The Express.
London, England, 1852-09-02 00:00:00

t►.VDON, THURSDAY, REPT. 2.

THE Tories being in office, arc working the regis-
tration courts to keep themselves there. Claims and
objections have been served by thou-ands, and the
revising barristers wall have plenty to do. not only
in Middlesex, hut in all other quarters. By a lavish
expenditure of money the Tories evidently hope to
strengthen themselves in the House of Commons.
They slant money on the elections—they are now
spending money on the registratioine. They have
place and power, and—it money will do it—they
mean to keep both.
" After Lord Deem the deluge," says Lord Mato-
wrung. Lord MAlic.4riiNE is theft Alec of opinion
that his deluge cannot take place until Lord DERBY
has passed away from the seine of public life, and
conseqiPatly that Lord DERBY is not one of those
who arc to be saved in the ark. Others than Lord
MatosTotte may hence infer that Lord DERBY must
be one of that scandalous generation whose conduct
is to provoke the deluge. Viewed in this light,
there may be more in Lord Mainsroaea prophecy
than people base been inclined to believe. Let us
see whether there is anything in the conduct of
Lord Drone that appears conducive to a political
deluge--so a breaking up of the fountains of the
great deep.
In a country like ours, where a majority of
the community are sufficiently instructed to
think for themselves, and where the press
is sufficiently free to enable them to express
their thoughis without constraint, there is but
one possible source of a revolution—and that
is, die divesting this thinking and speaking pub-
lic of all check or con- rel over the executive govern-
ment, while those constitutional arrangements
adopted with a view to enable it to exercise such
check or control are preserved in their outward
forms. In other words, England is safe from a revo-
lution so long as its House of Commons is a real,
?sines Ve representative of the opinions which per-
vade the thinking portion of society. Whenever
the executive content's to pervert the electoral sys-
tem into a mere sleight of hand process for bringing
together a subservient House of Commons that will
approve all its doings, whatever may be the
public opinion of them, it will be found that the
country, so long as this state of affairs con-
tinues, is constantly on theeerge of • revolution.
Government. fancying they do not require the sup-
port of public opinion. and having no mesas of as-
certaining the form and pressure of public opinion,
act in disregard or defiance of it. The people find.
ing no aid in their clusory elective system have to
course to other devices. Government and the people
come into a permanent, unintennitting relation of
antagonism, and in the tierce contests that ensue all ,
social and civil institutions are in danger of being
shattered at any moment. The Reform Act of Earl
GREY did not come a moment too soon to save us
front such a catastrophe.
Now it is palpable that one great aim of the
Denny Ministry—one trick or device upon which
they rest their last faint hope of being able to render
their tenure of office permanent—is to bring back
our electoral system to a condition in which its prac-
tical results JAR be the same as they were before '
i
the passing of the Reform Act.
The meet sanguine liberals admit that the DERBY
Ministry have been able to obtain the return of I
nearly 31W) supporters to thenew House of Commoos.
And it is admitted by all who look below the sew- '
face of mere hustings professions that there are '
more slippery customers among the Opposition than
could be wished. Among. the 180 members entirely
new to parliament there is an undue proportion of ' '
aspiring briefing barristers and private bill jobbers.
Now, when it is remembered that Ministers took the
field at the general election without any distinct '
or definite avowal of itinciples—that, indeed, the '
professious even of prominent place-holders at the
hustings were entirely contradictory—it is clear that
their large minority can only be attributed to their !
Influence u heads of an organised faction, and u oc-
cupants of office. When men who so unblushingly
proclaim that they aspire to office not to promote
principles or a policy, but simply to obtain the power '
of helping themselves and their friends, can ensure :
the return of a phalanx closely bordering upon 300
members to the Howe of Commons, we are coming
dangerously near to that state of affairs in which '
the notninal representatives of the people are in fact
merely the delegates, agents, or tools of a factious,
self-seeking minority.
Facts are daily transpiring which show that the
game of Ministers is to gain time to adopt measures
whereby they may ensure themselves (or party) the
power of packing the House of Commons with a ma-
jority
of their representatives. They flatter themselves
that if their minority of nearly 300 can be trans-
formed into • permanent working majority, the •
country will be permanently subjected to their wilL
To brag about this they are seeking. to gain time by
purchasing a temporary interim majority in the pre-
sent Parliament. The scandalousdistribution of naval
and other patronage among Members ;of Parliament
and their relations and connexions has no other ob-
ject. If they can so mould and temper the present
Hoene of Commons as to secure themselves against
any marked defeat for the next year or so, they
coast, not altogether unreasonably, upon being by
that time prepared to try another general election
witlii better prospects of success. They are to this
end working indefatigably in the registration
courts. This is the reason why the supporters
of the Marquis of BLANDFORD are so in-
defatigably working the Middlesex registration;
this is the MOOS why Lord Deaar and others are
eobscribiag their five hundred poaade apiece to
wrest their votes from the Libenl electors of Lan-
cashire. The faction are se active, though less osten-
tatiously. so, in other registration courts. The
struggle in these courts between independent, un-
organised electors and the agents of a wealthy face
Lion in stalkd in *Mee is very unequal. The compli-
cated questions to which the various ( listing. fran-
chisee have given rise have rendered • contest in the
registratioa courts harassing and expensive. Oa the
side of the independent electors experience lea
shown bet too clearly that " what is every man's
business is no man's business." The registers have
alma everywhere been allowed to fall into confaMon.
Zealous iodividaale soon grow tired of the trouble and
expense; they get disgusted at having the whole
toil and expenditure incurred in struggling for the
rights of thousand, defrayed by some half ¢a doyen
who possibly do not even get thanks for their pains.
It is very different with a faction intreothed in office.
There are many opportunities of diverting public
messy into electioneering channels; and even when
private subeeriptions have to be relied upon for
r~ietn*ios piques the contributors look forward
to be remanerated by place or promotion.
It is, therefor., apparent that the majority in the
Horne of Commons which represents public opinion
mere party and official influence is
alarmingly narrow ; it is equally apparent
ncouraged by this state of affairs, are
unkinamily labouring to complete the perversion of
the Ham of Commons into a mere representation
et a feetieess minority i it is equally apparent that if
they do not quarrel among themselves, a year or two
at most may be sufficient to enable them to attain
their object.
That the oonesquence of this will be the permanent
ivitabli4unent in office et the faction at present
headed by Lord Dune no one can suppose. But it
will lead to the renewal of such etruggles between the
people and the executive government as were wit-
nessed at intervals in this country from 1816 to 11430.
And it must be kept in mind that such struggles now
are much more ticklish th;ngs than they. were then.
The superstitions reverence for existing instititions,
merely because they exist, has been much weakened,
and repeated victories have inspired the people with
greater confidence in their own judgment and
strength. A faction administering the affairs of the
country in such a manner as systematically to preach
revolution is much more likely to have its challenge

