems that the present cabinet no sooner succeeded to power than it bent its chief attention upon this subject. The instrument upon which Narvaez turned his eyes was Monsig. Bruuelli. The nuncio, willingly un dertaking a mission so suitable to his character, repaired on Saturday to the Pardo, where he had a long interview with the King. The fruits of Monsig. Brunelli's good offices soon appeared in the letter of felicitation addressed by I). Francisco de Asia to the Queen upon the occasion of her birth day. It was also understood that the good prelate had succeeded completely in bringing the King to consent to re-unite himself with the Queen at the palace of Madrid, without delay—the grand obstacle to his return having been removed. This result having been communicated to her Majesty, she gave her permission for the King to return, which was brought by Narvaez yesterday morning to the Pardo. Narvaez returned to the Pardo at three in the after noon, accompanied by Monsig. Brenelli, and an hoar or two after was seer, re-entering Madrid with his royal , prize. A second coach followed with the high offi cers of the King's household, the Marquises of Ales- Dices, Castelar, and Palacio& The Captain-General of Madrid waited with an escort of cavalry at the Puerta de Hierro, and the political chief at the royal residence of Florida, with another escort of the mounted civic guard. At the latter place the coaches ' were exchanged for others, which had been sent from the palace. The party arrived at the palace, cheered on their way by some tires, at half-past four. The Queen stood waiting for the consort in a balcony of the palace towards the street from which the car riages issued. She was accompanied by the Infanta, the Duchess of Sena (the King's sister). The serri , dumbre testified their gratification at the King's re , t urn by a waving of handkerchiefs from the palace windows. When the party had alighted at the prin cipal gate, Narvaez and Brunelli went on ahead to announce the arrival to the Queen, who, advancing to the door of the royal apartment, with much emo tion threw herself into the arms of her husband. The Duchess of Sesa having retired, the royal couple re mained alone for a considerable time. At length Narvaez was sent for, and the King retired to his apartment. I forgot to say that, upon entering the palace, the consort was received with all the honours due to his rank, and the ministers and high digni taries of the palace stood waiting for him on the great staircase, and conducted him to the door of the royal apartment. Thus at least a great scandal has ceased to offend the public eye, and apparent harmony has been restored to the domestic interior of the palace. This is no doubt a great step towards the settlement of a ques tion which assumed an aspect menacing enough for the future repose of Spain. It is, perhaps, consider ing the fatal delays that would have attended other arrangements, the most satisfactory solution which the so-called palace question could receive at present. The government seems disposed to treat the press with violence. A fresh number of the Erpectador has been denounced, and the editor of the Esperansa has been imprisoned for some criticisms on the bad administration of justice, which seem to most people highly judicious and grounded in fact. A severe ordinance has been just issued by the political chief to put an end to the mendicancy which teems in this capital. All the beggars are to be driven off the streets into the hospital of St. Berne dino ; there the natives of Madrid are to be sorted from the rest and allowed to remain. The others are to be sent into their respective provinces. If this were done with proper care, no doubt a dreadful nuisance would be got rid of justly. But it is feared that the vast beggar population proposed to be extir pated will be exposed to tremendous suffering by this sweeping edict. Complaints are made from the Canaries that upon different frivolous pretexts, the elections of the Cortes deputies, which took place a year ago in the Penin mks, have been continually put off in these islands, because in three districts the choice is certain to fall upon progresistas. The last reason assigned for delay b y - the political chief, is the mysterious warlike preparation ordered by the captain-general, the rea son of which is a mystery to everybody. FRANCE.—PAats, ()cr. 19.—As the operations of the Paris wings banks are in general a clue to the public feeling in money matters in that capital, the following result of the operations of the Paris savings bank, during the week closing Monday, Oct. 18, may be interesting:—Money re ceived by the Paris savings bank, on Sunday, Oct 17, aad Monday, Oct, 18, from 4,617 depositors, .567 of whom were new ones, 616,274 f. ; reimbursements during the same week to 2,318 depositors, 542 paid out, 712,102 f. 20c.; stock bought in for depositors during the same week for a capital of 427,837 f. 20c.; demands of reimbursement made Oct. 17, for 805,600 f. OPENING OF THE DUTCH CHAMBERS.