The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser. — London, England, 1826-02-27 00:00:00

THE SILK TRAM . TO THE EDITOR OF THE BRITISH PRF-s.i. .5 15 ,—The deep importance of the silk question to the most important interests of the country will, I hope, render a ll a pology uunecessary for my appealing, through the me dium of your Paper to those Members who composed the great majority that decided against the motion of Mr. Er to a Select Committee, to consider and Lice for referring report on the petitions against the Importation of foreign silk. That majority was a most triumphant one, and if this ere to be taken as a proof of the wisdom of not going into any inquiry into the facts stated in those petitions, I will admit that no proof could be more conclusive. But those who are deeply affected by the measure have some thing more to desire. Do all the Members who voted against the referring the petitions to a Committee mean it to be understood that they were so completely satisfied that the statements contained in them were unfounded, and therefore did not need inquiry, or were unimportant, and therefore did not deserve it ? If they can put their bands upon their hearts, and say conscientiously that they had. by investigation, made themselves fully mas ters of the subject, and that the petitions contained no facts of which they are not fully aware, they were then fully justified in refusing all further inquiry. But if they cannot do this—the tremendous times which are coming on will bring upon them a most awful responsi bility. When thousands and tens of thousands are being discharged every week, from employment hi the silk trade, not in London only, but in every district In the kingdom in which it is carried on ; and when a few weeks more will produce such a mass of calamity among its oper atives as England, in its worst times, never witnessed, the roam and the rewstrig seem at least to demand a patient investigation. But I have no wish to take up more of your space than I can help: I wish to call the attention of Parliament, era it is yet too late, to certain Mehl connected with the important debate of Thursday and Friday evening, respecting which a great misconception has got abroad, and upon which it is of the utmost consequence that the public opinion, as well as the opinion of all those Members who voted with the majority, should be set right. I have no intention, very far from it, to detract any thing from the great merits of Mr. Huskisson ; his services have been very great and very laborious. Ile has no view, I most sincerely believe, but to extend the cominerce of the country, and to tut its prosperity upon what he conceives to be the very firmest basis. This assures me that he will listen with candour to any statement which goes to remove any error into which he may have been misled. A very Strong impression was produced upon the Hotase on Thursday evening by the argument that the Bill re. pealing the prohibition of foreign silks after July 1826, paused in the spring of 1824 ; and that in the face of this very Bill the trade had gone on flourishing and increasing. In the spring of HMV said Mr. 11. •• so great was the ex. citement, so settee was the spirit of sperulation, that the House would find not only that the old establishments were in 101 l operation, bat that in Macclesfield new silk mills were erected, at an expense of not less than from 10.0004 to Ili,UUtit Several of these were not even yet roofed in, and the machinery belonging to them was not yet put up. And what was the condition of this ruined trade, which this 11111 was to annihilate ? In a Macclesfield newspaper of the 19th of February 1825 (just a year ago), he read the following advertisement:—' To Over seers, Guardians of the Pon , . and Families desirous of settling in Macclesfield. Wanted immediately, from four to five thou. sand persons,' (hear, hedr !) and he begged the attention of the Ileum to the description of petsons wanted—' from 7 to 20 years of age,' (hear,hcar, I) the silk manufacturers were content to begin with children at the tender age of only seven years—' to be employed In carrying on the manufacture of tick. The great in crease of the trade having caused a great scarcity of workmen, it is suggested that this is a most favourable opportunity for persona with large families, and Overs.:ers who wish to put out children as itypt•entices, to inure them a comfortable life. Application to be made, if b letter, post pail. to the printer of this paper.'— This advertisement had been inserted in the Irish newspapers, sod in others, published in the great manufacturing districts of Brest Minds. and he (Mr. II.) should say, as the Honourable Member for the City had said of the cotton trade, that he did 1104 know how they cnuld come—how they could communicate together as to the manner in which they should go ; hoses 2r, they malted ehnultaneously to Marelesfield. and many more titan 5,000 might have been procured. In accordance with what he had just mil was another silver lament, printed at Macclesfield, which he had not read, but which he had been told ran in the following brief tams; Wanted to be built i matiately. 1,000 hams.' tliCer, I. eel Such was the state in which the trade was placed i n Feb, 1824, and which was to expire in July. 1826. and in the face of such facts he appealed to the Howie what degree of reliance could be placed on assertions now, lot the fiftieth time anode, and though for the fiftieth time refuted, repeated to.night with the same conti ience as ever? (Hear, hear.) s' u it surprising, after such an event of speculation, after such, he might almost say, in. ban= proceedings, hi the employment of infants of only re-...ew pus old. after such an Influx of population from all parts of the Hinted Kingdom, and when the trade had felt a check, that sonic distress should prevail ?" " " • . . Now all the Members who heard this statement, these advertisements and the puhlic at large, when reading the eloquent speech which contains them, would be led to con clude that the British Silk Manufacturers must be most un just and dishonest in urging their complaints against the bill for the introduction of foreign silk, when, in the interval between the passing of it and its coming into actual oper ation, they had been making such preparations as showed them to be satisfied that they were fully able to compete with the foreign manufacturers, and that they look forward to s great increase of demand for British silk goods. But I will now proceed to state this fact exactly as it stands, and-it will then be seen to have a very cliff rent appear ance from what it is here