early and earnestly accepted now than at any fo
time.

We do, therefore, to a certain extent concur in
Lord MAIDBTONY:t opinion, that Lord DIUOIT may
be tin) precursor of a political deluge, Bit that cad,
only be on the condition the Lord Intattx b.
allowed to remain lon enough a power. to prepare
the deluge.

TUE variations in the funds have been greater
titan usual, we arc told. iu the past month. Consuls,
under the sionthined influence of an alarm about the
harvest, and about the fisheries dispute, have de-
cliucd 2! from the highest point, but they have since
recovered, and arc now only below that. Within
the same period, ruilwny shares have fallen 10 per
cent., but they too have recovered more than the
half of the fall. The price of wheat has undergone
a similar variation. In some markets, and for some
descriptions of wheat, the price has risen 7s. or Si.
per quarter, but the market has since become quiet,
though the price of tine old wheat has not again
fallen. The changes are none of them very great ;
they are temporary; they are readily accounted for ;
but to such changes we aro unused, and they excite
more attention than much greater changes excited at
former periods.
About three weeks ago • great deal of rain
alarmed the public for the harvest, and there was a
disposition to speculate largely iu corn. The owners
of stocks withheld thent from the market, or asked
exorbitant terms, and the mere prospect of prices
rising induced corn merchants immediately to send
orders to various parts of the world to buy corn on
their account. Already we have heard that those
orders raised the price of corn at Odessa Os.
or Bs. per quarter; and information having
also reached Alexandria of the failure of our
potato crop, and of the probable defect of our
harvest, prices rose there 20 per cent. At both those
places prices were before unusually low. The same
fact holds good of New York, whence we have not
heard since our prices rose, but there no doubt the
same effect will take place on the news arriving of
the change in our markets. But the rise here,
though large, is not au equal per centage to the rise
abroad, and the curious consequence is that an appre-
hended or a real failure of the harvest here causes a
greater rise of price abroad than at home. Our
markets, which have already declined, have remained
comparatively steady in relation to the markets at
Odessa and Alexandria. Drawing our supplies now
from a variety of sources, our paces will DO deter-
mined by an average of the whole, and will never
fluctuate so much as the prices in the foreign
markets.