- THE KING'S SPEECH. . - me ordinary session of the States General was opened on Mon. the 18th inst., at the Hague, by the day King in person. The following are the chief points of the t h e p u t vacation no extraordinary circumstances h speech. After the usual preliminaries, It goes on to say : D a u v r e i n g arisen to introduce any change into the general situa , Lion of the country. The Netherlands continue to main tain good relations with other powers. Order has not been disturbed in our transmartne possessions. The measures found necessary for the introduction of a new system of le gislation into the East Indies, in harmony as much as pos sible with that of the mother country, have b een already partly put into execution. You will have laid before you the various codes which have been promulgated. New I legislative arrangements are also in . course of preparation for the West ledia colonies. In Surinam bank paper will be exchanged for specie. The moral interests of the notion continue to demand all . my attention. Th e bl ess i ng o f an abundant harvest in the majority of its pro dactions awakens the hope that the inhabitants of the had c ognisance of that fue th t ebyprreoessztt sessions,ODOlolll Netherlands will be preserved from those evils which at tend on the scarcity and dearness, of provisions. The condition of the finances of the sta gco te n i a. s favo y u ou ral r il i e m . You have ahead) T will be laid b ir tb d re etail you s . w w h i ich il icn d d ur to in 'ion respecting that favourable condition. There are grounds for hoping that, even in the coarse of this session, a bill will be laid before you for effecting some reductions in our debt. The entire regulation of our monetary system will be sub mitted to you, in order that the already commenced revision of that very imperfect system may be completed. A plan will be proposed relative to the right of gusranteeiag go'd and silver articles, in order that the complaints on that sub ject may be redre ssed.: It is pr.sbable that a general law will be laid before you this session relative to import and export duties. The different projects of law forming the second and third book of the penal code will, pop sibly, be discussed attain during the present session. After the result (during the last session) of the deliberations on the projects of law relating to the right of voting and of being elected, I have been maturely reflecting on the mode in which the sixth article of the fundamental law could be carried out. It occurred to me that it would be only labour ' in vain (ern verged - acne orbeid) to attempt anew to concili ate in a satisfactory manner the divergent opinions which were manifested on that subject; and I have been convinced that it is strictly necessary to throw more light upon those I dispositions of the fundamental law which relate to the right lof vote and of being elected. In a former speech I stated that so soon as I entertained a conviction of the necessity of modifying the fundamental law, I sLould not fail to notify it to you. In accordance with that statement, and with the conviction that the interest of the state calls for altera tions in some dispositions of the fundamental law, I hare re solved to lay before you during the present session some pro- positions relative to those changes. taw Court. WINDSOR, WEDNESDAY.—The Queen and Prince Albert took their usual early walk. The Prince of Wales, Prince Alfred, the Princess Royal, and the Princess Alice, took walking and pony exercise this morning, in the slopes adjoining the Castle. The Princess Helena was alto taken an airing. Her Majesty rode out this forenoon in a pony- carriage and four, attended by the Duchess of Sutherland. The Equerry in Waiting was in attendance on horseback. Prince Albert went out shooting this morning with Prince Lowenstein. His Royal Highness was attended by the Earl of Morley and Colonel Seymour. The Duke of Wellington, the Right Hon. Sir Frederick Pollock, and General Sir George Pollock, left the Castle to-day. The Countess of Desert has arrived, and has succeeded the Countess of Gains. borough as the Lady in Waiting to the Queen. The Earl of Morley and Mr. R. Ormsby Gore have arrived at the Castle, and have succeeded Lord Byron and General Sir Edward Bowater as the Lord and Groom in Waiting to her Majesty. The Puke of Cambridge left town yesterday morn ing for Fawsley-park Northamptonshire, to honour Sir Charles Knightley with a visit. Lord Elphinstone, Mr. More O'Ferrall, and Capt. Denham, had interviews yesterday with Earl Grey, at the . • THE REGISTRATIONS. CITY OP LONI4O7I.