The Express.
London, England, 1852-02-18 00:00:00

UNITED STATES.

ARRIVAL OF THE ARCTIC.
A telegraphic summary of the following appeared
in our edition of yesterday.
By the arrival of the American mail steamer
Arctic, at Liverpool, shortly after ten o'clock yester-
day morning, wo have received New York letters
and papers to the 7th instant inclusive, being three
days later than those brought by tho America,
which arrived on Sunday. The Arctic left Now
'York at noon on the 7th, and has thus made one of
the most rapid passages on record, being about Si I
days; she brought sixty-two passengers, and specie
to the amount of 1,040,055 dollars on freight.
The steam-ship Niagara, the arrival of which at
Halifax on the 4th, was noticed in the Express
ou Monday last, had reached New York on the ith,
after a tempeatous run of nearly 21 days.
Tho Europa, from Liverpool, with the mails of
the 24th, had arrived at Halifax on the 6th, the same
day that the America left that port for Europe.
The political intelligence by this arrival is not:im-
portant. From Washington we learn that no defi-
nite action has yet been taken in either branch of
Congress, with regard to allowing extra compensa-
tion to the Collins steamers ; but a note in the New
Vock Drily Times states that some interruption to
the present postal arrangements between the United
States and Great Britain may shortly be expected.
A Boston correspondent of the New York Herald
announces the marriage of Jenny Lind, at Boston,
on Feb. 5, to Otto Ooldschmidt, the pianist. The
//emit/ in reference to the report, says
Before we can fully realise tho truth of this marriage,
we shell require further evidence than a brief telegraphic
dispatch. It will be remembered that this Swedish Night-
ingale was reported to he married in England, to an Bog-
lash clnrgyman, and that the affair was paid to has been
cancelled only by her payment of a forfeit of 3,000 dohs.
Subsequently, at one time it was understood that she was
certainly engaged to Belletti ; and, at another time, to
Muter Burke, the violinist. Therefore, we cannot ratify
the nuptials of Miss Lied to Mr. Uuldschmidt till the news
is confirmed.

Kossuth has raised six thousand dollars in Pitta-
burg and its vicinity—principally from the contri-
butions of the working classes, numbers of whom he
has personally visited in the foundries, factories, &c.
He is again represented as quite ill. The Ohio State
senators have subscribed five dollars each to the
Hungarian fund, and it is said that the members of
the house will do the same.

The most recent advices from New Mexico re-
ceived at New York represent the Indians es getting
rather the best of the troops in that locality. More
discoveries of gold and silver had been made.

INTELLIGENCE.

New YOl/11, Fan. 6.
Foreign exchange was firm today, although the demand
was moderate. Bills on London were sold at 110 to 1101 ;
Hamburgh, 361 to 36i ; Bremen, 781 to 781 ; Amsterdam,
414 to 914. There was some inquiry far specie, and it is
generally supposed that the steamer will take out 700,000
dollar; but it is impossible yet to ascertain the precise
amount. United States stocks are inactive, but the demand
for banking operations prevents any decline in rates. Spe•
culative stocks are active, and rates continue to have an up-
ward tendency, as will be seen upon reference to our list of
quotation,. The condition of the money market remains
unchanged, and we note but a little variation in quota-
tions.

Covvox.—Sales for three days, 5,200 bales. The sales
bare been to a fair extent, still the market has been without
spirit, there has been no general demand ; some sales have
been made at lower prices, but holders generally pre-
fer waiting the news per Europa, before submitting to
lower rates.

