The Express.
London, England, 1847-09-20 00:00:00

THE MONETARY CRISIS.-MEETDIO AT

NEWCASTLE.
An important meeting of the merchants, manufac-
turers, and coal-owner, of Newcastle-on-Tyne and the
neighbourhood, was held at the Turk's Head Inn, in that
town, on Saturday afternoon, to consider the propriety of
pending a deputation to London to confer with the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer on the present alarming state of
monetary and mercantile affairs. The attendance was very
numerous, and included many of the mmt influential mer-
cantile men of the district.

Mr. M. BELL, M.P., Wan called to the chair, and stated
that at the request of a preliminary meeting be had written
to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, to ascertain whether he
was disposed to receive a deputation. Sir Charles Wood, in
his reply, said he should be very glad to receive any gentle-
men, but he did not see what advantage would be derived
from the interview, He was afraid, Sir Chub a added, that
it was not in his power to prevent the effects of over-specula.
tion or mistaken calculation : nobody thought that there
was my want of circulation, or extraordinary pressure in the
money-market upon houses in good credit. The letter was
dated Downing-street, but the chairman observed that the
right hon. gentleman had since left town for Yorkshire.
Mr. W. ARMS-MONO, one of the vice-presidents of the
Chamber of Commerce, said he attended the meeting in
c Injunction with Mr. A. G. Gray, u a deputation from that
body, and he was authorised by the mayor of Newcastle to
say that his worship would be glad to lend the weight of his
official character to any deputation that might be appointed.
Ile (Mr. Armstrong) thought, however, that it was hardly
necessary to send a deputation either to the prime minisur
or the chancellor of the exchequer, after such an expression
of opinion as had fallen from the latter in his communication.
Perhaps the better way would be to communicate with
chambers of commerce in other towns, and, if possible, co-
operate with them in any movement which might be made.
Mr. A. G. GRAY thought they were to blame for having
delayed any action until now, and as the state of affiirs
was daily becoming more serious, the?, ought no longer to
withhold from the Chancellor of the Exchequer their con.
viction that seine steu cught to be taken immediately to
avert consequences which must otherwise ensue.
Mr. MITCALFE (late M.P. for Tynemouth) supported Mr. '
Gray's view, and expressed an opinion based upon informa-
tion he had received irons London, that the commercial crisis
was not even yet fully developed. In his judgment, the cir-
culation of tile country was totally inadequate to meet the
necessities, and to carry on the extensive trade of the empire,
and as that circumstance was attributable to the operation of
the Bank Restriction Act, he thought they should co-operate
with the inhabitants of other towns for die purpose of ob-
taining the abolition of that obnoxious meager°.
Mr. W. H. Baocagrr and other gentlemen enforced the
necessity of sending a deputation. Several maid that the way
in which Sir C. Wood spoke in 114 letter of the nature of the
crisis proved that he was profoundly ignorant of the subject.
Ultimately, after much conversational discussion, the follow-
ing resolution was unanimously adopted, on the motion of
Mr. M. Plummer, chairman of the Newcastle and Carlisle
Railway Company, and one of the oldest merchants in New
castle :

;"--'li;;tthis meeting views with much apprehension the interne de-
ranged state of the monetary affairs of the country, and the emit ir-
rammeat and injuri us consequcnces which must Inevitably result
from any lengthened continuance of the muting prewure on the
whole trade of the empire. That the mercantile, manufacturing, and
mining interests of the north of England, in common with the teene-
r., commercial intents of the country, have for some time suffered
great in.. and inconienience, and are Mill suffering from an unpreee-
dentedle high rate of the value of money, and of the extreme diffi-
culty of obtilnicg it fur all purposes of legitimate commerce and
manufactures; and are apprehensive that a cortinuanoe of the pre-
sent preroure may lead to a serious restriction of the power of throe
engaged in mining and rnanuficturing affdrs to continue employment
to the vast number of men under their control. . _ _

