The Sun. — London, England, 1833-11-04 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS The Corporation Inquiry proceeds with great activity and popular effect. The proceedings of the Commissioners, as reported in the Country Papers, from which we make some extracts, dis close the same defective constitution and abused administration of the municipal powers and revenues of the English and Welch Corpora tions, so glaringly exposed in the investigations already matte public. In Hull, it will be seen by our extracts from the Hull Advertiser of last week, that a numerous and highly-respectable public meeting has been held to appoint a Local Committee of Management, " to collect and arrange evidence to lay before the Commis sioners at their expected visit. " The following resolutions were passed : " 1. That a long experience of the practical operation of self-elected bodies upon the interests of this borough, has convinced the inhabitants that they ought no longer to be suffered to exist. " 2. That in the intended Reform of Municipal Cor porations, this Meeting is of opinion that the following principles ought to be observed :—First, That the govern ing bodies should be elected freely and fairly by all the 'habitants of the towns or districts over which they are to preside ; Second, That in order to preserve a due con trol by the people over the conduct of the governing bodies, it is also necessary that they should be chosen only for short periods of time ; Third, That provision should be made for periodically publishing the accounts of the collection and expenditure of all funds intrusted to their administration. " 3. That a Committee of Management be appointed to prepare evidence relative to the government of this town, and the administration of its revenues, for the purpose of laying the same before the Commissioners appointed by the Crown for investig tting the state of the Municipal Corporations of Kingston-upon-Hull. " 4. That a subscription be entered into to defray the expenses attendant on the inquiries to be made by the Committee." We refer our readers to the report of the Hull meeting in another column, and to the able speech of Mr. M. D. Hill, who forcibly exposes the evils of our existing Corporate system. This public interest in the Corporation Commission is not confined to the Liberal party of the different borough towns. When the Tories are not in possession of the municipal garrisons they are as active and assistant in promoting the' inquiries and objects of the Commission as the Reformers of the Corporate towns where Tory municipal influence is predominant. Thus in Nottingham, where the Whig party ousted the Tory influence in the Nottingham Corporation, the Conservatives at a meeting of the Com mittee of the Constitutional Club" resolved to procure information to assist the Commissioners, Mr. Whitcombe and Mr. Cockburn, and pub lished an advertisement of the heads of inquiry issued by the Commissioners with the following invitation to their fellow-townsmen : " The Committee request all persons who can give in formation on any of the above subjects, or any other matters or things necessary to be investigated, relating to the Town and Corporation of Nottingham, to attend the Committee, who will meet every evening (Sunday ex cepted) from seven o'clock to nine, at the May-pole Inn, Lone Row. " ALEX. MANSON, Chairman." The Nottingham Conservatives, though so near to their Leicester brethren, can therefore duly appreciate the importance and value of an elec tive municipal system, where they do not possess the close power generally monopolised by the Tories of other boroughs. We make no illi beral comments on this common interest of all political parties in corporate reform ; it is credit able equally to the Conservatives of Nottingham as to the Reformers of Leicester; but it illus trates the party spirit of the Tories of other places, who, when possessed of dominant mu nicipal authority, reviled the Commission, and denounced the Ministry from which it emanated. These facts and published reports demonsttate that our corrupt and self elective municipal system is the fruitful source of local discord ; that the people are in constant opposition to the corporate authorities; and that the latter are therefore deprived of the power of administer ing efficient justice, or of securing the other original objects of their vested authority. The governing and the governed classes of the local communities are consequently disunited in in terest and feeling, and dissensionsand animosities prevail where municipal order and peace ought to exist. Our ancient civic institutions once possessed a strong hold on the affections of. the people, and by the popular principle of the early charters of incorporations the burgesses of the old English towns were united as a Highland clan. The operation of time, and successive inroads on the elective constitution of the cor porations, for artful political and personal pur poses, have thus injuriously changed these institutions and substituted abuse for utility ; and as Mr. Macaulay, in his review of Lord Nu gent's Hampden, well observes, " The Companies seem now to exist only to the delectation of epicures and antiquaries. Ihe corporations for nearly two centuries past have been perverted by political and personal local factions ; their close constitutions provided the machinery of this perversion. The Birmingham Journal makes the following sensible remarks on the termination of the inquiry into the Midland Corporations of Coventry and Warwick : " The Corporation Commission has this week com pleted its inquiry into the state of the Corporations of Coventry and Warwick. The result of the investigation of the municipal government of these towns must mate rially add to the accumulated evidence in favour of Cot pn rate Return. Some of our contemporaries appear to pride themselves considerably on the assumed tact that no mal-admini-tration of the publ.c trust funds has been proved against the Corporitors personally. This is a very narrow and testricted view of the municipal question. The administration of tie revenues of the Corporations and the inquiry into their