The Express.
London, England, 1862-10-20 00:00:00

COMMERCIAL AND MARKETS.

MA liK-LANE.—(nijs RAT.)

On Saturday there was • gnat fall of rain, which was
exceeded by that of yesterday, the weather being very
squally, accompanied with ungodly heavy showers.
For the put week the arrivals of English wheat and
Hour were fair in quantity. Barley short. Malt and oats
liberal. Beans, peas, and tarn improved, but seeds very
short. Scotch and Irish contracted. The foreign arrivals of
wheat were large, Russian,PruesiantAmrriosa, sad Black Sea.
Flour, • small number of American barrels and several
sacks from Adelaide. Barley extremely short, y
Prussian. with some Russian and Swedish. Beans, peas,
and tares short. Linseed a good supply, But Indian aid
Black Sea. Rapeseed not quite so liberal, with a liberal
quantity of hemp, millet, and many seed.
The wheat market today above more firmness than for
some time past, and notation of good useful English and
foreign fully equal telart Monday.
Flour about the same as on that day.
Malting barley rather dearer this morning ; grinding aorta
steady.
Oats : fins urn, quite as dear a. this day week.
Beane and pea without change.
Seeds.-Limed sod rapeseed steady. Other seeds slow.
FLOATING CARGOES.-'trade steady, 7112(1 not many sow
on sale.
AnErvar. or Moss-English : Tana, 612 ; linseed, 26 ;
rapesaed, 71 ; mustard seed, 11b ; other sada 20&
Foreign : Tarn, 180 ; linseed, 30,836 ; cotton, 8,400 ;
linseed oil, 7,899; maize 3,220 ; =Met, 2,448 ; canary, 210;
382.
rust : Ern and Kent, white, am, 43.. to
Kft; ditto, fine old, 58a. to 60a.; ditto, red, new, 425. to 46e.;
ditto, fine old, 561. to 58a. ; Norfolk, ha., fine old, -s. to
-a.; red. new, -s. to -a Foreign : Daatak, bk. to 565.;
fine, 55e. to 675.• extra, 58a. to 62a.; Koeipbai. 48s. to
535.; ditto, extra, 53.. to 571 • Bosteek, 50a. to Ms. • ditto,
extra. 56a. to 58e. ; Mecklenburg, 56e. to 58s. • Uoliarneark
ditto, --a. ; American white, 50s. to 58a; ditto, red, 48a. to
50a.; Canadian, 495. to Mt
BARLEf.-Maglisit maltbg, 34a. to 38a. ; heft 40e. ;
grinding, 26a to 275.; sad didillinp„ 29a. to 30a per qr. ;
foreign gnsdis24s. to 28a.; ditto distilling, 28a. to 33‘
MAIM- Br to ea and Norfolk, b9a. 63• ;
83.. to 67a. ; • ton and Wan, Ma. to 685.; brows,
Mk. to 58s.
Waft -English feed, 21s. Od. to 23., Od. ; potato.
25a. to 275. • foreign, 22a. to 26a.
BRANS.-inglish tick, 38a. to 40a. ; barrow, Ws to 43a. ;
pigena, 38s. Co 39e. ; foreign. 32a. Mk. tidy
36.. to 37a. ; Konigsberg, 38e. to 39a. ; 38e. to 34a.
Pam-English toilers, 441 e. to 41a. ; and Mos, 40s.
to 435. ; maple, -a. to -e.; gray, 36.. to 38..; bag. 38a.
to 40s. ; foreign, 34a. to 35a.
FLouft-English town, 44e. to 465.; ditto fine, 47a. to Rs.;
orcantry, 421 to 431; Norfolk and Suffolk, 375. to 385.;
French, -a to --a. pea sack; U.S. sweet, 27e. to 305.;
Canadian. 27.. to 30e. • Spanish, 395. to 41s.
limas Ooaft-Whit.. 301 to 32e. yellolri 28e. is 30a.
FLOAITIG CARGOES, all C. F. and L-Wheat : Mardi.
anaki and Marianople, per 49..db1, 44a. to 46.. ; (Mirka 44a.
to 47a. ; Polish Odessa, per 48011 n., 42e. to 44e. ; whits,
43a. to 50a. ; Danube and Galata, 39a. to 42a. ; 74
as. to 34a. Barley: Fmk= and SPAIN per 14aba::.
245. to 25a. ; Odessa and Danube, do., Zia. to Ms. Bens
Baptism', par 4801ba.,305. to 335. Mains : Odeon and Galata,
per 49211 n., 31s. Od. to 3Z. ; Ibrail and Bulgarian, per
4801 be., 31s. Od. to 325. ; French, do., to -a, ;
Americo, do., 29a. to 30s. ; Egyptian. -s to -a
SEEM -Carry mead, per qr. 38e. to bk. ; Hemp.
seed, par qr.. Ms. to 42a. ; Mustard seed, per busk al,
whin, 7s. to Is. 6d. ;brows. Ea. to 9s. • Unused, par qr.
crushing, 6111 to 62a. ; Limped oaks*, lia=. pa too..
111. Os. to 12/. Oe. ; Auseriesa, thin, in , per ton,
121.05.. to 121. 10a.; do., 111 togs,lll. Oa. to lit 1014 Baltics
01. to 0/. Oa.: Marseilles. ltft to 10/. 10a.: Baps Won. 61.
AILIVAIA INTO LONDON IRON OCT. la TO OCT. 2&