—Mr. M'Christie sat yesterday for the . purpose of revising the accounts of the overseen in connexion with the registration. The court was very full, and, owing probably to some intimations which had fallen from the barrister during the progress of the revision, a rather severe audit appeared to be expected by overseers, vestry clerks, and parochial authorities in general. The learned gentleman prefaced his investigation with a state ment of the principles by which he should be guided in the process of auditing. He said that, in the accounts laid be fore him, the highestcharges were made for printing that any respectable printer could venture to make; but, where the lists had been made with reasonable care, he should not disallow such items. It appeared that overseers were not salaried officers, but in nearly all the parishes there were officers generally known under the name of vestry clerks, who were paid for the express purpose of giving legal advice and assist , ance to overseers and portals authorities in all parochial matters. There were many charges made fur duties performed by vestry clerks which he could not allow. It was said that, as many vestry clerks received their appointment before the passing of the Reform Act, it would be very hard to throw upon them any additional dutiesconnected with the registra tion. If the, were required to perform all those duues, he (Mr. M'Christie) doubted whether many vacancies in the office of vestry clerk would arise in consequence. At all events, such charges as he saw before him, including sums of three guineas, and even five guineas, for consultation, were prepoaterota. In some cases, long attor flies' bills had been handed up to him. Amongst the charges were the following For perusing the act, 105. ;" " at tendance on collectors, 6s. Bd. ;" " attending overseers for their signatures, 6s. 8d.," &c. Of such charges ho could not legally allow sixpence ; though in many cases they amounted to more than double the expense of printing the lista. In one bill there was the following charge : " Paid for a cart and horse going round the parish with notices of list." He did not think even the facetious Pundi could have suggested anything more ludicrous. There were also many pounds charged for the trouble of the beadle in affixing the notices as provided for by the set—a duty for which no thing beyond the regular official salary could fairly be de manded. The learned gentleman, having declared his in tention to strike off all charges in the nature of attornies' bills, and all such charges as did not belong simply and strictly to the preparing of the lists, then proceeded to dis pose of the accounts seriatim[. Amidst strong protests from different vestry clerks, he struck out many heavy stems for legal services, declaring that, in the capacity . which he sustained, he should not feel justified in sanctioning such expenditure. In the case of the parish of St. Botolph, Aldgate, the follow ing account was presented. Preparing list of voters (740 in number) ,C 7 it 0 Paid printer Preparing lists of claims and olgootions (I 7 la number) 27 6 0 Of this sum, oa recount of the defective manner in which the list was made up, which had caused the dieranchisement of several voters, the learned gentleman only allowed 205., declaring that, but for some misgivings u to the extent of his power, be would not have allowed even that. The following is a tabular list of the result of the revision : CLil64. lama pi* " ... n , fte. 1 4 Liner .„. ...... 4 1 1 4 110n50b01d...... 100 369 6 63 Tot& 164' 36 I R 7.1 withdrawn. NO 1117 - T laws. 1 - 3 - 0 ! 7.11 438 MI 30 3133 .1 TlBB 1 — j 31 I I nos Of the large number of names *resod from the lists on ob jections, it appeared, on examination, that the majority con sisted of names appearing as new, the numbers being as under : Erased ea obis:non. by Liberals. Conerrratises. Double. Of names an present register Of new =Me. Tote 4lO 1,030 330 The following shows the result of the revision as regards the relative strength of the two parties • Liberal. Cooserratiros Cla low allowed 164 7 Do. disallowed (Cam) 67 (Literal) , 369 (V seetained T. by both parties Do. do. Do. do. M both ed puti.Oase. 410 1 ) 364 (Liberal) 396 do. by 31 31 %Al INCREASE OF PAUPERISM IN MARYLE- BONE.-MEETING OF THE RATE-PAYERS. Yesterday a large and influential meeting of the parochial committee of St. Marylebone, which consists of between 700 end 800 rate-payers, took place at the West moreland Rooms, George-street, Manchester-square, for the purpose of receiving the report of a deputation appointed to wait on the board of directors and guardians, relative to the alarming increase of pauperism in the parish, and to consider the best means to be adopted to teat the characters and circumstances of the persona receiving eut-door relief, u well as to improve the financial state of the parish. Mr. FILA XPTON having been called to the chair, Mr. Outturrr, as spokesman of the deputation, reported that they had been most courteously received by the board, and, in reply to their request that the directors and guardians would furnish the parishioners with a complete statement of the number of persons receiving out-door relief, and all the particulars connected with their case, with a view