The Express.
London, England, 1848-03-09 00:00:00

EAST MIA HOUSE.

Yesterday a special general meeting of the proprie-
tors of East India Stock took place at the company's house,
in order to consider the case of the late ex-Rajah of Satan.
The chair was taken by Mr. H. St. George Tucker. The
Court was thinly attended.
The CHAIRMAN stated that since the last court certain
papers had been presented to parliament, the titles of which
would be read.— The clerk read the titles of the papers.—
The Chairman stated that this court was made amnial for
the reconsideration of the case of the late ex-Rajah of
Sattara.
Mr. J. Hoax, 4.1'., complained that the ballot had not
been taken on the last meeting. The court was asked only to
retrace its steps, and re-open the inquiry, as to the innocence
of the ex-Rajah of Slitters. The son. proprietor then re-
viewed the proceedings of the court of directors, which have
already been fully reported. His (Mr. Hume's) object was
to obtain a ballot. lie wished each proprietor to give his
vote upo:: the came. lie would persevere until justice was
done to the late ex• Rajah. Mr. Hume concluded by tendering
an addition to the advertised resolutions.
March 8, IB4B.—We, the undersigned proprietors of FAA India
stoe.h, duly qualified by law and present in court, do request that the
soon of directors will appoint a tiallot, accorillog to chap:er 8, section
I of the by-Lois, to determine the quastimt this day brought before
the general court, relative to the es.e of the Lite Itinth of Sattara.
(Signed) Joke,, Hews, J. Sewesa, Jona hattio% S. lissatsr,
THECKET, Jonsaros, IL STEPHEN, ALONE H J. LITAa, TH,PE
NEWNHAM.

The CHAIRMAN would not receive any addition at the
present moment. He intended to move an amendment,
that of adjournment.—Mr. Serjeant GAZELEE protested
against this course. He said, it these questions of adjourn-
ment were to be moved the fate of the court of directors was
sealed. Ile had the utmo.t respect for the directors, hut
they had got into had company. (Laughter.) The by-law
upon the question of adjournment was illegal, and the pro-
prietors would subscribe their money and fight the directors
upon the point.
Mr. Lewis contended that the by-law by which the court
was attempted to be coerced was illegal. It was LA follows :
Ily-law, elup. 8, see. I.—ltem : It is ordained that if at an. some-
rid court nine of the members present, duly qualified to vote. shall
demand a ballot foe determining any question, eacept for adjourn-
ment, or the preriotis question, or an amendment, such question
shall be put by the und not otherwise.
After some discussion upon the subject,
Mr. TitostesoN, M.P., said the ballot was given to the
proprietors for their protection, and not to overpower those
who were the friends of justice and truth.
Sir J. W. 11000 defended the legality of the by-law, and
said that the right to ballot was not given by common law or
by any statute, but only by tke by-law of the company. The
ballot could not be demanded until after it was known what
amendment would be proposed to the original motion, which
ceased to be the question before the court the moment that a
motion for an adjournment was made, and which took pre-
cedence of every other question. It was the duty of the
court to uphold the by-laws, which had been framed by
themselves. (No, no.) He approved of the course pursued
by the chairman in stating at once his intention to move an
adjournment instead of delaying making such inten-
tion known until a late period of the debate. The whole
question of the case of the Rajah had been
discussed over and over again in that court, and a
dozen times at least decided on its merits. Why was not
a ballot demanded on any one of those occasions ? Why was
that course now adopted as a last resource ? He next
alluded to the proceedings of the last court, and to the few
votes given on that occasion, notwithstanding the efforts
made by Mr. Hume, by sending a circular letter to every
individual proprietor, imploring his personal attendance.
(Hear.) But yet, out of 2,000 proprietors, he obtained the
votes of 22, only. (Hear.) The adjournment was moved
out of respect to the proprietors, whs had declined to inter-
fere in the case of the Rajah. They had decided on the
ease twenty or thirty times at least, and it had also been de-
cided in the Houle of Commons. Were the directors t
treat all those decisions as nothing—(hear)—and treat with
contempt the decisions repeatedly Riven by vast majorities of
the court ? It was for the benefit of India that the further
agitation of this question should be put down. (Hear.)
Muter proposed that the original motion should now
be put.—The Chairman desired the clerk to read the motion,
but previous to that being done, said he considered the ques-
tion was long ago finally disposed of by that court. No
radical good cou'd result front leaving it to be decided by
ballot by 2,000 proprietors, very few of whom took any inte-
rest in it, or knew anything at all about the question, which
was too complicated for the majority of them to understand.
Mr. HINE said the proprietors generally took more in-
terest in this question than the bon. chairman supposed, and
he wished them to have an opportunity of expressing their
opinion. He should place his protest before the chairman,
and then leave the court. The hon. proprietor then with-
drew.