made to assume, and all the in ferences drawn from it will at once fall to the ground. In the first place, let it be observed that this increase of buildings takes place in the single town of Macclesfield, and nowhere else; therefore no argument that may be drawn from it can be at all applied to the trade generally. The fact is that two adventurers without capital, one of the name of IL m, and another of the name of B—k, each set up a Silk .Manufactory in Macclesfield. They made a great parade of the extensive concerns they were about to set on foot—they sent forth the above adoer tiseneent in the English and Irish newspapers—which were w penned as to answer their purpose of exciting public at tention—they obtained good, on credit, by means of all this peldicio—they drew bills on each other, for their actual accommodation, until at length their credit came to an end, and about six weeks ago they broke for about 10 0,000 L, and their names appeared in the blazette. Can such conduct as this, I would ask, on the part of Iwo indindods, be in juetice urged as proof that the Britiok Silk Manufactures were in a thriving state, and that the MANUFACTURER!, though fully aware that fo reign silks would be introduced in July 1826, were glut ting he market with their speculatipns in the year 1926? I inuld entreat those Members whose votes against a committee of inquiry were influenced by this statement, to ask tiernselres whether, had the whole fact been thus cor rectly before them, it would not have led them to a difftr tilt conclusion? No•question of greater int-rest to all clam of the community ever called for the deliberation of l!irlianetit. It is therefore of die very last importance teat wary thing which relates to it should be truly under- Eood,and more especially so by those who, from their si tuatioi, are called, in the last resort, to decide upon it. I cone next to the imputation thrown upon the manu factures for employing female children at so early an age 113 tem years old. Nothing can be calculated to produce a atroNer ft cling against any class of manufacturers than the thnwing out a charge against them of taking advan tage a the helplessness of infancy, and deriving a profit from de employment of children at that tender age which Most calls for sympathy and kinilm SR. Every employment 1 p a manufactory implies the idea of labour ;. we all know that children have not strength teelabour, and our hnina- C ity, therefore, naturally revolts against all who put them to it. A very plain statement will remove the prejudice arising from this source. The fact atands.thus. The silk thread which winds itself from then/472°n to the bobbins, M liable every now and then to break. When this happens 4, t4 the ends of the silk must be again tied 'together, and it thee goes on again winding as before. This is a process M il which ther t, is not the slightest exertion of strength. A ad of seven years old Call do it just as well as a grown only very It is an employment without labor; it is not Very simple, but extremely clean, and not in the !tallest degree unhealthy. The consequence is that many man& of female children, from the age of seven to. '2_,nteen or Ahem, are taken from the parish poor-homes, "on are fed . , clothed, educated, and inured to habits 44. industry, by being thrs taken into this light and easy employ b . y the Manufacturers; and the most valuable service is thereby rendered both to the interest of morals and of humanity. These children are thus, the greater part of them, provided for life, for as they grow up they become capable of earning their bread in the weaving of Silk, and are consequently never without the means of a comfortable maintenance. The employment which the silk Manufacture gives to women is one of its most be neficiel results to the country, there being no other staple manufacture in which women can obtain employ. It is calculated that not less than from . fiity to vier& thousand women will he thrown utterly destitute upon the world, and that at least twelve thousand female children will be returned Upon the poor-houses, from whence they were taken, between this and July next. Enough has here been said to bring the public mind to a correct view of this part of the question, as far as concerns the employment of children. I come now to the question of over-trading. And here a most important error has been unaccountably assumed, which vitally affects the whole of the reasoning founded upon it. The enormous quantity of silk imported last year, compared with the imports of the two years pre ceding, has been made the ground—first, of charging the manufacturers with buying speculated to excess in the raw material in the face of that comnetition which th e y k new was to take pl a c e; an d nex t o f ascribing the present ruinous condition not to the operation of the Act of which they complain, but to the excessive importation with,which they have glutted the Whereas the real fact turns out to be, that the British Silk Manufacturers Wer e not the Importers of the Silk ; but that it is made up of coo smm mentg from Foreirn Merchants, sent here wholly a t their own ;44, anti an Muir own account, our manufacturers ham . " , nothing whatever to do with it. I. will here extract the proof of this most interesting fact from a letter published within these few days, and addressed to Mr. CANNIKG, entitled ' 6 SOME HUNTS ON TOE QUESTION OF TIIE atr.K TRADE STATED." It is written in that tone of candour and moderation which gives double weight to statements which are of a nature to sink deep into the mind of every man who reads them. The writer thus coin mencts his appeal to the distinguished Statesman we have I just named : lit the report of an eloquent and animated speech, which is ascribed to you, among other topics which it embraces, you are represented to have made the following statement respecting the Sik Trade: "rhat a gradual but material accumulation of Stack had taken place, and that in the last year a had doalled the atnuant of any fanner year.' " The object of this statement is to rrfcr the biome of thr over ftd‘eloning dirlrrps, which is rnw crutiting down the silk Trade of this country, to the sanguine cupidity of traders, drawing into it an excetts of stock beyond the real and fair demands of the con sumption. _ . _ " Sir, I shall willingly entertain the belief that you would not, for purposes of argument, knowingly sanction a false represents- Lion of any maters! fact. But I entreat you to revise your pre sent information. It is not correct : it does not come near the truth; it betrays, in effect, the great deficiency of your inquiries. " I submit to