to aid the detection of imposition, the board unanimously agreed to furnish them with the required information, and directed that lista of all persons in the receipt of out-door relief should be furnished to that committee. The deputation also offered the assistance of the parishioners in investigating the case of the poor at the present important crisis, and the board ex pressed their obligations to the committee for their offer of such assistance. Mr. H. C. Witsox said he had read in the pnblic papers an account of the interview between the deputation and the board of guardians, and he was truly happy to find that the parochial committee were about to devote their attention to this important subject On two previous occasions they bad interested themselves in a similar manner, and with very great success. The first was in 1832, when the great change took place in the government of the affairs of the parish. At that time a large number of the parishioners undertook personally to scrutinise the claims of those receiving out. door relief, and the result was that imposition was found to exist to such an extent that the number was reduced one-half. The other occasion to which he referred was when the mem bers of that committee exerted themselves with similar suc cess on the introduction of the Poor-law bill. It was well known that the parishioners of Msrylebone gave a deter mined opposition to that bill, and foretold its failure. It was a lamentable thing that, alter such an expenditure of money, so much individual suffering and so many changes in that law, so little progress had been made. The truth was, that there was scarcely a principle enunciated by the promoters of tkat important measure which had not broken down in practice. He (Mr. Wilson) would at present only refer to the subject of out-door relief. The peorlaw bill was to abolish or greatly diminish out-door relief, but had it produced that effect? (No, no.) Let the metropolitan parishes answer the question. It appeared to him, after all that had been written and said, that the real remedy for the abuses of the poor-laws lay in a very nar row compass. It consisted chiefly of an uniform law of settlement, and an efficient inspection of the claimants for relief; and here he would express his opinion that the creation of large country unions and the operation of the Poor-Law Removal Act had greedy increased pau perism in cities and towns. The agricultural labourer, worn out in his effort to obtain employment or relief in his native place, was compelled to resort to some adjoining and popu lous town. The number of applicants had been so great, that in Marylebone alone there were between 6,000 and 7,000 applicants for out-door relief. He believed t h e b oard of guardians did all they could, but he tiered that this mis, judged lenity had induced them to relieve persona who were not strictly deserving of it. Eves, however it they p er formed their duties with the most equitable fairness bath to the rate-payers and rate-receivers, there must be a limit to their powers. The board of guardians nor hired inspecti on could now, unaided, do justice to the subject. The rate. payers must come to their assistance. There were upward, of 700 members in that committee,and if only 100 would properly scrutinise the claims of persons receiving rekef who resided in their immediate vicaoitiee, they would have the most efficient check which could be devised. Mr. W dron con cluded by moving • resolution to the effect, " That tie parishioners immediately form themselves into committees in the various districts in which they reside, and, with the lists supplied by the directors and guardians of the poor, test every case of pauperism, with a view to detect and ex pose those who had no right to such relief." Mr. GAUN Err, in seconding the resolution, observed that he had no wish to east the slightest blame on the board of guardians. although he must say he feared the present alarming increase of 2,000 or 3,000 out-door poor within a few mouths was attributable to the inefficiency of the work. house staff of inspectors. When there were but 2,000 casual poor, they bad nearly u many inspectors as now. Mr. C. If texuaw was delighted to fled that the guardians hod agreed to publish the lists of those receiving out-door relief, as he believed there was a vast amount of imposition practised, and that it would prove a cheek thereon. He was a member of the board of auditors in 1843, and in their report on that occasion they urged upon the vestry the ne cessity of ouch publication ; but out of feelings of delicacy to the poor, he believed, they did not comply with that re/ e t Watvests said, as a proof of the necessity for the step about to be taken by the ratepayers for their own protection, there was a woman in his own neighbourhood in the receipt of parochial relief, who, together with her son, earned 15e, per week. (Hear.) A few days ago he was riming tbe, workhouse in the New-road, and