li Wleat Barley. I Malt. Oats. Besse Pew Mar.
Cosstwise. gra qrs. gra we gra qrs. Ms sets.
Coeßah .. MI WI 11966 1696 1116 10441.. MN
renege 61646 1601 .... 16546 .MO , 217) SW
F7:2oll26.—Wheat, 620 qrs.: brew; 10; Bow, 176 rwis.

MINCING LANK.—(T DAY.)
SUGLL—The demand both for raw and refined continuos
inactive.
COMM. —The market is firm but quiet.
Tres.—With the exception of part of a crop of new Mo-
ping' at 2s. 7d., so sales of importance have been effected.
Ocirrima—About 400 bales have been mid for arrival,
prime

.ess are irregutar.
The aides advertised for the week sre extensive ; these
for tomorrow oossiet of 650 oaks 200 bap of West India,
1,800 bap of Madras, sod 1,000 bap of 11aurititui sups ;
280 casks, 1,300 eases, 3,200 bap, and 1,100 bap Ceuta
Rios coffee ; 2,000. bop saltpdas ; and sundry dzysaltery
te good&

TALLOW WARBET.—(THIS DAY).
The market le steady at the annexed quotations : —Town
tallow. 465. &i. net cash ; Petersburg Y.O. oe the spot,
475. 9d. ; December. 48a. to 48s. 34. ; January to Muth,
48s. 6d. ; Hatch, 48s. 9d.
riZTICIIIABB OF TALLow.

ISM.

THE DISTRESS IN LANCASHIRE. 1

(MOM 001 SPECIAL 0011111011711111.)

MANCHFSrIat, Oct. 17.