you, that if your other engagements of public duty will permit you to resort to the proper means of inquiry on this subject, you will soon be undeceived as to this extraordioary and very erroneous statement, which is circulated under theaanc tion of your name and authority. And if lam able to satisfy you that there is a mistake in the estimate which you have made of this accumulation of stock, and of its influence upon the English Silk Trade, I shall leave it to your own judgment to retract or qualify, as you shall see fit, the inferences which you have drawn trom it, as to the cause of the present sinking state of that portion of our commerce. "Sir, I take for granted that your statement originates in a mica p. prehnuion of the entries, in the article of SILK, mad• itt the CUSIO3I-110USE Booze. Those entries for the year 1823 do in dicate a vast increase in the importation of silk in that year, as compared with the four or five preceding yearn. But, .4, you seem not to be aware how that silk came here, and tinder what con ditions. 11 has escaped your knowl e d ge t h at by far the greater part of this whole importation was made by Italians and other foreign merchants at their owe risk ; that the stock* was thus sent here upon consignment, not upon order ; and that partial reshipment: of of it have been continually going on, and that these reshipments are made without a shilling of loss to the English merchant. In short, Sir, this extra stock never having become the property of English subjects, nor been brought into circulation in the Engikli market, neither did, nor could prance any of the injurious ejects which you have wished to ascribe to it. It touched our shores, but there it lay dormant. As to any pressure upon our internal trade, it nii4ht as well have been lying in the warehouses of Calais or of kehorn. " But, Slr, I will set down the. entries of the C u stom-h ouse books, which have misguided you, and permit me to point out more distinctly the fallacy of your statement in its essential beating.. Importation of Raw and Thrown Silks,from 1823 to 1823,inclusive. Raw and Waste. I Thrown. Year ending sth January 11123. 1824. 1825. Average of the Three Yeara eudins Eth January, I/12.1 Year ending lob Oct!_ll;2s 2,177.773 lbs. 2,M 2,164 3,135,644 592,795 lbs. W. 469 342,005 2.608,327 3,-131,172 404.423 000,501 Aggregate 'Average of Raw and Thrown,of ThreeYeara,end. ing sth January, 1825 Aggregate of Importation in the Year ending 10th of Oct. IC 25 3,012,914 4,231,671 . - " The thrown silks brought to this country in J 825. did, as we see, nearly double the amount of thrown silks imported in 11324; whilst the increase in raw silks for 1825 exceeded those of 1024 in in a far less proportion. The reason of that difference in the increase was this, thin the trade both of manufacture and con. gumption being steady and active, the thrown silks, as being in a more advanced state, offered a more prompt supply to the demand the raw material not being equally really fur the manufacturers' use, could not get so quickly through the market. But comparing the total imports of the two ye - trs, viz. 3,012,240 lbs. and 4.231,671 lbs. the increase on the aggregate is at the tate of 40 per earn. This therefore is the whole that can be made of the increase In these ap. parent imports. viz. a per cent. But the mire Imports were, as I have already explained, only apparent. Is was not British capital which was invested in this accumulation. British capital scarcely touched it. It wart a furri4 , n poperty which visited our shores to try the fortnile of the nsarkrt. That market was really a profitable one, and naturally attracted the stock to it; but the dawn of the new policy of 1824, and the extraorainarst representations made of it in .uarliament, and else. There, had led foreign merchants to suppose that the consansptiva in our Silk Trade was to know tin • sir, I fear that you hare all along been Imperfectly acquainted with the mode of business which obtains in the importation of silk. You have supposed that a glance at the Custom-house books was sufficient to instruct you in Judging of the prud e nce o r t emer ity o f the English merchant i n this branch of his commerce. When.l have said that the extra imports of last year came at the risk of the foreign proprietor, I havedescribcd to you the course of business in the regular and ordinary importation of dirt article, as tar as re lates to the European trade. A simple coissionient is made to Me mercantile house is London. The LoFidon merchant draws out the stock as be hurls the market requires it. He has sin absolhte pro perty in the cargo, and acts merely as Me agent of the Foreign Proprietor, in superintending the disposal of it ; or in retaining or resAipiag Pie sarphrs.t The Asiatic trade, it f true, is managed in a different man net The India Company import their silks not upon consign. meats in these silks English property is invested. But the India import; are wholly of raw silk. And thus we see that the rate of double accumulation, which was confined last year to the thrown silks, keeps always at a distance from the proper circle of British transactions. lithe India Company exceeded in raw imports last year, thy are well known to conduct their business on sounder principles than those of pressing the market by excessive sales. In point of fret, the quantities which they have declared for sale, in the two last years, have been excessively low. " The fidelity of this *sole representation which I have now " I understand, on good information, tkar there are how lying, in a state of equal inertness, not leas titan 500,04101. of this un appropriated stock, which have remained unconcetned in the pro , cecinas' of the English Silk Trade. and might now return to their native country, or go elsewhere, without affecting the accounts of the English manufacturer or trader. t It is 40 beregretted that the Earl of Liverpool, in the very luminous and comprehensive view of the state of our banking and mercantile system doting the 111.1 i year, which he has given at the moment whilst these pages arc passing through the press, 'should have renewed the same unfavourable representation of the effect of these excessive imports upon the movements of the-Silk Trade. The unquestionable candour of this noble person, in meeting every point on its fin grounds, gives the greater weight to this re peated representation. It is of importance, however, on erery account, that we should. co me t o a fair view of the case. if the indiscretions of the silk trade have been the cause of its present misfortunes, those indis cretions might justly be left to work their Own