respective management, are sec,,ndary objects. The constitution of the boroueh governoents is the more important and popular subject. The dishonest appropriation of the income of the Corpo• tions, and a corrupt use of municipal power in the promo tints of private interests and party politics, are unques tionably useful departments of the Commission, especially as they may illustrate the necessity and principles of municipal reformation. But the exposure and public upon of the close and eelf.elective constitution of the Corporations are the primary and more valu ,ble objects of the Commission. By the reports of the inquiries completed, published in the country papers, the public property of the English and Welch Corporations appears to have been much overrated. The administration of it is of minor importance compared with the general muni cipal authority vested in the Cerporators. They possess a c i v il and criminal jurisdiction. Liberty and property, anal sometimes life itself, are subject to their municipal powei, The police of the corporate towns, particularly, is i n afi e ient for good purposes, and is detested by the people. If the administration of justice is suspected, or even unjustly aspersed, the greatest evils inevitably result; and such must always be the consequence of anti.popular institutions. Publicity is an es ential in any perfect system of municipal government ; where it does not taint, abuse of public trust is the certain consequence she corporator% of Coventry and Warwick are self elected. They are not th e popular choice of the citizens and burgesses. The time is at length arrived wh. n the peop le will no longer sutimit to the government of the self-elect. The corporate sybtel3 was the pillar of the nomination boroughs, and the former cannot survive the la t t e . r b . t a nT ane d a i sdceglousuartees measure a t i l m th u e n Co icip m a - i fall of the mission must ; reform. The Scotch burghs are already throw n open to the English, Welch, an d I r i sh the electoral constituency ; corporations must submit to the same sylioleeoine improve ment. We consider this product of the Relorm of th e representation a most invaluable benefit to the popular cause. The habit of election will enlighten and politically t ducats the town communities. The periodical change of municipal officers will naturally tend to induce the ' Pro perty Ranks' to respect and cultivate public opinion. It will, therefore, create a rapid formation of public charac ter ; and henceforward personal reputatirn, superior t lents, and popular opinions, will alone command muni cipal office and authority. The unincorporated towns will participate in this great national measure of Reform. When the ' Pariiamentary Boroughs Bill' is cleansed of its impurities—of Aldermen for life, and some of its com• plicsted and unnecessary machinery—when a popular Local Courts Jurisdiction is substituted for a Crown Recorder and iii4 — ;;Fenarve sub-officers. the people will acquire great and important municipal advantages." Another local country paper, the Warwick Advertiser, exposes the principle which long determined the self-elections of a borough ( Warwick), whose political contests have ex cited much public attention : " On Wednesday last Mr. Whitcombe, the Commis sioner, renewed the investigation of our corporate con cerns, and completed his labours in this borough soon after four o'clock on that day. The present Miyor (T. Collins, Esq.) underwent a long examination. The worthy Chief Magi,trate gave his evidence in a free, clear, and straixht forward manner. The object of the Learned Commis.. sioner was to ascertain, from the testimony of Mr. Col Hos (the father of the corporation, of which he has been a member for 28 years), whether, and to what extent, any partiality had been exercised in the election of Aldermen ; and, more especially, whether such partiality had been influenced by pol tical feeling ? The evidence of the Mayor most assuredly proved—and the various lists of Corporation appointments produced by the town clerk, and read in court, very amply and satisfactorily confirmed his evidence —that the corporate body has, for many years past, poa. sensed a very large majority of members, who have been and are the known and avowed political supporters of the Orange' or Castle' interest. This fact, connected with that of the Earl of Warwick being the Recorder of the borough, and the existing mode of electing Aldermen by a majority of their own body, must be quite sufficient to convince all men (whether they choos- to acknowledge their conviction or not) that, at least since the right of returning Members to Parliament for the borough, through the influence of the Peer and his political partisans, has been disputed and strenuously contested, the appointment of corporate officers has been notoriously influenced by po litical feeling. We know it has been stated in evidence, by Mr. G. Greenway, the treasurer of the corporation, that, in cases of elections for the borough, the corporation have never acted, as a body, in favour of a particular candidate. We do not mean to dispute that fact ; nor is it our object, in the slightest degree, to comment upon Mr. Greenway's evidence (interspersed as it was, here and there, with matter totally unconnected with the intention of his Majesty's Commission) ; but we would ask any rea sonable man whether, supposing the Corporation did not act as a body,' the secret individual operations of the known large majority would not, necessarily, effect great influence, especially in a scot and lot borough. If so— and we defy the worthy treasurer to disprove it—then, as to the great evil, there is not a particle of difference, whether the Corporation acted 'as a body' or not—the effect being precisely the same. With respect to the in fluence of power, surely the most stubborn minds must allow that a large majority is equal to the whole. We are sure Mr. G. Greenway is too shrewd a lawyer not to see, and too candid a man not to confess, that this argument, simple as it is, is unanswerable. However, the question is, after all, what view the Municipal Commissioners awl the Parliament will take