" Proud Preston," looking down from her height
on Ribble banks over a varied expanse of gleaming
river, and sheltering woods, and corn-covered plain ;
with her wide streets, and at least ono spacious
square, and many pleasant terraces ; with her ve-
nerable guild, her stately parish church, and her
broad market-place, soon to be adorned by a town-
hall as stately—is no common manufacturing town,
without a history iu the past, and with none bat a
utilitarian hold upon the present. If it have no-
thing particularly picturesque about it, except its
situation, there is an air of respectability in its
streets and shops which contrasts favourably with
the prevailingly mean exterior of towns which are
near enough to Manchester to derive from the
great eentral city all the appliances of taste
and luxury. But for all this, few even
of cotton towns are so exclusively dependent
upon cotton as Preston. There is a little corn trade
upon her tidal river, but that is all. Neither print
works nor machine shops of any magnitude inter-
pose to break the dead uniformity of spinning and
weaving. For the week ending October 9 the
pollee returns showed 88 mills, of which 34 were
altogether closed. Out of 26,691 operative% usually
employed, 3,552 were still in full work ; 11,036
were working various periods of short time—mostly
three days a week ; while 11,703 were altogether
out of work. The population of the borough of
Preston is 82,942. " At this moment," says an
excellent report just issued by the relief committee,
" one in every three persons is a recipient of
public charity, and one in every seven is a pauper."
Charitable relief, as at present administered in
Preston, throws the chief burden of supporting the
indigent class upon the guardians, supplementing
parish pay, though not absolutely refusing to assist
persons who cannot persuade themselves to accept
legal charity. I therefore turn, first, to the opera-
tion of the Poor-law in Preston. The union of
Preston is livery large one, stretching ten miles east-
ward, and seven south-west of the town. It com-
prises many agricultural townships, as well as one
or two manufacturing places, such as Ribchester
and Walton-le-dale, and contains above 110,000
souls. In this union, in the week ending October
14, were relieved 7,017 cases, including 16,694
persons, at a cost of 1,2481. ss. 61, the rate of
relief being thus above Is. sd. per head. In
the quarter ending at Michaelmas, the expenditure
of the union amounted to 15,7071. 16s. 50., thus
exceeding by nearly 5,0001. the sum which woUld
be raised by a rate of 3s. in the pound ; and the
guardians have therefore resolved to apply to the
Poor-law Board for permission to exercise the bor-
rowing powers provided by a recent act of parlia-
ment. The estimated expenditure for the quarter
now begun is no lees than 20,0001.
The Preston guardians are not backward in
adapting their methods to the emergencies of the
times. They have two large sewing schools, em-
ploying 725 girls, each of whom at present works
* days in the week, receiving three days' wages at
Bd. a day. Arrangements are, however, at present
in progress by which every girl will have four
days' work of six hours each, at 61. a
day, and will be required to give one-fourth
of her time to instruction in reading and
writing. The establishment of an adult school for
men is also contemplated. Relief-committee visitors
speak well of the help which they receive from
poor-law officials ; and there appears to be none of
the armed neutrality which, in some districts, is
the nearest approach to friendliness between the
legal and the voluntary organisations of charity. I
had myself the pleasure of seeing the chairman of
the board of guardians acting as secretary at the
weekly meeting of the relief committee : a fact
which, 1 think, must surely have the effect of pro-
moting, not only the harmonious co-operation, but
the individual efficiency of both bodies. Still the
guardians attempt to maintain the labour test.
The great mass of factory operatives are employed
in levelling the moor, a large piece of waste land upon
the outskirts of the town. These, with a few others,
who are cutting a deep sewer hard by, are supposed to
be paid at the rate of ls. a day. A single man is
allowed to work * days a week, and to earn 2s. 6d.
When the family consists of two or three, 2s. is the
amount per head arrived at ; when it is consider-
ably larger, the average is suffered to sink to Is. &I.
Men with large families, therefore, not only have
to work the whole week, but are paid at a higher
rate than la. a day, in order that the necessary
amount of relief may be earned, an arrangement
which opens the door to many of the evils of which
I had oecmiou to speak iu my last letter. Every
man who works three days or less is paid wholly
in money, others receive nut more than one-fourth
of their relief in food. Fur some special cases
there is the stoneyard, where stone for macadam-
ized roads is broken at so much a ton. Weakly
men, who are not able to perform either of
these kinds of labour, are employed upon the marsh,
a fiat meadow near the Ribble, in sifting great
heaps of silt and sand, brought up by a dredging
machine. The number of men employed at the
stoneyard and the marsh is not very large ; but the
day I visited the moor there were 2,345 able-bodied
men actually on the ground, out of 2,631 whose
names were borne upon the books.
The labourers upon the marsh I did not see. In
the stoneyard the beneficial effects of piecework
were sufficiently evident ; the men, if not showing
any overpowering energy, were working with a
steady, average industry. But the moor was a
strange sight. In front of a clay back, some seven
or eight feet high, were hundreds of men whose
ostensible occupation it was to level the bank, and
wheel the stuff into a gully, distant some 50 to 80
yards. There was something peculiar in the appear-
ance of the gangs of workmen, which at once struck
the eye, as we approached : a little reflection showed
that it was the fact of 2,000 men being engaged in
out-door labour, and not one of them with his
coat off. The only man in his shirt-sleeves was
a gauger, who seemed to be able to keep himself
warm in the task of stimulating and directing the
lagging energies of his men. Scores were standing
idle with their hands in their pockets. Every man
seemed to think that the exertion of wheeling a
barrow a few yards warranted a rest and a chat ;
and barrows and men were to be seen reposing in
every conceivable attitude. Talk was brisk, and
the ►ppearance of a stranger on the scene the signal
for much curiosity and some good-humoured
sarcasm. One of my companions, himself
a working man, accosted several whom he
knew with the remark, " So you're hard at
work r but could not get an affirmative reply. One
man honestly said that he was " makkiug believe"
to work ; and another would only own to "doing a
bit." The superintendent, who had been engaged
in his tliaiikless office since February, had a touch
of melancholy in his'voicie, and spoke as an injured
man. "He could not please himself, and therefore
be knew that he mold not please his maters. he
men were not mutinous ; he could do well enough
with them, if there were work and tools enough fur
all. But half of them bad neither picks nor bar-