GRAIN.—The stock of wheat is so small, and in one or
two hands, that our quotations are almost nominal. Oats
bring 38c. to 39e. for Jersey, 45e. to 46e. for Western, and
37c, to 3&. ter southern. Barley is dull, at 75c. to 79c.
Corn is wanted, but generally held above the views of
buyers, who take only what their immediate wants re-1
quire.
FLona.—The favourable tone of the English market, as
received by the last two steamers, and the opening of the
eastern navigation, has made rather more inquiry, and
' holders are firm, although at the close there was less doing,
and prices rather favoured the buyer. We quote common
to straight State at 4 dots. 62/e. to 4 dots. 75c. ; common
Ohio, 4 dole. 6Nia to 4 dots. 74e. ; miscd to fancy Michigan
and Indiana, 4 dols. 62e. to 4 dols. 75c. Canadian is in light
stock ; some sales have been made at 4 dols. 50c., in bond to
arrive ; it is generally held at 4 doh. 62/. Southern kinds
vein fair demand, with small supply.
Fasuouvs to California rule from 40c. to 60e. To Eu-
rope there is no alteration. We continue yesterday's quo-
tations. To Liverpool—Cotton, per pound, 6-32 d. to
3-I6d. ; flour and meal, per barrel, Is. ; heavy goods, per
too, 15s. ; bacon and cheese, Iss. ; grain, in bulk, per
bush.l, 3d. to 3/d. To London—Tobacco, per hhd., 25,. ;
floor, per Darrel, Is. 6d. to Is. 9d. ; turpentine, per 280 lbs.,
Is. 9d.; measurement goods, per ton, 2.55. to 305.; heavy goods,
oil, die., 154. to 261. ; cheese, 30s. ; beef, per tierce, 3s. Bd.
to 411.

SERIOUS ACCIDENT WITH DETONATING POWDER.
—Yesterda therneen, between the hours of one and two,
• most dsp assithat took plats in the City, which
was near earwig the hue of several lives. One of the un-
fortunate adhere le aspired of. A short thee rase Mr.
Jour theft's mining agent, having ether in itharetreet,
=Me, had several charges of dateenting powder for
left with him r simples, eel sates-
gamily =them lying about he Akers& are el his
men to pet them out a the way,
_end the maw beentketaly
enough threw thus Ws • rubbish ble ht the °allay. The
shower, which IMO mesedingly vegetal, wen made up in
the them of etemething like a siotheler, and when
applied to the peep= of were capable of
dieWlengsaFuntem a steno. the week •
number a bth been 'Wed Mr. Crofts
Prvetivirts releaday Memos ow Wilma named Barr-
feild was in the ether mixing seer mint, when he eyed
one of the charges which was Melt Ise the rubbish. Pick-
ing it up, and 'ag it to be a asethemes, be put it
into his pocket, Mat the time praise* mistimed, he
went with the reit tithe workmen to Wray. the Foun-
tain and Star piddiethree, Oradesise" Lawrierslane,
Cheapside. In the semis ribs INA amble look the
charge out of his Fisk end a disseiden arm es te what
it really way Ole et the party out it in half, and found ft
to contain • eabseinee which they lisd to be brisk-
dust. With • view probably of aseerht mere smiths.
welly its character, another of the sompaey, a man
named John Caufeild, a waiter, living in the Qathiresi,
Camden-town, then tech up the plate of the shame. aril
commenced rubbing them we the tap-ream table. when
almost immediately they exploited with tremendous tree.
Six mu who WON fa the roma were thrown down by the
and news or 14•11 injured. The ma in whir
band the rhea eatheded resented a meet epee-
Meth aims from the elbow Jahr wile
and rem idea maybe domed of the per tam% in
seadition from the desemelmee that psalm of his bomb
end fingers were piked up en the deer. He was at amie
i=a • cab and enneyel with all heir te fit Barra-
Hospital, and in the rare of the ream it was
deemed expedient to amperes both limbs them the elbow.
He continues in the meet state. The police, we
are informed, subsequently esasrhei Mr. Croft's cellar, and
found the remainder of the charges whisk bed been thrown
in the rubbish, and of which they task pimeries.
THE FIRE AND Lois OF Lin 111 WRIJIRCK
Gera ter.—On Monday Mr. Wakley, M. P., regiamid, at Mary-
lebone workhouse, the adjourned inquest en the body of
James Joseph Webster, aged 62, the ethertmete era who
bed blezutS into possession of the premier betionhig t.
Mr W No. 47, Welbeck-strset, Cavendish
and who pa 'hod there in tbe are whisk ocenrred4ratlehi
house a few hours after he entered. The atheism taken
yesterday was very vo:undisous, and esempied the mesa
nearly six hours in taking it. Reber Teem milseer of
the Baker-street brigade station, preyed arriving with his
engine on the morning of the re, when he found the
flames in the ball, and extending from the kitchen up the
staircase, and had found the remains if • *kat and other
articles, which, from the steam emsll be should my had
been saturated with ninths. The seders were handl* the
cupboard under the stairs. Mrs. Wersdly, wife of the occu-
pier of the house, described the manner of their reape.—
Werndly sail the jacket produced was • painter's
usual overall, and when the kitchen was cleared out had
been thrown along with some gallipots under the stairs. He
never kept more than • gilt of naptlia in the place. Ile
used it for dissolving gulls perche. There might have been
two tahlcepoonsful in the house, but not more. He had
been 42 years in business, and had always paid twenty shil-
lings In the pound. He did not owe a shilling in the neigh-
bourhood, with the exception of 2e. Oil. to his brass-founder.
At this stage of the proceedings the coroner adjourned the
inquiry for another week, for the production of addition&
'Menem