Mr. SULIVAN called for &written opinion of the standing
counsel of the company relative to the proper construction of
the by-kw.
The CH maseAN said he had no doubt the learned gentle-
man would furnish one.
The question of adjournment was then put and carried.
The court then adjourned.

METROPOLITAN EARLY CLOSING
ASSOCIATION.
The sixth annual meeting was held last evening,
to Exeter Hall. The Lord Mayor presided, and having
made a few observations,
The Simarreav read the report, of which the following
is an abstract:
In prusenting their report, the central board congratulated the
feint& of the exiety on the steady progreas which, notwithstanding
many obstacles, the muse has made sitar the last annual meeting of
the association. Within the small space of time referred to, raven
public meetings have been held, addresses bad been drawn up ter,
and as far as the funds of the society would admit, had been circu-
lated amongst, both employers and assistants, and this in addition to
the other ordinary and arduous Matinees' of the arsociadon.
The more immediate object of these meetings had been to
submit to the arwistanta situated in the caritas, part+
of Loodon a natt me, the leading Intone of which were
to provide that a copy of an addrese, which is in the posses-
sion of the Central Board, shall be forwarded to every heave,
excepting those of the poorer cloaca, in and around the metro-
polis. That, as soon as convenient atter the distribution of throe ad-
&noes, there shall be public meetings held throughout the various
diatticts of the metropolis. That in addition to thee ordinary
public meetings there shall alto be holden special ones of the working
chosen That, following up the holdingof the various ineetinge, every
householder to whom the siddreaes have been sent shall be woke.]
upon requesting their signamres. ar.d that each of their respective
inmate pledge themselves that they will ever after both deuvatinue
and discountenance thecustom of ehoppifig after Us o'clock in the
evening. That after the lame of a few months subsequently to there.
eeiptot the aforementioned pledgee it is intended to tot ite a general
meeting of employers tor the final settlement of the question.
It is pooh:led in the scheme that m addition to the ordinary quarterly
subscription of Is., there *Mill be a gearral collection of at least ed.
from each eminent in all trades. That there shall be a entree of at.
tractive lecture* held by the association, 10 waich there shall be ad-
mission by moderate price ticketss. That all clergymen, and minis-
ters of the gospel generally, shall be solicited to give lectures on the
moral and other evils of the late-hour system, and to allots collections
to be afterwards made U the doors on behalf of the amociatitio. The
sufferers from over-toil teem at length to be awaking to Mow grievous
privations which they have to long and so needlerely endured. Nor
arc these awakened feelings confined to ono or two department.. of
buenesa On the contrary, in addition to those engaged in shops,
saddlers, bakers, railway clerks, bankers' clerks. all are found moving,
slowly it might be, bit most steno llp and effectually, in the same di-
rection. Nor I. the movement confined to the metropolis; it may
he perceived in nearly all the provincial towns: it found its way
into the various factories of England; and within a few days it exhi-
bited dull by rising above the disturbed elements of agitated Paris.
The receipb,uul expenditure of the 3,906/. fund, including a balance
brought to received account of 1941., amounted to 5941. I Is. The re-
ceipts for the year amounted to 4951. 195., out of which a balance re-
mainedof 121. 16s.
Letters having been read from Lord John Manners, the
Hon. and Rev. M. Villiers, and the lt,r. J. Sherman, ex-
cusing themselves for non-attendance, arid expressing their
cordial sympathy with the objects of the meeting,
Mr. THWAI 7ES, a master draper, moved the first resolu-
tion, which was for the adoption of the report. He thought
' that the general apathy of the employed themselves did
more to atop the progress of the movement than any other
circumstance, and hoped speedily ta see among them a far
different feeling, by which alone their object could be
obtained.
The Bishop of OXFORD sec miled the resolution. It
seemed to him clear that they were met together to reline.'
a great practical evil. He believed the practice of late hours