cure, or atone for their folly. But if those misfortune originate In the influence of the new scheme of trade, his 31ajesty's Boveniment and the Le gislature have a duty to discharge in reconsidering that scheme, and e'en-tuning how it comes to act so injuriously upon our home in terests. Those misfortunes will then constitute a claim to regard, which the suffering parties could not otherwise prefer. Nor will it rhru be a very gracious mode of treatment to pursue towards those sullen/a, to taunt them with their improvidence, at the moment when a measure, ihdisputabiy a hard, if not an onpressive and in jurious one, is put in operation against them. This would be to take awry their fair character of prudence in the management of their atiairs, as well as despoil them of their property. I deem it, therefore, of consequence to Sprats the consideration of this point, that the vague and gentral idea of excessive importa tion may not be allowed, to vitiate the opinions we form of the state of this trade, nor divert attention furl the true relief to be applied to it." THE BRITISH PRESS. offered to you may he easily ascertained. There are about ten principal houses in London, scarcely so many, which possess among them nearly the whole import trade in silk, except the Asiatic. Those houses will report to you how the importktions ar e conducted, and whether it w as th e s pi rit of English speculation which attracted to our ports those unusual supplies of stork during the last year. They will inform you that the quiet repositories of the London Docks, or the importers* own warehouses, held this foreign pro perty. with little or no influence of excitement upon the proper cir. culation of the English market. " As to the manufactured stack, I refer you to the manufac turers' warehouses and to the shops of mercers to disprove the charge of an excessive accumulation. The country manufacturers all hold diminished stocks. A few. only a few houses in London, hold anything like a lull stock; and the principal mercers gismos. tinue their purchases, or greatly contract them, not because their shops are overloaded, nor because they have no sales for the relics of the English manufacture, but because they are looking to the importation of foreign goods as the object of their future traffic. You- position, therefore, respecting an enormous accumuls. tiun, I presume to consider as untenable in every point of view ; and the inference which you have wished to enforce, in referring the calamitous condition of the silk trade to the imprudence and cupidity of those who have been engaged in it, must give way. (It one imprudence those persons certainly have been guilty; that was in calculating upon • continuance of the prosperous state of things which they had begun to enjoy. " Sir, this now rapidly declining trade was lately a flourishing one. It had been expanding the last four yews. Its prosperity arose out of the internal resources of the country, accompanied by a decided increase in the public (sate for the use of that article. which is the produce of the Silk manufacture. All parts of this trade were thriving. By means of it an innocent luxury productive ren dered the source of a productive industry, which replenished and augmented the pubic and private wealth out of which it grew. It fed its thorsunnis. It is tune scorn; ifs thonsonds. h/tdiy of the principals engaged in it are daring thearbusiacss.some from !widener, others from compulsion. The workmen and theirfiwnliies are pin. ins with hipline, and charity is forced to furnish a miserable sub alatence, inadequate to the wants of nature, to those whom their In. dustry lately maintained in competence end in health. In many cams this household furniture of thew destitute workmen, their clothing, their looms. are pawned for the ammo( the passing hour, Indeed. Sir, in the sad history of this scene of accumulated priva tion and affliction, I could describe to you particular instances of an agonizing misery, which In the recital would put your humanity to too severe a trial. " I ofFi.r no apology for the length of the above quotation. The valuable information that may be extracted front it, makes me fearful lest I should weaken its effect by any further observations of my own. I shall therefore bring them to a close. AN ENGLISH MERCHANT. STAI'E OF TRADE. We are sorry that it is still out of our power to commu nicate any intelligence of an amendment in the state of trade. There has never, we believe, been a day in which a more gloomy feeling existed, or prices, whether of yarns or manufactured goods, were more depressed than on ' Tuesday last, nor has there since been any :thermion for the better. The influence of heavy storks on one hand, and of the breaking up of credit on the other, is so power ful that low as the prices of raw cotton are, those of yarns and goods are reduced in a still greater proportion ; and much as production has been diminished, the effect of the change does not yet begin to be felt. There is neither a lessening of stocks, nor an increase in demand. Notwithstanding this state of things, there have not this week, we rejoice to say, been any failures of very serious consequence in this town 'or its immediate neighbourhood. One foreign house suspended its payments in consequence of the suspension of Messrs. B. A. Goltlschmidt and Co. Several minor stoppages have taken place amongst country spinners, &c.: most persons, indeed, of that c l ass , w h o have been accustomed to depend at all extensively on credit are now exposed to considerable inconvenience, notwith standing they may in reality be persons of solid property. What is to be the issue of the present state of things,l whether " worse remains behind" or the crisis of danger has past, it is difficult to collect any data upon which to found an opinion. But thus much be said ;we are rapidly approaching, indeed we are on the immediate verge of, a season when trade is usually brisk, and the present will surely not form so entire an exception to the general rule, that the bustle of the spring demand will be wholly want ing; and if not, it will to a certain extent, tend both to relieve the existing pressure, and to restore confidence. We are told too, that there are large orders for twist now in town, but the persons who have them dare not, at present, value on the London houses through whom they are di rected to reimburse themselves.—Manchester Guardian. Dt.ss.ssT sox Or SEAMEN.