of this the prominent feature of our existing Girporation. The report of the former, and the decision of the latter, will hereafter prove whether we are right or wrong in our judgment. At all events, we are at liberty to express and record our opinions upon the sub ject. " We have reason to believe we speak the sentiments of all the reflecting portion of our fellow•townsmen, when we declare our opinion, that one of the most wise and popular acts of the present Government has been the ap pointment of the Municipal Commission. It will be the means of bringing before the eyes of Parliament, and ex posing before the country, the immense mass of corruption by which, for the last century, the minds of men have been distorted, and public property converted to evil pur pose',; and this important investigation will doubtless lead the way to such enlightened improvements as may best se cure the national rights of all classes of the British people. We have no hesi•ation in saying, therefore, every honest and honourable man (whatever may be his general political principles), must applaud the appointment of the Muni. cipal Commission." The result of all these local commentaries on the Commission proves that our municipal or ganization is grossly imperfect and anti-popular —that the ruling bodies must cease to perpe tuate themselves by self election, and that the people in all parts of the country are anxious for popular institutions, and regard the question of Corporate Reform as the prominent subject of remedial legislation in the next Session of Parliament.—lllorning Chronicle. The lawless tyranny exercised by the Trades' Union over the free agency of journeymen, the property of masters, the supply of necessaries to the public, and the maintenance of British com merce in comparison and rivalship with that of other nations, has become an alarming evil. Why is the law upon this subject a dead letter? Pe nalties are by law annexed to the wicked prac tice of intimidating peaceable and industrious journeymen from working for wages which, in their own judgment, would fairly remunerate them for their time and labour. How is it, then, that we hear of a single emissary being despatched by a committee of cunning and selfish tyrants to the body of workmen, however numerous, in ally given manufactory, commanding them, one and all, to leave off work, and being in half an hour implicitly obeyed by the oldest, steadiest, and most resolute workmen, precion,ly the most willing to sell their labour for the market price, and the least disposed to embarrass or disoblige their employers? Nor is the palliation of such a criminal exercise of despotism to be found in any sudden and wanton reduction of wages, or in any known distress of the journeymen and their families. The moment of combi nation for a more successful exaction from the masters is always that at which the conse quences of a strike would be most ruinous to the latter ; it is also that at which, from an increased demand for goods, a regular and proportionate rise of wages would follow naturally without any combination whatsoever. The purpose, there fore, of the "strike" is to wring from the em ployer more than he can afford to pay, and sooner; nor should we make the eventual folly of such an attempt, on the part of those who willingly subscribe to it, a subject of complaint that no auliority of the magistrate is interposed between them and their own foolishness, if that foolishness were not transfortned into crime by the force which they employ against their more judicious, well-principled, and contented neigh bours. But, again we ask, why is not the law brought into action against these tyrants of the loom and spindle ? Where will the evil inflicted on the action of an industrious community end, if successive bands of overbearing ruffians be permitted to visit with starvation the wives and children of men far better than themselves, by compelling them, under fear of bodily violence, to join in a desertion of their master's work, until they extort from him a rate of wages which he cannot afford out of his existing profits, and which the very resort to outrage for such a purpose shows to be more than the well-disposed jour neyman and his family require ? These enemies of free labour are base hypocrites, when they pretend to be friends of any other form or denomi nation of freedom. But they had better be ware. There are two consequences to which their criminal proceedings directly tend—one legal, the other natural, but both to the confe derated journeymen and their tyrants a reason able subject of alarm ; for, first, if the pteoent laws against such iniquitous practices, ingrafted I on that of combination, be found insufficient to repress them, new laws, the parties may assure th emselves, will be framed, at once rendering the proof of guilt more easy, and greatly aggra vating the punishment. Should this not suc ceed, another and the final remedy yet remains. The master manufacturer, no longer able, under the daring rapacity of his own servants, to carry on at a profit the business which had hitherto yielded him and them support, will withdraw his capital alto g ether from an unproductive trade, or from the country where he could find neither subsistence nor protection, and thus the over cunning but short sighted operatives, catch ing at the shadow, will let the substance drop from their mouths—they will force their em ployers to shut up their manufactories, and will themselves be thrown upon the parish. One thing has astonished us in these conspiracies of journeymen—it is, that the superior clasc of workmen should ever, but from being subjected to extreme coercion, be mad enough to join in them. It is stated in the letter of " A Mer chant," which was inserted in Saturday's Times, that one object of the conspiracy is " to fix one uniform rate of wages both for the dexterous and unskilful, and force the employment of their members without regard to character, and thus destroy all emulation to excel either in adroitness or in moral qualities !" There is a set of wiseacres for you ! and good workmen are to he found, as is apparent, who commit this suicide for the sake