In fact the steadiness of all kinds of prices in our
market for some time past has astonished the mer-
cantile classes. The average price of wheat for the
year 1851 was 3bs. 74., and the average price of the
three yeara 1849.51 was 41s. sd. The average price
of the first seven months of this year has been
tkl. Thus we have now had three years and seven
montlis, with only one good harvest, that of 1851,
during which the average price of wheat has been
little more than 405., and never above 44s 6d., and
never below 38s. 7d. If we look at the six weeks'
average through the present year, week by week,
we shall Mid it never to have been above 42a. 7d.,
and never below 375. 3d. Thus the utmost amount of
the fluctuation in the price of wheat since the Corn
Laws were repealed is not above ns. per quarter,
or not above 20 per cent., not much more
in the whole penal than occurred within the last
month. This stability is totally different from the
gnat fluctuations from week to week, and from year
to year, which occurred in the price of corn prior
to 1849.
The stability in the price of corn,—for the price of
food influences the price of all other things,—has
been imparted to other commodities. The price
of augur, of coffee, and of cotton, are naturally
affected, like the price of corn, by varia-
tions in the seasons. Yet it is only ne-
cessary to examine any price current to be con-
vinced that the prices of these, as ot ail other
articles for the last thirty months, has been
remarkably steady. The cotton crop of 1840 was
short, and the price of cotton rose; so in the present
year the coffee crop in the Brazils and other places
is short, and coffee has risen since the beginning of
the year about 4s. per cwt. But the price of food having
been steady, no other element of fluctuation besides the
failure in these comparatively partial crops has
affected their price; and, notwithstanding variable
sealants, the price has been comparatively steady.
There is nothing now to prevent the prices of these
and all other commodities being nearly equalised
throughout Europe. A short or a large crop conse-
quently affects a greater number of ponces,—frugal
or rapid consumption becomes the rule of conduct for
a larger multitude, and diminishes the fluctuations in
price of either a very abundant or a very scanty crop.
The consequence is that, with a much larger con-
sumption ot all the necessaries and luxuries of life than
ever was known belore, as is evidenced by the trade
returns—tea, sugar, coffee, cotton, timber, &c.,
having all increased—with imports unexampled in
magnitude, and business of all kinds increased in
proportion---all the markets of the country have been
for months and years steady beyond example.

Commercial articles and banking articles in news-
papers, that used to be very attractive, have almost
lost their interest. They are now in a great measure
made up by encroachments on the other parts of the
journals, and give news paragraphs as their in-
teresting features. In spite of the great influx of gold,
the money market has been as steady as other markets.
Interest of money, like the prier of corn, has been low,
but since the Bank lowered the rate at the begin-
ning of the year,—sot leading, but following the
market—there has not been a variation of above
per cent. in the value of money except for paper for
short periods on the Stock Exchange. Money has
been occasionally a little tighter, or a little m,re
abundant, before and after the payment of the divi-
dends,—but feeling the stability as well as the fluc-
tuations of trade,—it has been, on the whole, quite as
steady in price es corn. The exchanges, too, though
these are affected by Austrian loans and other pro.
endings of foreign governments, have been as steady
as the money market, and day after day and week
alter week the report has been a alight improvement
or deterioration in the exchange on Vienna; other rise
there is no alteration to notice in the exchanges.
Trade, then, as it has increased in quantitie,xied
been liberated from political shackles, has
steady, and has given stability to society. Instead of
being, as usually represented, a source of alternate
prosperity and distrem, it is the equaliser of good
and bad seasons, of the abundance of one place and
the scarcity of another; and aristocratic politicians'
most henceforth seek some other scapegoat for their
misrule than the "fluctuations essential to trade."
The experience of the last three years, and especially
of the last year, fully confirms the theory that
trade ensures the stability of the national welfare, and
throws an additional degree of guilt on the policy of
restriction. Restriction not only impeded prosperity
by starving down the community to its own narrow
limits, but was the terrible canoe of those fluctuations
in the material condition of society that were more
injurious to morality and welfare than even node-
T iat ng poverty.

THE FOIZIOIf COIXERS AT HULL—The three
prismen, Johan Mimelfeldt, Carl W , and Minis
Mitae,feldt, who have been several times mounded at the
Usti police-court on a charge of inanufacturing spurious
Coin, were brought up again yesterday. The Prim-
Win government has new taken the prosecution in hand,
and through the consul at Hall has canoed Mr. Hinder to
appear against the prisoners. It would Fenn that the evi-
dence is hardy. suflkient to bring home the charge of ma.
nutscte.ring coin, mill thrift...re it his been det, relined that
the parties shall be chum el with having M their poswesion
implena.ute used fur coining. This &Argo was preferred
against them yesterdsy, and savored +ketones were exa-
mined. Tbese spoke to the discovery of a complete coining
apparatts, with chentexl.s aid ail things necessary for car-
rying on their nefarious sceupmtions in a honk, 108, Os-
burneteereet, of which Weiner acknowledged himself to be
the tenant, end in which the twee Mitnelfeldte were found.
Several genuine Napoleons, somePremien, Danish, and
Ami titan edits were -11. n wised. together with models of
these in beg.. and mire —pens of them in nor takes un
leather. Mr. D. doc.ele., gul.kmith, gave a detailed account
of ii. manner in which ill the implements and chemicals
wire u.t d ; sod, after h. tiring all the evidence, the niagis-
tratis derided on conienitt:ng J.,hsn Mitaelfildt and Wer-
ner for trial, and, mat le-eating the evidence against Maria
Mitaelfeldt conclusise enough, they discharged her.
- - - -

•
A MEETING was ht:lllmA night, at the Belvidere
Teter'', l'enton.ille, when ',witty siva formed; under the
Mae ut the Finsbury Knosledie Tar Repeal Association.
Ths object of the wavyh to obtain the repeal of the
newspaper stamp, sad of the advertisement aid paw
duties.