of business was generally admitted to be :in evil ; neverthe-
less, he thought its discussion should not be abandoned, be-
cause, to overturn the present system, it was necessary to
have the hearty, and, in some casts, the self sacrificing,
sympathy of a large hotly of men; and it was
rather by detail. than by the simple enuncia-
tion of the conclusions arrived at, that those sym-
pathies were to be obtained. In the first place, bodily
health mutt necessarily fall a sacrifice to the system. The
nature of the labour of the assi,tant was not like the labour
of the intellect, which at the same time that it wearies stores
the mind and body, and might be said to bring, refreshment
with it; nor was their labour such as it would be if the shops
were constructed as they should be—with a view to the
health of those employed in them, instead of being merely
for the display of the goods which they bad to sell. It was
well known that but few comparatively of those young men
ever set up in business for themselves • for the majority
were worn out at middle age by labour which the Gad who
made their frames never intended those frames to endure.
Then there was the uecessary intellectual injury inseparable
from the system. He asked what right bad the
public to doom any class of yeutio men to a dura-
tion of employment which rendered it morally im-
possible that they could obtain any intellectual im-
provement ? Nor was the system less disadvantageous
to that social improvement and social intercourse which
was the rest and the purifier of the heart of man. 'llls led
him to what was perhaps the most import.nt part of the
question. tlt was said that if young men were re-
leased at an early hour it would be only for mischief ;
but he asked what was it that led to debauchery but neglect-
ing the higher parts of a man, and stitualating the lower
ones. If they were liable to go into mischief if liberated at
seven o'clock at night, what would they do at nine, ten, and
eleven ? He did not see the moral good contained in the last
few hours. The success of their object depended ou three
parties—the employers, the employed, and the public—but,
he believed that the power rested mainly on the latter, and
he hoped that they would use their best exertions to exer-
cise if.
The report was adopted unanimously.
The Earl of Ileuttowne then moved the second reso-
lution :
This meeting record. its conviction that the custom which still too
generally prevails of keeping shops open until a late hour at night, is
detrimental to the best interns of their proprietors, and wholly at
variance with the religious, moral, and mental diocipline, the social
comfort, and physical well-being of the many thousands of young per-
sona who are engaged therein.
If the public wore to give up late hours of put
chase, a large poi tion of them must be furnished with
the means, and must look to the general employers of labour
to pay their wages at an earlier hour. It was thus that all
the great questions hung together, and resolved themselves
into one general evil, which he hoped it was left for the pre-
aent generation to remedy. He asked where they would
find in any other country the same amount of labour im-
posed on any man ? Is parts of Germany the shops were
closed
thaltlntirhiereoe'clocankd, tohg,:inatign.uined till six. tile ve
ildwire
t
recommend that system to be exactly followed out in this
country, but he certainly recommended an approach to it.
In the manufacturing districts, all that had been done for
limiting the hours of labour had resulted in unmixed im-
provement ; the men, the mothers, the wives, and the chil-
dren, were all improved in condition, and demoralization
was certainly not the result. On the contrary, the mechanics'
institutions, the schools, and all places of the kind, were
never so much frequented as at present.
Mr. D. W. WINE seconded the resolution.
The Rev. R. Buitosss supported the resolution. Ile
noticed with considerable pleasure the fact that since the
last meeting the operations of the association had not been
confined to one class, but included every trade in the me-
tropolis.
The resolution was adopted, and was followed by another
of a similar character, which was supported by Mr. Ilindley,
M.P., Mr. Charles Knight, and the Rev. Dr. Cumming.
The usual complimentary vote to the chairman concluded
the proceedings.