of had ones. Suppose a combindtion of master-manufacturers were to resolve that they too would " fix a uniform rate of wages," but that the lowest level of wages now paid to the feeblest or the idlest children should be the maximum for adults, the best proficients in their work, would it not be quite as equitable and honest as that in question, which the " Merchant" ascribes to the opera- tives ? Suppose, again, that all the master hosiers were to resolve that they would "fix a uniform price" on all their goods, and charge the public for the coarsest cotton stockings as much as for the finest silk, wculd it not be equally rational ? If these comlinations pro ceed, they will inevitably destroy the manufac tures of England, and then who will suffer most—the masters, who may have some capital to exist upon, or the journeymen, who have nothing but their wages? We extract upon this subject of " Trades' Unions" and " combi nations two paragraphs from a little work entitled " History of the Middle and Working Classes," which contains much useful sense : " COMBINATIONS OF WOREMEN....-COmbinatiODS among workmen, inten ted solely to keep up the rate of wages, are of precisely the same nature as combinations among masters to keep up the rate of profits. They are both confederacies against the public, liable to the same objec tions as monopolies, in which the interest of individuals is sought to be supported at the expense of the interests of the community. One is an interference with the freedom of industry, the other with the free employment of capital. Competition is in both cases restrained ; in one the supply of labour, and in the other the supply of capital, is kept less than it would he in a state of freedom."—History of Me Middle and Working Classes, second edition. TRADES ' UNIONS.-Associations of workmen for the support of high wages are constantly liable to he per verted from their legitimate objects, either into arbitrary tribunals ex-reising an oppressive power over workmen not members of them, or into hurtful interferences with rite freedom of employers. They are an attempt to establish a monopoly in the male of labour, as hurtful as monopolies in the sale of commodities. The unrestricted operation of supply ant demand mostly fixes the • quitable price of labour as of merchandise. Under the action of this principle the respective shares of master and work. man in the price of commodities will ordinarily be fairly apportioned. If, by the improvements in machinery, or other cause, the profits of the master are augmented, the wages of the workmen will undergo imorovetnent ; because the increase of profit, by attracting capital to that channel of employment, must increase the demand for labour, which will necessarily enhance wages. On the otter hand, should profits be depressed, wages would be de pressed also, and this depression in the rate of profit would tend to prevent any addition to the quantity capital already proved sufficient, and thereby to any in crea-e of employment."— History of the Middle and Working Classes, second edition.— Times. We learn from the Salisbury Journal, that Mr. Poulet Scrape has addressed a letter to the agriculturists of the west of England, in which he traces the present state of agriculture to the great and increasing importations of corn and cattle from Ireland, a country where the taxes are less than in England, where the banking system is free, with a currency of 11. notes, and, above all, where there are no Poor Laws Mr. Scrope's views appear at once so forcible and just, that we fed no hesitation in transferring the following specimen of them to our columns : " The main cause," says he, " of the low price at which Irish produce can be grown, and sold iii our markets, is the absence of a poor law l a Ireland. In England the poor laws have kept. up the standard of living among our agricultural labourers in spite of their redundant numbers, and have prevented wages from falling belo w an average of ls. 6d. per day. In Ireland wages are from 4d. to 10d. per day, because there is no poor law I How can an English fanner, paying eighteen pence a day to his labourer., compete in the market with the Irish farmer, who pays an average of seven pence a (lay to his labourers? In England a farmer is forced by law to pay from three to ten shillings an acre poor -rate, while the Irish farmer pays no rate at all 1 Is it wonderful, then, that the latter can beat the former out of his own markets ? But this is not all. To make the difference still more galling and unjust, a very large proportion of our heavy poor rates is paid to maintain in idleness the surplus labourers of our parishes, who are deprived of the emplo)ment they would otherwise obtain in London, and all the large towns of the kingdom, by the hordes of starving Irish that are driven over here from the want ola poor law in their own country. indirectly we thus pay for the support of the Irish poor as well as our own ; while the Irish landowner, paying no tax of the kind at all, and hiring his half famished labourers fur one-third of the wages the law compels us to give, sends over to our markets his corn and cattle, his butter and bacon, raised at less than half the cost of our produce, which has to meet it there, and pockets the dif ference in the shape of an exorbitant rent. It is the landlord of Leland, not the farmer, who profits by this unfair and unjust state of the law. The farmers of Ireland are mere slaves, woise off tha n t h e ser f s o f R uss i a . Th e I r i s h farmer is a poor creature, who occupies a wretched turf cabin, and from two to twenty acres of land ; is clothed in rags, lives only on potatoes and buttermilk, an d never tastes f rom year ' s en d to year's end a mouthful of the corn he raises, the butter he makes, or the bacon of the hogs that are his messmates by day and his bedfellows by night, but sends every ounce of these things to Eng land for the money with which to pay his rent. It is the absence of any law compelling the landowners to keep their peasantry from star ving which enables them to exact from the latter every atom of the produce of their labour upon the soil, except