as he passed, a woman came out, laden with bread she had just received. The woman, accosting another woman outside, and handing the latter six or seven shillings, said, "I had a good deal of trouble to get your money, but I got over hint at last," meaning, be (Mr. Walters) supposed, the overseer, the woman who received the money haring on a spl en did shawl, and being otherwise well dressed. Ile watched th em , and saw the well-dressed woman give a boy a shilling who came up to her, and who appeared to belong to her. Hs believed that such a person had no more right to relief than he had; and as he succeeded in tracing the women to their houses in the neighbourhood of the Yorkshire Stirlen, when the lista came eat he should go and see whether they were fit objects. Mr. BAILEE related several similar MPS, and an extra ordinary one where a woman who was in the habit of quar relling with her husband on every such occasion left hint, and cleverly managed to impose upon the authorities and get with her three children into the workhouse. Sometimes she persuaded them to give her a weekly allowance to keep out, and this was done although the husband was in full employment. Pile. JOSEPH complained that the machinery at the work house was one of the principal causes of the increase of pauperism. The fact was that the system of management was very disjointed and uncertain, occasioned by the plan of dividing the board of guardians into rota committees. Those committees consisted of fire members of the board, and as five new men ruled and reigned every month, new rain, orders, and regulations for the management of the poor were made as often, and it frequently happened that what was done by one rota committee was entirely undone by the next. Having been many years a member of the board of guardians, he had had experience that such was the case. Mr. MICHIB (a guardian) said be was gratified to see the rate-payers bestirring themselves to check the monstrous growth of pauperism. It had ever been his desire to raise the minds of the working claret above pauperism, but he must say the lax system of discipline adopted in Marylebone tended to assist it. (Hear.) He agreed with Mr. Joseph that the constitution of the rota committees was in some measure the cause of that increase, hut the great cause was in haying in the board of guardians too many of that elms who were designated as humane men. There were too many humanity men, or rather mock humanity men, and that class of persons were the ruin of society, the promoters of indolence, crime, and dissipation. Dr. Ditty considered there was • vital defect in the rate of inspection, and as a proof of it he stated that there was a nurseryman in the neighbourhood of the Edgware-road who was in the receipt of relief from Marylebone and Paddington also. Several other gentlemen spoke upon the matter, and urged the immediate payment of the rates on the part of the pa rishioners. The resolution was then put and carried unanimously, and it haring been resolved to call a further meeting as soon u the lists of persons receiving relief were printed, in order to organise the mode of inspection, thanks were voted to the chairman, and the meeting separated. Me. BROOKE, OF SALM .1 K.—Sir Peter LIRA) has given notice for the next Court of Common Council that the freedom of the City in a gold box be presented to Mr. Brooke, the Rajah of Sarawak, in testimony of the admira tion of the court of the courage, seal, cliscretion, ability, and disinterestedness displayed by him in the inland of Borneo, in the Indian Archipelago, and in the peaceful establish ment of order and good gorernutent at Sarawak, in that island. SWANSEA DOCK COMPANY.— An extraordinary general meeting of shareholder of this company was held yesterday, at the Guildhall Coffee-house, for the purpose of considering the report of the committee appointed by the general meeting held in London the 31st of August lout, of increasing or reducing the number of directors, and of con sidering certein hy-laws and regulations alleged to have been passed by certain directors at Swansea on the 19th of August last, and confirming or rescinding the same. The report referred to, having been read, the secretary to the company, Mr. Jenkins, the solicitor to the Swansea board, and Mr. Carter, a holder of one shore, presented themselves, io the capacity of shsreholders. as a deputation from the Swansea board, to protest against the legality of the present meeting, as in direct opposition to the by-laws made lout August.—The deputy-chairman of the company , Colonel Cameron, who presided on the occsaion, laid that he could not attend to such a protest, because the by-laws in ques tion having been made by the Swansea directors, and not, u required by the Bth Victoria, chap. IG, by the com pany, were illegal and invalid ; he therefore called upon the solicitor to the London board to explain to the shareholders present (about 15 in number) the dream. stances under which the meeting had been convened.