—A meeting of shipowners, merchants, and others interested in the trade to the colonies took place yesterday afternoon, to take into consideration the defective state of the l a w for preventing the desertion of the crews from merchants' ships abroad, and the proper measures •to be taken for its amendment. John Barber, Esq. was called to the chair, and the business of the day was opened by Mr. Radcliffe, who stated at considerable length the circumstances which had induced several gentlemen, exrensively collected with the British North American Colonial trade, to call the meeting. He particularly commented upon the glaring defect in the statute 2d of George fI. cap. 36, by which, it appeared, desertion, during the progress of the voyage, could not be punished by imprisonment after the termination of the voyage, the clause in the Act applying only to the case of a sailor absenting himself from the ship after signing the articles, and upon his apprehension refusing before the magistrate to proceed on the voyage.' The Act of the 37th Geo. 111, cap. 73, was confined to the West Indian Colonies, and that, even if extended, would not remedy the evil complained of in our ship-building colo nies. The latest Act upon the subject, 4th Geo. IV, cap. 25, was completely evaded by the deserter obtaining from the master of the ship in which he engaged after deserting from another payment of wages in advance, so that he had no wages to forfeit, and there was nothing upon which the Act could operate. A New Brunswick Paper of the Silk of January last was exhibited, which published a list, setting forth the names and tonnage of vessels built in the province of St. John's, during the year 1825, from which it appeared that 102 vessels had been launched, if different sizes, but averaging 300 tons each; and it was stated by a gentleman present, that he had very good Information which warranted him in asserting that the number of seamen which arrived our to man them, did not exceed what would be requisite for managing more than one-tenth of that quantity of shipping. After consi derable discussion on various suggestions that were thrown out, an outline of the principal amendments to be proposed in the law on this subject was agreed upon, and a com mittee appointed to prepare the necessary arrangements for effecting such amendments, and to report thereon to a ge neral meeting,—Liverpool Commercial Chronicle. TO THE EDITOR OF THE BRITISH PRESS. Sta,—l shall be glad to be infotmed (as well as many others who are very much inconvenienced by the delay) why a Master in Chancery has not been appointed in lieu of Mr. Courtenay ? A SUITOR IN THE COURT OF CHANCERY. A petition is now in course of signature, at Liverpool, to the !louse of Commons, praying them to piths a law for the registering of all the names in co-partnership, or pro hibiting all such pleas of nonjoinder or misnomer by any defendant in actions for recovering debts. It is very affecting to consider the forlorn state of many lads in and about London who have been thrown out of employ by the stagnation of trade, and we cannot forbear expressit.g our admiration of that useful institution, the Marine Society. We had the pleasure to witness the recep tion of thirty-five poor distressed objects on Thursday last. They were very handsomely clothed, and proceeded to the Society's ship at Deptford, in these high spirits which a transition from such a state of misery to comfort and plea sure is calculated to produce. The public cannot be in vited to countenance and support objects more important to the welfare of society ; and therefore we trust that every benevolent mind will feel disposed to assist so laudable an institution. MELANCHOLY RPOUCTION IN TILE VALVE OP LACE MACHINES.—At a public auction in Nottingham a felt days ago, with a good company, a Ten-Point 6-4 Levers' Lace Machine—for which the owner about a year ago had refused 500 L, though it ie in work, and a most excellent machine with two gets of bobbing, and one set of carriages, and makes three racks per hour—fetched only 6.51. with a declaration from the auctioneer that no reserve would be tirade. We should think that manufacturing machinery in no part of the empire has suffered an equal' degreb of reduction in value. IIRETIA'G of SURGEONS and APOTHECARIES. On Saturday evening a public meeting of the General Practi tioners of Surgery and Medicine was held at the Crown and Anchor rerun, Strand, " for the vurpose of taking into consideration the present elate of the General Branch of the profession, and the pro priety of an immediate application to Parliament. in consequence of the expiration, in August next, of the Apothecaries' Act, passed last Session." Mr Harts was called to the Chair. His reluctance to fill the situation of Chairman dtd not wise front a want elan acquai—ance with their grievances, or because It required any extraordinary talent to prove the justice of their claims. The obj ct they had in view was to give schrtioilal respectability to the character of the general practitioner in sntgery nod medicine. It was desirable, as the proceedings would go forth to the world, to state that two-thirds of the practitioners belonged to the College of Surgeons, and that they possessed all the sieruirements of the .Meinhers of that Body. According to Adam Smith and other writers, the Apothecary was the Physician to the podr in general cases, and the prescriber to nine-tentha of the -populdtion ; and it was important that he should be fitted, by education and taleat, for so important a public mar. The Chairman gave a history of the formation of the " United Body of Asaocinted Surgeons and Apothecaries of England and Wales," in 1811. They Veld a meeting to contra ' der their grievances, and were joined by other practitioners, till their numbers Increased to about 3,00 d. rev resolved to apply to Parliament, from a firm conviction that legislative interfeSence was necessary. A Bill was consequeMly brought Into Parliament ; but there appeared something unfortunate attenilng it, for it was strongly opposed in both Houses, treated w.th an icy coidnaes by the Apothecaries Company, and opposed by film Chartered Comanies; so that finding It was likely the Bill would be thro wn out, by opposition from four several quarters, it was withd rawn . A Bilwas subsequently brought into Parliament, and it ass pro. posed that the examination of persons, prior to their practising. should be vested in the Apothecaries Company but This W 45 Op. posed by the Society of Physicians ; aubseNently, however, !some points favourable to the practitioner were cunt tied. In the last Session of Parliament a Bill passed both Muses, which was brought in by the Society of Apothecaries; it was gremly de fective, and some parts of it subjected +he medical practitioner to [severe penalties. One severe grievance he coniplazoned