the dry potatoes on which they support a miserable existence.' These are truths well worthy the , consideration of every man; and must, we should think, force themselves upon the active notice of Pat liatnent during the next session. To us it has always appeared to be an anomaly beyond the possible reach of any reasonable solution, that two coun tries like England and Ireland should be united in name, while the people live under laws of a totally different character and operation ; and that difference conferring, as in the particulars here referred to, no earthly benefit upon the bulk of the people of either, but merely enabling the Irish absentee landlord to obtain an unjust and enormous rental. Impressed as we are with a sense of the wrongs and misgovernment of Ireland on her own account, we see and feel them still more sensibly when thus brought home, as they are, to England. We agree en tirely in the strong and unanswerable point of view in which Mr. Scrape's letter places the subject, and we think the people of both coun tries are greatly indebted to him for placing be fore them truths of such importance in so concise and irresistible a form.— iliorning Herald. The proceedings at the annual meeiing of the Buckinghamshire Agricultural Association, a report of which will be fo•ind in another part of our paper, will he read with equal interest and satisfaction by all who are capable of appreci ating the magnitude and vital importance of that national interest whose maintenance and pros perity are the declared objects and the natural effect of such institutions. The landed interest, including under those general terms the immense classes of landlords, farmers, and agricultural . _ labourers, together with the very numerous body of dealers and artiz ins whose trade and employ ment are immediately dependant upon the owners and cultivators of the soil, _ may less properly be considered as the most valuable and important division of society than as the solid groundwork and foundation upon which the whole fabric of society is built, as the massive basis by which, in every stage and compartment of its varied and magnificent superstructure, the social edifice is supported. It would seem almost incredible, if the time did not give it proof, that an interest so powerful and so important as that ofagriculture, an interest with the welfare of which that of every other interest in the comtnuniiy is inseparably interwoven, should not only have lost the degree of authority and influence in the conduct of public affairs, and in the economical arrangements of society, to which its magnitude and value give it an unquestionable claim, but should be threatened even with so complete a deprivation of political power as would leave it exposed to the assaults of daring and reckless theorists, without the means of making any efficient effort for its own preserva• tion. That this is an accurate description o the actual situation of the landed interest is fell and acknowledged by its warmest friends, while the same appalling truth is attested still more clearly by the activity, energy, and confidence of its systematic assailants. Why is a state of things at once so unnatural and dangerous per mitted to exist ? This question seems to admit of only one reply. The landed interest is not sufficiently alive to the danger which impends over it. It relies with overweening confidence on the natural strength of its position. Con scious that it has no interest distinct from the interests of society at large, it resigns to society at large the duty of protecting it. This is a pe rilous mistake, and if not promptly and effec tually corrected will produce the most fatal consequences. The owners and occupiers of land are too apt to forget the increase of strength which their opponents derive from artificial combination, and the impression which they labour not unsuccessfully to create upon the imagination and convictions of large classes of the community by dint of mere clamour and noise. Do we recommend the agricultural classes to resort to the same questionable expe dients for their own protection that are employed so diligently and unscrupulously against them? Far from it. We cad upon then to imitate the conduct of the landlords and farmers of the county of Buckingham, and to imitate no part of their conduct more closely than that in which it presents the most striking contrast to the clubs and unions, which, having been fostered and petted by feeble and selfish Ministers, have be come so powerful that they think they may securely defy the law, and so arrogant that they deem themselves qualified and entitled to domi neer over society. 'The associations which the lanled interest ought to form are such as would cement togs tiler the various classes of which it is composed, by the firm amid indissoluble ties of reciprocal benevolence and of a common patriotism. These would not be dangerous or factious unions, for the objects which it would be their business and duty to pursue are such as tend directly to the welfare of society at large ; such as can be accomplished by no other means than the combined efF. , rts of men engaged in agricul ture ; such as imply no disobedience to the laws, no di-respect to any of the constilited authorities of the State, no collision or conflict with any other division of society in any case, but that of an attempt to sacrifice the interest of British to that of foreign agriculture. While hese associations endeavour to elevate the el:1r Icier and improve the condition of the agri cultural !about ers in the several districts whrre they are established—while, by affording facilities for the free and frequent communication of discoveries and improvements, eney assist the progressive ad: ante tient of agricultural science, and impart in effect to the soil of Great Britain an increase of productive power—their establishment must be hailed by men of all opi nions as a great national benefit. How different the fine which must attend upon success in enterprises lik these to the noise arid clamour excited by institutions which seek, by the loud expression of opinion itierely, to overrule or overawe the