rows ; it was little better than playing at work ;"
an opinion in which I must say that I cordially
concurred. The men who were engaged in towering
appeared to much greater advantage, perhaps because
they were more immediatly under the eye of their
overlooker, and had something like real work to do.
How the men on the moor are to keep themselves
warm in a few weeks' time is &mystery ; now every
shower sends them home for shelter ; and on the
fine October afternoon when I saw them, scores
were idly crouching in the warm shelter of some
near brick-kilns. I confess to the opinion that if
the Preston guardians find any work at all for
the able-bodied pauper, it ought to be genuine
work—not such as must infallibly teach even the
industrious man a lesson of idleness.

The story of charitable relief in Preston is well
told in a report recently published by the commit-
tee. The subscription, begun in February last,
has amounted to 14,6801., of which 3,8001.
has been received from the London and
Manchester committees. There is a general board
consisting of twelve persons, over which the scar
presides, but which admits no other minister of
religion. The town is divided into six wards, each
administered by a committee of its own, and repre-
sented at the central committee by its secretary.
One hundred and twenty visitors, whose services
are gratuitous, investigate all cases of want, and
distribute tickets, entitling the recipient to a certain
quantity of bread, soup, potato-hash, or coffee,
all of which are distributed from a common depot.
Each family is visited at least once a week. In
moat caeca the applicants are encouraged to apply
to the guardians, but relief is not denied to those
who are unwilling to take this step. The scale of
help is somewhat low ; the incomes of single persons
being made up to 2e. ; of a family of two, to 3a. &I. ;
of three, to 4s. &1., and so on ; but an impression
appeared to prevail that this amount of relief ought
to be gradually and generally increased. About
130 girls are collected into a sewing-school,
at present held in a private house, but for which
better accommodation will probably have been
found before this letter goes to press. They are not
paid any regular wages, but in lien of them are
held to be entitled to some additional relief. Au
excellent feature in the Preston arrangements is a
sick-kitchen, where cooked meat, mutton broth,
beef tea, arrowroot, sago, and barley gruel, prepared
with exquisite neatness, are dispensed to applicants
who bring with them a medical certificate of need,
at the ;rate of about 100 portions a day. In
the week ending October 11, 7,394 cases, repre-
senting 29,726 persons, were relieved at a cost of
6771. 12s. 6d. ; being an increase on the previous
week of 31k cases, 1,143 persons, and 781. Bs. 6d.
in money. Greater efforts are now being made to
meet the exigencies of the case ; a second soup-
kitchen will be opened at once, and an old foundry
has been converted into a depot for the reception of
gifts of clothing and bedding.
Many of the Preston visitors are themselves
working men of the better class, who are still able
to make a successful struggle against want, a class
than which, where it exists in sufficient numbers,
none can be fitter for this work. One who was
kind enough to allow ins to accompany him in a
part of his rounds was a fine specimen of his
order— clear-beaded, courteous, self-respectful,
self-dependent, whose title to respect was not
that he successfully aspired to rise out of his degree,
but that he consciously made the best of its moral
and social possibilities. He, too, was fighting the
battle, had been long out of work, and knew only
too well the measure of his humble resources ; but
meanwhile be was anxious to do what he could to
mitigate the distress of his fellow-workmen. One