Of was, the right it gave to Members of Apothecaries' Hall to enter the shop of an Apothecary and search the same and examine his drugs. When the Bill of the last Session was brought before Parliament, a deputation, of which he had the honour to be one, waited un .11r. 13rovgham, to request that Gentleman to support the Bill, which contained a clause of tile utmost importance, which would have operated more to the interest of the public In general than to the private interests of the medical practitioner while, at the same time, it would have given to the latter that character of Csspectabi lity which the memberi of a liberal profession ought io pesseaa. Mr. Brougham received the deputation, and promised to support the Bill; and Mr. Hume also promised, and did zealously advocate their cause. The latter gentleman it was who undertook to intro. duce the clause an important to their fraternity, if lie might use the expression. The clause was to this effect That the mode of remunerating medical practitioners should undergo a change ; that as heretofore the apothecary could receive payment only for the me dicines he compounded, in future he should receive a moderate charge or fee, whether he administered medicine to the patient or not. The clause having been introduced, Mr. flume obtained leave for a Committee to be appointed to consider the whole grier. since of the Apothecaries. and Mr. Hume was appointed Chairman. He (the present Chairman) was deputed, with inhere, to attend the Committee ' • he did so, and having waited two hours after th e ti me appointed, he was informed, though he never could learn tl:e rea son, that the Committee had been dissolved. Early on a stibse quent night Mr. Brougham moved that the Bill do pass into a law, but that Important clause had been, in a most extraordinary man ner, previously struck out. (Hear.) It was lamentable that such was the effect of the opposition of the Society of Apothecaries: hut he hoped they would retrace their steps, and be anxious to raise the medical profession in character and respectability. There was evi dently a strong public prejudice against medical practitioners; it was thought that they dispensed medicine, not with any view of benefiting their patients, but for personal interest only. (A laugh.) It was their duty to do all in their power to remove so abotfiinable a suspicion from the minds of their patients, because it was of the utmost consequence that the greatest confidence should subsist be. tween the practitioner and the patient, and this could be effected only by the practitioner supplying his medicine without charge, anti receiving a fee for his services in compounding, &c. He 'herald have supposed that Mr. Brougham would have been the last man who would have lent himself to the secret withdrawing of that clause, being aware, front exprience, that professional men cannot be respectable unless they are Paid liberally for their services. Ile did not deny that the Society of Apothecaries had done some good ; he was one himself, and he felt indignant that they were capable of doing that in their corporate capacity which, as men of honour, they would disdain in their private character. They possessed power and Influence, and they exercised it despotically ; but— , " Man, weak man, clothed in a little brief authority, Plays such fantastic tricks before high Heaven, As make the angels weep." (Loud applause.) He adverted to a clause in the Act of Parliament, compelling as Apothecary to make up the prescripticn of a physician, or member I or licentiate of the College of Surgeons, at any hour of the day or night, or if he failed to do so, subjected him to a fine by a sum. mary process before a Magistrate. This was a grievance which a professional man ought not to be subjected to, and he stared several reasons why the clause ought to be expunged. Another clause, equally objectionable to the apothecary, he pointed out, which having been read, he observed, that when that great Master of Nature. the immortal Shalomeare, wished •to exhibit human mi sery in the most wretched shape, he introduced a starved aporhe. cary, whom " Sharp misery had almost worn to the bones." (Applause and laughter.) lie (the Chairman) was certainly no figure for the part so ably drawn by the Poet (Laughter, the Chair. man being somewhat corpulent). lie could not help saying a few words on the practice of certain physiCians sending their pies-rip dons to particular druggists, and sharing with them in the eine luments arising from the sale of the drugs (Hear! and biasing from all parts of the room). It was an indisputable fact, for a short time ago a physician dissolved partnership with a Drug Company. (Shame.) Ile called the attention of the Meeting to the present practice of midwifery by uneducated and unskilful persons, some ' , from the plough-tail, by which hundreds of lives were lost; and I mothers, after hours, and sometimes days of torture, instead of hearing those sounds more sweet than the dulcet notes of a Stephens or a Braham—the voice of the infant—the anxious mother heard a ' dreadfal whisper, that her child was dead, and mutilated, through the ignorance of the pretender. The College of Physicians had repeatedly been called upon to give their powerful aid In passing an Act, that all perions practising as accoucheurs should previously undergo an examination as to their qualification; but they had declined interfering. The apothecary, m wishing to carry the pro posed object into effect, was not seeking a selfish advantage, but that which would be conducive to the public good. He trusted that those who intended to address the Meeting, however they might sutra from their grievances, would avoid personality, and during the important discussion, while they employed the vigour of the bow, they would disclaim the venom of the shaft. (Loud cheering.) The first Resolution, proposed by Mr. Leese, was seconded and carried : . " That the Apothecary, or rather the Surgeon-Apothecary, is the sole Medical Attendant of a very large majority of the popula tion of England and Wales ; and the public welfare, therefore, re quires that he should have had an adequate professional education. That the principal object of the Legislature, In passing the Act of the fisth of Geo. 111. (common)y termed " The Apothecaries' Act") was to prevent any person from practising medicine in Eng land and Wales who had not received a sufficient medical cduca, tion, and given proof of his competency by strict examination. That this object has not been attained by the provisions of the Act ; but on the contrary, that great numbers of uneducated and unex. mined persons