Legislature, and thus to produce in their owl) favour a new distribution of the national income or the national burdens. The more we hear of agricultural associations, in reference to these their primary and i , tanediate objects, the greater must of necessity become om the social influence and political power of the agricultural body, the more remote is the period at which it may b e requ i re d to embark, in a direct struggle for its o w n defence and protection , against any assailants, and the more vigorous and effective will be its efforts whenever that season of resistance shall arrive. We sincerely hope, that there will soon be no agricultural dis trict in Great Britain, without the yei(. Norbe s onetdo sense w ste in o s f' e th p e e s wr e chelievie any difficulties in the way of their u n i versa l ddfusin w , d ex cellent institutions, which may truly be denomi iansailryy surmount. resolution that denomi nated conservati ve, u which ordinary e term can be e an T d heonly perse verance thing that is really required to secure the speedy lnot accomplishment of our desire is, that the natural leaders of the agricultural classes should duly appreciate the vast increase of social importance, authority, and value which they, and the great body at the head of which they Have the honour to stand, could not fail to derive from the mere practice of habitual and systematic co-operation, directed to useful an .l benevolent ends. It may be true, as a'► Evening Contemporary remarks, that every county in England does not possess a Nobleman so distinguished as the Marquis of Chandos for all the talents and the virtues hat can contribute to the success of any salutary and popular undertaking. But we should be sorry indeed to think that there is any county or even any important district in Great Britain without a body of landed gentry, capable of combining their own exertions, and of stimu lating and guiding the exertions of their humbler neighbours, in pursuit of objects of vital im portance to themselves—to all who surround them—to the country at large.—Morning Post. That reform of the East India Comp•tny's char ter by which the trade with China was thrown open is, we believe, regarded by the public as one of the most important labours of the last session, and it is satisfactory to observe that the pros pect of the advantages to be derived from this great measure of our much-reviled Parlia- ment becomes more certain and extensive as the period of its operation approacties. Its benefi cial influence will not be confined to the trade of this country and that of our Indian posses sions with the Celestial Empire ; new channels of commerce, through which the fruitg of British industry may find a profitable vent, will speedily be opened in distant regions. The western coast of Sou' h America affords great facilities fur traffic with China, hut all specnla- Lion in that trade, on the part of the enterpri-ing English merchants, who have formed commercial establishments in Chili and Peru, has hitherto been impeded by the monopoly of the East I India Company. British vessels which carried out cargoes to South America could not be freighted for Canton ; and any merchant who might wish to engage in that branch of com merce found himself under the neces , il of empl( ying the flag of the United States. Hence, the whole of the carrying part of this profitable trade has been engrossed by North American shipping. The following extract of a letter just received from Chiii contains a brief repetition of the complaint often made on this subject. It was written before the steps taken by Ministers and the reformed Parliament for abolishing the mischievous monopoly could be known in that part of the world : " VALPARAISO DE CHILI, JUNK 22, 1833. " We poor devils in Chili, whose only fault is that we are English, csnnot trade to China, consequently master Yankee carries on all that nice little business. When will your sabios see clearly? The French are now starting, and a friend of mine, M. -, has just left, on a second trip to China, in the Adhemar, having freighted before a Yankee, and made a good 20,000 dollars on the adven. ture. I hope your present Ministry will, in their libe rality, throw open to Jona Bull this pretty trade. It would much enliven us here." While on this subject we may take the oppor tunity of inserting an account of the Dutch trade with China, taken from the Staats Courant, the official paper of the Cabinet of the Hague That paper of the SOtli ultimo announces the receipt of intelligence from Java to the 16th of May, and after extracting from the journals some official documents published by the Gover nor-General, relative to the coercive measures adopted by England and France against Hol land, adds— " The same Javanese Courants contain an interesting review of the trade carried on with Canton under the Netherlands flag during the year 1832. It appears that in the course of that year three ships (the Batavier, Jean.. nette, Philippine and Anthony) imported into Canton. direct from Holland, merchandise to the value of 50,419 Spanish dollars,—namely, 48,640 in palemeits, and the rest in cottons and Geneva. The same ships returned with tea to the value of 503,000 dollars, and other articles, such as ginger, ca'sia, rattans, and japan ware, worth 5,615 dollars. Ten ships which sailed from Java under the Netherlands flag conveyed cargoes to Canton worth 457,128 dol., con..isting of rice equivalent to 224,250 tin to 40,975 dol., birds' nests to 36,000 dol., Ike. Seven of those ships have returned from Canton to Java with cargoes valued at 148,000 dol., 01 which 22,800 dol. are for silk stuffs, 13,000 dol. for Chinese linen, 30,000 dol. for amfion, 40,000 dol. for ;taper, ivory, japan ware, Sac. With respect to the trade with China in general, one of the Javanese Courants makes the following statement : " An account of the opium trade to Lintin (at the entrance of the river of Canton) shows that, notwithstand ing the prohibitory laws cf the Celestial Empire, there had been introduced during the year 1832 no less than 21,0624 chests, estimated to be worth 13,917 426 dol. " Several efforts have been made by the English to establish commercial relations with the northern ports of China. The Chinese Gavernmeot has, on that account, despatched strict orders to the Governors of the maritime provinces to frurrate these attempts. But the importation of opium into Lintin sufficiently asp! iins the manner in which such orders are likely to be executed by the Chinese authorities."