—Mr. meerton (the solicitor) stated that the capital of the company represented 5,000 sharer, of which 1,727 had been taken by London shareholders; and by country shareholders, princi pally in Swansea, only 1,139; that seven directors had been appointed for London, and 10 for Swansea, 17 being the maximum number allowed by the act. He then proceeded to allude to acts done by the Swansea board, which he co mired clearly proved that the London shareholders could not confide in them. They had, for inetaace, appointed a treasurer without consulting the London board. It also happened (and be supposed with their authority) that the word " shall " in the clause which enacted that meetings of the directors should be held in London monthly, had been changed when the bill went up to the House of Lords into the word may ; " and as he perceived that the parliamen tary agent was present, he would ask him if he knew how such an alteration came to be made ? (That gentleman re plied that he could not say without referring to papers in his office, but it had been done by authority, which authority did not emanate from the Landon heard.) Then the first general meeting under the act was illegally and informally convened by the Swansea directors, they at the time not having changed the scrip for shares, and one of their body had to come to London to apologise to the share holders for the mistake. Again, Captain Price, who had been proposed by a Swansea director for the London board, at a London meeting, and unanimously chosen, was now ab solutely objected to and protested agairist by the Swansea board. More important than all that, they had undertaken to pus a number of by-laws, to none of which could the London board, in his opinion, lend their sanction. The 6th enacted that all calls upon the !shareholders should be made at meetings to be held at Swansea, se that no matter what the state of the market the gentlemen at Swansea were alone to decide the eirstiency of making calls. The 11th was equally objections le. The act, which was sent beck to the Commons, and altered as it originally stood, stated that the London board should meet once a month, which meet ings they were by other acts empowered to adjourn ; but according to this by-law 'the London directors, whatever might be the importance of such monthly meeting, must, if it be adjourned, hold the adjourned meeting in Swansea. Such a law was a fearful absurdity. He would only refer to these two, assuring the meeting that the remsinder were likewise such as he thought no gentlemen of honour, cha racter, or spirit could submit to have imposed upon them. (" Certainly not.") It was fortunate] in their power to neutralise them as illegal, and he ho they would do so. If the London board were not to be al owed to act, then he thought it would be but honest and fair for the Swansea hoard to pay back the money advanced at their solicitation for assistance upon 1,700 shares. (The secretary for Swan sea observed that the number had been reduced to 1,300.) Sat, if the Swansea board refused to do that, then was he of opinion that the management should be left to the London board, representing is it did more than one-half the shareholders ; and, if it were so left, he thought he could pledge himself that the directors would not make • call until the monetary system of the country had recovered from its present state. In fact he saw a way of capitalism' the company without either making calls or borrowing. (The learned gentleman was proceeding to make some re mark about " heavy liabilities," when advised by the chair man not to pursue that topic further.) A resolution (pro- posed by Capt. Price), in conformity with the recommenda tion of the committee's report (already alluded to), reducing the number of directors from 17 to 9, the minimum number, was then unanimously agreed to ; but upoa the next resolu tion being proposed, declaring the proceedings of the Swan sea directors, In passing certain by-laws, &c.,on 19th Aural lam to be irregular and illegal, and to have destroyed the confidence of the London shareholder' ; and further, that the affairs of the company could not, with safety to the inte rests of the shareholders, be longer confided to their management, the members of the deputation for the Swansea board voted against it, and tendered a number of proxies on the same side. After a discussion upon the nib hect, in the course of which the secretary acknowledged that e had not brought with him the book of registry, the chair man said that, guided by the opinion of the s inciter, he could not, in the absence of that book, the only legal evidence of those proxies being ahareholden, consent to receive them. A formal tender of those proxies having been made and re fused, the resolution was pursed, u were also other resolu tions declaring that in pursuance of the powers conferred on the meeting by the eat, the businem of the company should I IN hi.-