are still practising, to the great injury of the pub lic. That the course of study laid down by the Cotirt of Eamon. era cif the Society of Apothecaries, for candidates for their licenses, is sufficient to qualify the individuals for the several duties of the medical profession : and thus, when good sense and conscientious feeling on the part of the candidates do not lead them to pursue a move extended and complete course of study, by the operation of this Act, the impress of legality and efficiency will be stamped by authority upon the imperfectly educated and, incompetent practi-1 tioner." Mr. SHTLLITO said he was sorry to differ in opinion from the gentleman who had proposed the Resolution. He really thought they were not warranted in going the length of the Resolution. Pre vious to the pluming of the Act, in 1815, what were the apotheca. ries ? Why they were pestle-and-mortar men. They only had the power of mixing up drugs, but no power to prescribe. A GENTLEMAN in the room observed, that by the late Act the apothecaries lost something, as a power was given to the druggists to compound medicines ; their shops, therefore, now became recep tacles for prescriptions. It had been said that the physicians com bined with the apothecaries. He could assure the meeting that such really was the case. He had seen an apothecary's bill made out by a physician, and he had known him present the same tLe payment, and seen him receive the money. When the same gen tleman was a candidate for some medical honour, ho abandoned a second bill. .... 3lr. Sir tr. LITO said that, previous to 1815, any person, any igno. rant pretender might practise physic. (Cries of " They do now.") Gentlemen who attended the Hospitals, and went through the re. gular ordeals, might be considered efficient members of the faculty. As to the compounding of medicines, physic was now in less gYne ral practice t the public became enlightened, and physic was out of fashion, and became a dead loss.' He should like to put into his pocket the value of the physic which was sent in by the practitioner and did net go Into the patient's stomach. Ile thought it extremeri hard that the chymist and druggist should compound medicines fur their own benefit. 111 r. Imillogue,said that the Act of Parliament called the Apo. theories' Act did not confer any benefit upon the profession, •but appeared to have emanated from some sordid individual. At to the observation that had been made, that the apothecaries were mere pestle-and-mortar meh, bethought it was a pretty compliment paid to those who were then in practice. The only persons who profitted by the Act were the Examiners, and in whose pocket was put six guineas upon every examination. He had no hesitation in stigmatising it as a system of plunder. (Hisses and cheers.) Ad mitting, for the sake of argument, that such an Act wen necessary, he would ask, have the Apochectries' Company, and the Examiners, discharged their duty ? He contended that they had not discharred their duty. They had not protected the profession frotn those %no wore not qualified, and when they discovered each instances they suirered them to paw unnoticed. In. his recoltection they had not prosecuted more than two persons. He could point out instances wiser, ignorant pretendirs had set up in the very teeth of the re. gutter practitioners, and they had not been prneterted because the money would come out of the pocket of the Examiners. Mr. WHATELEY begged leave mask Mr. Shillito which clause it was in the Act of Parliament that gave • power to the apothecary to prescribe Alt. Sit I.ITO eeclared that he co.itd not 'naive, the question*art he had nut looked into the Act. ( Laughter.) His geuersi understand.; ing un the subject was, that there was a clause in the Act which empowered an apothecary to prescribe. He could aurae the mee•O ing that, although an old Member of the College, he was young• and irrexperienced in its lawn and regulations. He aubtlnitted that, if the Resolution was . pressed, it would rust • slur upon the Lieen. time* of the proMesion. He would propme, as an anatiodnient.t the words " that the course of study laid down by the Coal of Ettrnincra," etc., be left nut of the Rescittlibri. Mr. Wasnonoroit seconded the amendment. Mr. RAY was of opinion that the Apothecaries' Act did not can. lain sufficient directions to the Examiners to qualify any man set practise. The course of study should be extended to double the time. Many young men might be of a different opinion, but we should endeavour to obtain that education to enable us to practise with honour. (Cheers.) Three years, he thought, was quite suf. Heient as an apprenticeship. (Hear. hear.) In Scotland, in Dub lin, in France, aid, in fact, in every other place but Er lard, the education was twice as long, and, by consequence, much au or education, far the medical science in England was now inefficient and defective. The 411 Ara MAN Raid that, before the resolution was put, he should suggest that students do not vote. The measure was billy tile measure of the practitioners. The amendment was then put, and the show of hands war 00 • nearly equal, that a dlvlsiun was insisted upon. after which. the Chairman declared the amendment negatived. The original reso lution was then passel. Mr. PRITCHARD proposed the Record resolution : "That the defective course of education prescribed by the recs. lations of the Court of Examiners is not only calculated to produce • mischief to society by means of the inefficiency of those candidates who limit tbems.ilves to that plan of study, and are subsequently licensel, but that it has led to en incorrect opinion, on the pars et' persons unacquainted w i t h t h e M e di ca l Schools neLondon, of tilt talent and aCquirements of the whole body of English general` prartioners, and, has exposed them to very untnerited and injurious ' aspersion., idevidenced by astatemeet, entitled sA case fof she ltnyal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, in relation to Act BS lieu. 111, commuply called the Apothecaries' Act'—lately printed and cireJlated among the members of legislature by that corporate linfy t wntCh statement also contains assertions directly at variance with their own regulatinna, formerly published In the Edinhurgia Media-41mi Sti.:Airal Mr. Sutra. T said that that resolution implied that the Ceihrgei of Edinburgh was superior to that in Idondon ; and that those edu cated in the latter College were not competent to pravise. Mr. ALI.COCK said the ex_trnination which was made of the students was insufficient and bad. Ile thought no fault could b e fwinti with the At t o f Pa:tan:cm, but the Examiners