RAVINGS' BANKS AND THE LAW OF
PARTNERSHIP.

(has t►e Daily Nero.)

Last night, in the House of Commons, Mr. SLANET
brought forward his motion that involves the question
of a reform in our partnership laws ;—an import-
ant and most interesting subject.
The struggle between the engineers and their
employers points to a relation between capital and
labour which calls for the prompt and serious con-
sideration of the legislature. The causes which have
created and embittered tho contest are in no respect
peculiar to the machine trade. The malady is
general. If the disorder it evinces in one trade
is subdued, it is quite sure to break nut in another;
for its canton are seated in tho constitution of society
itself. There it has its root, and there only can an
effectual remedy be applied. Capital has enormously
increased, but so also have the skill of the workuian,
his intelligence,—his social importance,--his power
and willingness to make the self denial necissary for
saving,—his hold upon the sympathy of society,—
his moral worth,—and his self-respect. All the leading
countries of Europe bear witness to the deep change
of feeling and position which has resulted from this
progressive development of the modern wend. The
moral dignity of the working classes is the favorite
theme of philanthropists, statesmen, and legislative
assemblies. The sufferings and the degradation of
the labourers constitute the staple of half the popular
literature of every people. Tho ablest and purest
minds in Europe are often engaged in devising
new theories for raising the happiness and social
position of the poorer classes. The universal bro-
therhood of man is preached with increasing vette-
mence and effect; and there is a vast fund of ads-
taken sympathy ever ready to presume that the
workman must be right in any contest which he
may undertake against the capitalist whom he serves.
This is a very formidable state of things. Tho
ease and rapidity with which the most extravagant
doctrines of socialism have !pervaded France, and the
fright and real danger which they have brought upon
society there, are most significant symptoms of the
unsound condition of the body politic. It would be
a gross delusion to explain these phenomena by
causes applicable to France alone. The disease is Euro-
pean, certainly English as well as French, though as
yet, fortunately, it has not reached the ammo viru-
lence on this side of the Channel. We, too, have our
socialistic doctrinaires of every quality. Clergymen
and chartists, lords and democrats, arc found to pro-
pagate views of social life, resting on the same fun-
damental principles. There is scarcely one of the great
trades of Britain in which the masters arc not jea.
lously watchful of the ever active tendency of their
workmen to combine. Not a year passes over our
heads which does not exhibit some alarming collision
between these antagonistic forces.

It is very true that hitherto victory has com-
monly sided with the capitalist. lle has been the
more reasonable as well as the stronger man. But
it is equally true that the workman has gaited by
the increasing dissatisfaction felt at the relation
subsisting between the two parties. Speculative
philosophy takes up more actively and more genially
the labourer's cause. The richer classes are more
and more persuaded that it is not as it should be
with the operatives; and this feeling gains counte-
nance and support for some ideas and doc-
trines as ridiculous for their absurdity, as they
are dangerous for their subversive tendencies.
Disaffection thus spreads and becomes respectable ;
and even ministois from the pulpit venture to de-
nounce, in the name of religion, the atrocity of a
population being compelled to live by wages. It is
not safe that our statesmen, or the country itself,
should neglect these manifestaf -• Opinion is
rapidlydiffused in modern times
-- of or-