— Times. On 'Wednesday last, the Buckinghamshire A 4 ricultural Association held their annual meeting, the Marquis of Chandos in the Chair. Ihe great topic at , his meeting was agricultural distress; and the very first resolution proposed was, that " the present system of the corn laws ought not to be altered." Some other resolu ti uis were proposed, to which no great import ance could be attached, by the members of the association theinselves—such as proposing re wards to the labourers who brought up the greatest number of children without receiving support from the parish. We tear mat ers are too far gone for ent-rtaining much hope from such a proceeding. The country gentlemen seem now fully alive to the danger with which they are tilt eatened by dissatisfied labourers ; and the anxiety of the Marquis of Chandos and the other Buckinghamshire laud owner:, " so to plait it ttiat the poor man shall have an induce ment to keep himself independent of the parish —.hat he should have a proper stirnttios set before him, which should urge him on to maintain himself and his family without parochial aid," is so far consolatory, that we need no longer fear opposition from them to any plan for im proving the administration of the poor laws. The agriculturists are determined on two things—to oppo-e any alteration of the Corn Laws ; and to effect a repeal of the Malt Tax. With respect to the former subject the Marquis says, " Wriar ever may be the assurance to the contrary, and however you may be lulled into a false security from believing that the question of the repeal of the Corn Laws was set at rest last session, yet it is my duty to tell you, that I know most cer tainly, whatever may be the views and intentions of the Government, that the question of the re peal will be brought forward at the next session, and supported by all the strength of its advo cates. There is a spirit abroad in the manufac turing districts which will find its vent in their Representatives in Parliament, and if you would successfully resist their powerful efforts, you must be awake and stirring." The Marquis, after alluding to the resistance of the Assessed Taxes, observes, " I tell you that these taxes will be conceded by the Government, and they will yield to the disloyal efforts of men, whom they should have compelled, in the first instance, into proper and loyal behaviour." The Noble Marquis is, however, determined to try whether the 'Squires may not beat the inhabitants Of towns, and pocket the malt tax. " I urge a s men who have th e i r a ll t o look forward and a d voca t e y o ur own to, to t (he o co s i anyes) interest, and not allow clamour to overawe for ally, or let disaffection govern the land. If Y ° ` l persevere and send in petitions, stating yo ur distress, the repeal of the malt tax must ensue as sure as there is a sun in the Heavens." The Noble Marquis says there is land which o w fetches seven shillings an acre, which, a few year s ago, produced 355. But will his Lordship bet this state of things by a system which crampstir industry of the country ? And will the Nob at Marquis point out to the Government in voa manner it can meet the expenditure of the can' try without the malt tax ?-Morning Chronicle. COUNTRY CORN MARKETS DURING LAST WEEK. Beat.. Wheat. Barley. Oats. Per Quarter. s. to s. s. to s. s. to 5.3 28 19 -- 40 Hexham 149 52 25 29 19 22 „„ -- 31 Morpeth 40 50 25 28 17 22 ." 59 Penrith 50 29 19 41 Sheffield , 52 35 2 1 4 4 Winchester 40 55 26 30 22 24 Per Bushel. ! s.d. s.d. 5..1. s. d. s. d. 9.d. u 0 0 i 6 0 66 26 2 9 1 4 18 0 6 0 Cowbridge ---.' 6 6 70 29 4 0 2 6 3e 54 1, 5 3 Newcastle (Sta ff .) 8 0 89 4 6 50 3 0 345 a 6 0 Northallerton o.•••••• 70 93 36 46 33 40 " 6 7 ,8 0 86 40 48 30 3 4 6 0 0 6 Swansea '6 8 70 36 40 20 2 4 ( 2 2 60 Warwick ... ' 9O 11 0 30 46 20 33 a Per Boll.. " I 8 0: Barnardcastle ...... 12 0 16 6 8 0 8 6 5 0 60 In 1 0 0 Durham.. lO 6 13 6 70 83 49 66 9 9 0 Richmond .......... 11 11 16 6 8 6 901 5 0 6 4 ( 2 9 0 Stockton 11 0 12 6 9 6 in 0 5 0 5 4 WAKEFIEI.D MARKEL—Nov. • 6 51. Wheat, Fled, Noricik and Sunlk -8. 454. to 5.1, fin:sls. ---- Lin. and Cam. —s. 454. to 52 4 fi n ` as. Yorkshire Whit • —. Foreign, Red White Barley, \Tortola and Suffolk " 504 . t t tt o o oo fi ti nn . i n n n l 6l :s... 42 : 124. to 353. fin' .340. --- Lincolnshire 10.4. to ffis flo e 'go -- Yorkshire Wold fin e Foreign Beans, Old New 354 to 395. fin e 09 Oats, Potato ) 9s. to 224 'fin e 0. Poland —a. 18s. to 2ls fine g ig, Friezland and Small —s. 17s to 20s. to Mealing 'shelling 23s. to 26a. Od, per i oil, od. Malt 1.55. 39s fine 425, pet t Rapeseed SCOTCH MARKETS. "'"..,, * Wheat. Barley Jab. tsearn. 14‹ 1/ —...--- 1 — 0 . Aberdeen .... 40 48 23 26 14 20 m g 3/ gerwiek—..... 30 3( 17 19 13 15 18 24 -, .0 Coldstream .. 35 42 18 19 13 14 20 22 "*. /. upar ........... 48 56 26 31 18 22 22 26 "" / Dundee....... 50 60 30 33 20 25 30 31 '''' / E1gin............ 40 50 24 26 16 20 23 3 0 1, ,‘ Inverness."... 42 46 25 26 18 20 23 27 1 0 Kelso .......... 35 40 19 20 13 14 19 20 ''''',,, 4i Kirkaldy....... 48 61 29 16 20 45 48 e Perth 50 56 23 26 20 22 22 25 1'7,0 /-.. The size of the measure varies throughout the r__222...../ /-. The size 30. . n oti # ay, "" • 139 1 10 • 3 41 0 4 291 N MARK II kinds of K. —Oct. Grain to.d EDINBURGH COR We had a lsrge supply of all sales were rather heavy. Wheat. Barley. Oats. Pease. First 6ss Od 37s Od I 24s Od I 38s Od Second s3s Od 324 Od 2ns Od 34s Oct Third 4Bs Od 23s Od 17s Od 29s Od PRICES OF PROVISIONS, &C. Beef, per lb. Os. 31d. to 08.6 d. Fresh Butter, lb. s. 10.1. t0 0 9 0 0 6 Salt 0 8 ig Veal 0 5 0 8 Ditto, per ea t. 70 0 0 Pork 0 4 0 6 Eggs, per dos. 011 / 0 Lamb, per qr. 1 0 3 0 OatStrawNi.) 6 6 I 0 cwt.... 35 0 37 0 Wheat Ditto,. 6 6 5 „ Quartern Loaf 0 7 0 0 Barley Ditto 5 0 0 Potatoes. 