such visitor as himself, he said, had succumbed,
and was now working on the moor ; but he bad
seen the incongruity of his double position ae a dis-
tributor and recipient of relief, and had quietly re-
sigued his office into other hands. From what I
saw in my rounds from house to house, and from
what my companion told me, I gamed a pretty clear
idea of the Preston factory bands. There are many
Irish, with their characteristic merits and failings:
Lancashire has always been one of the most catholic of
English counties ; and Preston, standing at the edge
of a district which comprises several large catholic
estates, is to some extent a rallying point of the
church. There is the usual per ceutage of native
labour ; dragged down by the temptations inci-
dent to poverty in large towns. But there remains
a not small proportion of the honest, the patient,
the independent population, upon whose attitude
in this hour of difficulty England will always look
back with pride. As I passed from house to house
it was impossible not to be struck, at once, with
the simplicity and directness with which my guide,
standing on the same level with those to whom he
spoke, put his necessary questions ; and with the
uncomplaining and sometimes even cheerful
I straightforwardness of the answers. There was as
• little of the harsh and suspicious abruptness
' which often characterises the inquiries of the paid
visitor as of the air of hesitating con-
descension with which the voluntary visitor of
higher rank often enters the poor man's house.
; Every woman had her tale to tell—not always with-
out tears : of work gradually lessening, and at last
taken away ; of half fed and half naked children ;
of the husband on the moor or in the stoneyard ;
, of thankfulness for the extra loaf, or the additional
quart of soup. Here and there the story was sad-
der still : savings melted away ; little speculations
in building brought to a close in total loss ; men
who indulged the hope of ending their days iu a
house of their own, owing to soother's forbearance
the very roof over their heads. Nor did I find it
difficult to believe my companion's statement, that
he and others perpetually came upon cases of shame-
faced poverty, where men and women shut them-
, selves up with hunger and cold, rather than ask the
help of which they so sorely stood in need, either
• from public or private charity.
My general impression of the condition of Pres-
ton was, that the relief was kindly and efficiently
' administered, both by the board of guardians and
I I the relief committees ; but that while.notabsolutely
insufficient, it was upon too low a scale. The
Pleffects of such an error (supposing that in this case
it exists) may not be apparent for some time :
L I presently, depressed spirits, listless and vacant
minds, will offer, with physical powers enfeebled
by a low and mouotouous diet, a fatally ready
1, way for the access of disease. In Preston, in-
t deed, the danger is already at the doors : typhoid
fever, in a peculiarly malignant form, has broken
out in the workhouse ; and the authorities are taking
• the wise precaution of organizing a general white-
r
I washing and cleaning throughout the cottage pro-
perty of the town. But I should not be telling the
' *hole truth if I did not state that, whereas in
I many plates private benevolence is very active, the
two boards of which I have spoken represent sub-
stantially the whole effort of Preston. Ido not
ineap that individuals in every rank of life are not
giving, there as elsewhere, time and aubetanoe to
the service of indigenes : kind-heartedness, thank
God,,knows no limits of locality. But I heard of
no millowners who were charging themselves, with
the total oe partial support of their own
hands. One of the largest has, I believe,