aly ddfuseu in m. 0..... ; the power .
ganisation, too, is wonderfully augmented ; a remedy
may become, if not impossible, at least, purchase-
able only by an immense sacrifice. As yet both
masters and workmen would hail with a spirit of
moderation any pacific solution of the difficulty.
But in what quarter is it to be sought? Plainly
the rising desire which is gathering so much strength
is to discover some means of rescuing artisans from
an absolute and precarious dependence upon wages,
without making them dictators over their employers.
This is the real problem, and this the sort of solution
which the present feeling of society longs for. Is
any ouch attainable? Probably there is no pallia-
tion for the evils we labour under at once so
simple, so congenial with the position and sentiments
of modern workmen, and so directly applicable to
the root of the mischief as the giving to the opera-
tive some direct interest in the business to which he
devotes his labour and his skill. And the best instru-
ment for accomplishing this end is, as we suggested
OA a former occasion, a law of limited liability in
partnership, especially under the form of partnership
en commandite.

Tho importance of providing safe and desirable
investments for the savings of labour is a vital
element in all these questions. The Amalgamated
Society derived the chief portion of its funds from
contributions intended to secure help in sickness, old
age, and widowhood; and one of the greatest em-
barrassments which the masters have now to con-
tend with is the natural unwillingness of the men
to forfeit this provision, which they have made at a
heavy cost, by separation front the society. What
investment is there so natural, and, for its moral as
well as pecuniary results, so desirable for the work-
man, as participation in his master's profits, if it can
be obtained with safety? The law forbids this
natural and excellent connection between the
parties by constituting all participation in profits
partnership, and bestowing on every such partner
an equal right of interference with the management
of the concern and control over the common pro-
perty. This is fatal. No master can possibly give
his workman a share, however trifling, in the profits
of his busidess, so long as it entitles him not only to
give orders, but even to pledge the common credit,
and to take possession of the common stock, either of
cost or materials.
It is not, however, the protection of the partner
respecting which the law has been meet solicitous
the security of the creditors against the common firm
has been its darling aim. If the firm borrows or
buys on credit, every shilling belonging to every
partner shall be responsible for tho debt. The ab-
stractinstice of such a regulation we do not dispute;
its policy and expediency we confidently deny. In
the first place, the imposition of such unrestricted
liability on partners leads to the conferring on
each the right we have just mentioned, of protecting
himself against utter ruin through the misconduct of
his colleagues by constant interference in the direc-
tion of the concern ; how else could he be secured
not only against the loss of the capital really em-
doyed in tho business, but against the souse-
nm; of money borrowed under the pledge
of his whole fortune ? Partnerships COM-
=of numerous members are thus ren-
impossible. In the next place, the history
of joint-stock associations with unlimited liability,
especially banks, shows that the creditor gets no
benefit prolortionato to the harm incurred by the
hampering of partnerships. And then, what right
has a creditor to any such extravagant security ?
No ono compels him to give trust: if he does, the
daty of ascertaining tie soundness and solvency of
those to whom he voluntarily extends his credit lies
plainly upon him. The teaching the creditor to
rely on his own sagacity and activity, when he
trusts others with his property, is the best of all se-
curities which can be given to him ; and nothing else
will so effectually protect him from loss. All
that he can reasonably demand of the law is the
enforcing of full publicity as to the capital actually
invested in any concern. Ile has a right to be told
of every change of such capital, and wo think, too, of
its owners. When he has acquired this information,
he has got all that guides hint in trusting private
persons. He knows the amount of means on which
he relies for re-payment ; and what more has a
tailor or grocer for the discharge of his bill ? The
feeling that if a man has the power, he should make
good any deficiency in the payment of the debts of
of a business in which lie is concerned, is more
plausible than just. If the creditor knew beforehand
that he must look to the common capital alone for se-
curity, what ground has he for complaint ? When a
chartered company becomes insolvent, no onecxpects,
no ono thinks it reasonable to ask the shareholders to
pay up beyond their sharer. These are what the
creditor trusted : if that was inadequate, he has
no one to blame but himself. And,—which is much
to the point,— it is not from the insolvency of such
chartered bodies that the greatest losses are incurred.
If we in England enjoyed, as other countries do,
a better law of partnership, the skilled workman,

—when man and muter mutually desired such
an arrangement—might obtain such limited interest
as a partner, as would give him a solid motive for
doing all in his power to advance the welfare of the
establishment in which ho laboured. The day of
" strikes" might pus away, and capital and labour
might go on, as they ever should do, hind and hand
together fur the common weal.