1711 b. 0 5 0 0 Hay.perst..— 0 7 EDI NB(111(iH SIEA L MALL. t ~,04 , 6 Oatmeal at this day , "" ot cto at an advance of Is. P e ,; o p. 10 Per Stone of 141 b. k 0 1 6 First Oatmeal .......... 0 1 0 Second ditto ............ p ( Barleymeal ............... k Peasemeal .. t ••••••„% ii 1 5, .-2d. 145.-3 d. 16s•—•' There was a good supply of and the sales were rather heavy, Per Sack of 2801 b imp First Oatmeal Second ditto 1 10 0 Barleymeal 1 5 0 Peas era eal 1 4 0 Pot Barley—No. I, pet cwt. 12. - ~...------- 0 GLASGOW CORN MARKET.—Oct.% D osie We have small arrivals of Grain, and a moderate 0, doing. Barley and Oats are rather lower. a. to; Wheat, per 24Ulb. s. d. a. d 1 . Oats, per 2641 b. A ot o o British, old 26 0 to 28 0 I Irish -- new 22 0 25 0 , British l5 0 6 Canada, free ..... ... 28 0 29 6 Beans, let 2601 b.... 0 o p Irish Barley, per 320 1 b. Scottish ... a A ........... 16 w lw English 0 0 Pease, Scottish ... 15 0 00 Scottish 23 0 24 0 Oatmeal, per 140Ib. , i , 0 Irish CORNWALL. MARKETS. tor Oa t'. Tatuto—Wheat (average) 20, Od.—Barley, 9s. 9d.--i ST. AusTeLL—Wheat, —s. to 21s.—Barley, 03. to 1 7s. to Vs. Od. 9, ° to 10 , • •°9 0 PENZANCE—Wheat, 21s. to 22s.—Barleys ' ~k' Od. to Os. to 78. 9d.—Beef and Mutton, 51d. to 6d. --. ' 0 ,4 Butter , LAUNCESTONp er —Wheat (average) 193.6 d. 101 d. lb. ey , 9S.od'" 5s 31.—Beef, sd.—Mutton, 6d. 0 0 LISKEA ao—Wheat, —s. to 20s. Oil.—Barley, 10s. 01-• . " 0, to 6s. 6d. V' ts , Booms's—Wheat (average)2os.—Barley, 10s. 0,1 . — 0 0 HaLaTors—Wheat, 213. Od.—Flarley, los 6d. ~,,,_,•• Sr. CoLomo—Wheat, 203. to 21s.—Barley, 9 s. to 1,... and Mutton, 51d. to 6d.—Veal, 04.—Lamb, Od. -A --Bar, MINING INTELLIGENCB. ~.2 ? th " 0 Quantity of Copper Ore sold at Redruth last Thurdky lii 2- 04 Average Produce Quantity of fine Amount of Sale, 26.2 l IL 7s. Od.— Average Standard, IL" MEETINGS OF CREDITORS r, AT THE COURT, BASINGHALL- STE P (From the London Gazette.) *O l TO-MORROW, Nov. 5. 1 r) 1 Thompson and ('o., hosiers, New Bond-street. ........... J. Collier, hosier, Peultry .. . ................ . .......... ••• DIVIDENDS': .......... - 71 1 J. Keen, factor, Cross-lane, St. Mary-at-Hi11... .............. 11 T. and T. Oriel, tailors, Poland-street, Oxford-stree t .. " 1 1 W. Sutton, coach-maker, Beaumont-street, St. Marl W. Miller, merchant, Chapel-street, Pentonville ........... W. Harvey and Co., build-rs, Holloway . . ............. .. G. Phillips, ironmonger, Bishopsgate-street Within .•'•" FOUR CHILDREN DROWN — ED.-- --- ,., 13 01e: the 13th ult., four children belonging to poor fa"fifi6 Balnuilie, Ross-shire, left their parents' house r e o f : 1 :4 woman on the other side of the river, aunt to One rt i t number. On their return they missed t he id er ied.,ii crossed at a deeper part, when the whole were es'be'r, and dr-wned. Two, a boy and a girl, wer e %A t : children of Finlay 1114 Iver, a cotter, at Bilnuilte ; eek, a girl, the daughter of Kenneth Cameron, 93,,,,e1ee1eji and the fourth daughter of John Finlayson. ` A - jor of the whole have been found, the two first lock'"" , otter's arms.—lnverness courier. ni e , , INTEG R I TY.—A very respectable 14 ' d' l 4lly4 the parish of Ablerbury, near this town, on atto;',.ri last September fair, was accosted by a man , - Ord, tn him it he .eeinberrd lending him a sovere l g t3 i t ago ? Tn this the farmer replied he did ; b ut ; ;,:g I; e 0 ,o Ling since, he had given up hopes of .e e he imagining he must he dead. " said i'op P 4 debtor, " here I am, having come from Lon don to ro,s. I have been searching for you, in orderod yon the poand whi•-h has made my tortoni', tf l insist upon givin! interest with it." Tree gene rn io :fe r t plj ,t;etruously objected tak,n...r. tf:e interest, hut e l • 1 4 1 rake vie rinv,r,-igo. Tt,e parties th,n to l .l'% r hlr i , , strj ,hhis .ring tavern, where, river a jug of S'Or., they retonen ed their adventares of the fifteen 7 , 102 sence from each other, end parted on still betr' e ' be 0 1 ,1 he honest representative of Johti Bull declaring,f, .. never regret the loan of his sovereigns" -S" Chronlcle. BIRTHS. tt e f On the Ist inst., at the Rookery, Roeharopton, 9 the Hon. George Massey, of a daughter. ‘, vois: l° On the 2d inst., in Waterloo-place, the lady of ble, Esq., of a son. A/411 MARRIED. eon 51 0P _ On the 2d inst., at Croydon, Lieut.-Colonel • 7th Prussian Lancers, Knight of the Orders of St'ofo/00 the Iron Cross, &c. &c., to Frances, only datigil er iP ist° J. L. Chirol, one of the King's Chaplains, an d *-- French Protestant Church, Dean-street, Soho. "mil ' On the 2d inst., at St. Ann's, Soho, Mr. -16.550 r Hendon, to Emma Rebecca, second daughter of P 0 nelius Fuller, Esq., of the same place. rep p d? ,40" - On the 2d inst., at St. George's, Han over-s cIU -;, Alv - Renaud, of Conduit-street, to Miss Twycross, ° J. 1 00 0 street. , Of r3 p 44 On the 30th ult., Mr. Charles Edge, archiie tot ham, to Ellen, second daughter of Thozaa: mitA pits , " 1 J o y the Logells, near Birmingham. At St. Bride's Church, Edward Gillam •• - d oe . 1 Barrister-at-law, to Elizabeth, second daughte r :i . Gd Paramor Boys, Esq., Deputy Paymaster-Cienet'il 1911, On the 30th ult., at St. James's, Clerkenvie.Ar, Septimus Clunn, to Sarah, eldest daughter of ''"" o p, 0 0 Dartmouth-s treet. WO ° ° On the 31st ult , at Dixton Church, near _ to o fi g Wm. Woodward, jun., of Stanway, Essex, to c i, • ` 6 , only child of Mr. Alfred Smith, of Dixton-r DIED. inbef ei- On the 2d inst., at Gwynne House, Esser , 0 Mary, relict of the late Henry Burmester, 10 40 Mr. Robert Pitt, of Dorking, in his 61st Ye"'"vist After a few days' illness , at Ellore , in the .- pet o tt. 7 o, the 31st of May last, in the 45th year of hie Iltid Gwynne, of the Madras Native InfantrY , o f A b e the Rev. William Gwynne, deceased, later t'°r of Ramsey and of St. Ann, Sussex. PZINTID AND PUBLISHED St MU BLIO Y 0 SON OF,lcg, 114, Stitartlh 1 1 1 ° Ta 'At ra kt o h kt m.. li ttr Of C, 1 12 1 0 41 ft k ilh Be 441) c V.!' P kn tiki Th e L % kw' itq't I' 41 e la_ 11 _ ~je ' Ptoi hi, !' I peg 14 411 1 , en !the 14 hit tt' t % t' 4; 11 :41 I kt ° l l‘ 10,14 ti t, 74 l; i b-‘44 i ' l t : t4 };t 4 , 4 4 ' °Y 44;:? 4b r i ' Le: Al