dld not cent. ply with its provisions. lie had known several young men who came up to London to be made mertibeht of the College, and he instructed them how to construe the Piarmaroperia, and told them what answers to give to the quttiions that would be put to them by the Examiners. Some of thcie young men were so lg. norant that they did not know whether the stomach was in the thorax or in the abdomen. Still they Underwent to etarnination, and were admited members. Ale. e acurte said that sufficient time had tint been allowed for the apothecaries to consider of the resolufiuns. He proposed an ad,journment t and that in the meanulne the resolutions should be pr.nted and circulated. Al r. WHAT EL E r thought the object woUit, be afteined if the per son who read the resolutions would explain them. Mr. Sin I.LITU said it was his opium that the ••ystcrr. of educa tion w,ts a mischief to society. Mr. bASIIIERT-4 say it iv a mischief to society. (Great disac. pr übation. and cries of •• Prove it.") Mr. Sit I'LLITO was pursuing his line of argument, tten the Chairman interfered. The question for the adjournment was then put arid negatived. A GENTt.E3I.IN then proposed that a Ci.mmittee should lie appointed to wait on the Committee or the Surgeons, fn order that the appointment of persons to practise might W regulated, and that they stionld make s repot to a future meeting. This question wait put and carried unanimously ; but +lin h von proposed and agreed to, that the Committee should not tit:.:t the meeting of the College of Surgeons h a d b een h e ld ; an d i t was suppised that the intimation they would receive of the sense or A poillecariete Company would have the same effect as the consulta tion between the Committees. „.... ....... Thanks were then voted n the Chairman, for his conduct :a the chair, and the meeting ati;ourned. LITERPOOL COMMERCIAL INTELLIGE.XCE. SATt.'HD•Y, FEEL 23. Our Sugar Market continual in the same dull state, only 400 hhds. B.P. Sugar have been sold at fall Is. lower, end in some In stances Is. 6d. lower. The East India the grocers have taken. 200 bags of tine white Bengals at 768. Not any inquiry for foreiga Sugar, and tor Molasses not any demand whatever. The trifling sales in coffee are at a reduction of 21. ss. In Pimento, Cocoa or Ginger, not ifiy demand. In Rice only 144 casks Of Lir neer Ca rolina, a little discoloured, at 17s. fld. a 195., being about Ts. to , Is. 6d. lower. Rum remains steady in demand ; as this article is now sold by the imperil nieasere, the quotions are made accord. , • ingly. Ashes are lower. 120 bartcls new Montreal Pot sold at 28s; and ten at 275. 100 barrels of Montreal Pearl at Rik. sd. In States Ashes nothing done. Quercitron Bark, I otligo, and Cochin ea! are quite neglected. In Dyewoods, 16 tons inferior Jamalea off the quay, sold at 51. 174. 5t1., and a small parcel of Honduras Logwood also off the Quay, at 13/. 10s. Seventy tons good solid Nicaragua Wood sold at 211., and a few tons of Camwood at 241. In Olive • Oil the only sale is three tons of Oalipoli at 411. 10s. In Sal , - ' petre, a fair inquiry, and 770 bags sold at 245. 61. a 275. Sumach sells but in small lots, and only amounts to 100 bags, Sicily, at ns, s las. A parcel of Turpentine offered by auction has beret sold, but price not named, A small lot of new Dutch Flag Seed for sowing bas been sold at 665.; and 268 quarters of Canada fur crushing at :Zs. 61 imperial measure. Nothing done in Oak or Cork Tree Bark. In cotton the prices have again declined about id. on last week's prices. Public sales held yesterday, and part . of which were sold. 1962 bags Upland offered 871 Orleans . 60 . Ceara . 120 - Egyptian 22 - St. Andreas . 1126 sold at trid. a 70. - 486 . 6d. a 01.1. . 6U . 90. - 120 . - id, aal 32 - 31 d. 305 18:24 3014 : besides which the private sales have been srglo bags Uplands a 6J. a 7iJ., 100 New Orleans at B.ld. a :lid., 1.10 Alabama 60. 7i(1., 300 Sea Islands at Is. 6 4d. a 2a. 4d., 750 Pernambucoes 94d. a 190..950 Maranhams at 9d. a 9Ad., .250 Bahia at 9d. a 139 Para et 81(1., 70 Minas Novas at I;icl., 80 Demerara at 9d. 4 10d., IGO Egyptian at Bd. a ltd., '2OO lAguirss at 74d., and 230 Sumo% at f,d. a 6kl. making a Will of 10,800 bags ; or which about 2000 bags new 1 pliinds have been taken on speculation, and 2C41 Sea Island ; 300 Upland and 300 Pernams for spedulatiun. Sugar Ditto Ditto Mulassea - Rum Ritto. Coffee Ditto Ditto IMPORTED INTO I.IVEILPOOL. 748 hhds. Ashes 37, tierces I Flaxseed 168 barrels. Turpentine 702 casks. Hides 2111 puns. .58 hhds. 14 tierces. :9 barrels. 42 bags. 893 hags. 1111 bags. 1 tierce. 19t n. 9 Berson'. - casks - 425 casks 1:01) brls. - 1644 ----.• Cotton : Demerara and Ber- W 14 bice . est Indies . 12 bald Egyptian - 886 ..,, Brazil - 1545 American - nou t Cocoa Pimento - Ditto Logwood Indigo 11,336 THE MEDIC•L Aar.—Dr. Prus of Paris has just pub. lisind a new doctrine of medicine, in which be maintains that the study of the healthy man can never lead to the knowledge of the diseased man ; that the state of health and the state of disease offer distinct phenomena ; that the symptoms, sear, suns, and proper treatment of morbid af fections are not disclosed by physiology ; and therefore that physiology can never be the tbundatlon of medicine, lie subsequently examines the real utility- of physiology ; , points ont the inevitable evils which it has caused since its forced introduction into pathology, and places physiological doctrine by the side of those physical, mechanical, and ~chemical doctrines,. the fetal intithence of which is nearly universal. 'the art of healing, according to Dr. Prus, is founded solely on the examination and appreciation of the phenomena whlth attend a sick person ; and he traces them up to their primitive causes, that is, to th e c h anges whialt , the vital properties sustain. Those properties he states to be four. viz., sensibility, contractibility, expansibility, and vital aftlnity.—[,Mary Gazelle. • Tue J we's-1-1A it r.—A German herdsman and labourer of the name of Pulenstein, is at present astonishing alf Paris by his performances on the Jew's-harp. /3y dint of great application and practice, he has converted this harsh, meagre, and vulgar inatrument into one of the most elegant, harnioniotia, and &Ail* chankter. Availing himself of sixteen different hartivitoftich he intuitive with such dex terity that the time of lite'fiiNlC,Vtielr he plays is never suspetlilLA ,fer a inomank by the trtiNlNk . .frost one to another, he tuns wfth'eastrover fedi °MVP'S and execut es • with gnat grac e an d expr , As i an t h e most dillicult Italian. French, and German pieces.—Litrrury