ideisltatronWastheitappoiiiieil,-consisting of the follow-
ing gentlemen, to wait upon the Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer and confer with him on the subject:—Mr. M. Bell,
M.P., the Mayor of Newcastle, Mr. W. Armstrong, Mr. A.
G. Gray, Mr. d. Plummer, Mr. W. Cargill, Mr. If. Morton.
and Mr. Hugh Taylor. The Chairman was requested to
ascertain Sir C. Wood's wishes as to the time and place at
which the interview shall be held ; and the meeting then
separated.
It may be stated, in connexion with this matter, that a
largo portion of the coal trade of the North have commenced
a movement which, if successful, will raise the value
of their commodity in the London market. A
circular has been issued to the representatives of
the collieries of Northumberland and Durham, which
states that a meeting of the owners and representatives
was held on Thursday last, and "having taken into emsi-
deration that the very inadequate remuneration generally
derived from capital invested in the collieries of this district,
during the last two and a half years, has tended to discourage
the power of production, and that the demand for their staple
commodity is increasing," expressed their opinion to be
" that an advance of 2s. per chaldron should be mado " on
all classes of coal ; and a committee was appointed to carry
the resolution into effect.

THE WEST OLOUCESTEREMIitE CONTEST.
SIR, —Fully agreeing with your correspondent,
signing himself West Gloucester,hire Liberal and
Elector," that the best and molt correct information should
too Worded to you, in order that you might form a just
opinion respecting the merits of the election in question, so
that your powerful pen should be wielded on the side of jus-
tice, I nevertheless beg to differ tote eels from my brother
elector, as to the correctness of those inferences which he has
been pleased to draw from facts stated, as he says, for your
guidance.
I at once admit that he has given a correct analysis of the
votes as far as it goes, but I dispute most distinctly that the
votes Mr. Grenville Berkeley received from the liberal party
were any test or proof that he was preferred by the liberals
to Mr. Orantley Berkeley; on the contrary, 1 am perfectly
well assured, that but for bribery to an enormous extent,
treating to profusion, and intimidation, commonly known to
eleetioneering agents under the appellation of "(hearten'," Mr.
Orantley Berkeley's majority of those who have hitherto
' voted fur liberal candidates would have been most unequi-
vocally demonstrated among the liberals. Will any man of
honesty dare to assert, that if Mr. Grantley Berkeley 'a well-
wishers had been protected by the intervention of the ballot,
that his majority among the liberal party would not have
doubled, if not trebled that which Mr. Grenville Berkeley
obtained under the present system of open voting ? Why,
in the county, this is a fact so well established, that to cast a
doubt upon it would be considered folly. Now, sir, to make
a rough calculation, let me suppose that Lord Filxhardinge,
the moot powerful of Mr. Grantley Berkeley's opponents,
could, through his particular influence, send six hundred men
to record their votes for whom he pleased, whether it
chanced to be Grantley Berkeley, Grenville Berkeley, or his
lordship's butler. It is no secret, nor does Lord Fitzhardinge
attempt to conceal the fact, that he considers he has as much
right to the votes of his tenantry (tenants at-will, be it re-
membered) as to their rents, and that ho would eject any
tenants that dared to refuse either the one or the other. I
understate the case very much when I assert that with the
ballot, or left to themselves, five hundred out of the six hun-
dred would have voted for Grantley Berkeley; and when
that hon. gentleman, at his late dinner, asserted that nume-
rous votes were given with smothered execration* at the ty-
ranny which compelled them to be recorded, he spoke the
truth, and he could establish that truth before a committee
of the House of Commons to-morrow. Lord Ducie's tenantry
next come under consideration ; and, although that noble-
man does not take the Duke of Newcastle's kind of line,
although he dots not tell his tenantry that he considers their
votes his property, and that "a man has a right to do what
he likes with his own," yet be pointed to the candidate Gren-
ville Berkeley, and intimated that he supported him, and
then told his tenantry they might do as they liked ; and his
lordship's conduct in so doing seems to me not very unlike
that of the beggar in Gil Mu, who asked charity with his hat
in the road and a musket over the wall. And the activity of
Mr. Moreton, his lordship's steward, was very remarkable.
Now, sir, I arrive at the third nobleman, the Duke of
Beaufort, the leader of the tones ; and that he did all in his
power to return Mr. Grenville Berkeley is a fact as indis-
putable as that he did all he could to defeat his own brother
in Monmouthshire.
Well, sir, the partisans of this noble clique did their work
thoroughly ; and when Mr. Grantley Berkeley asserted that,
in a distr,ct where he had 400 direct promises, the money-
bag or " the screw," or both, converted those promises into a
minority of nine votes against him, he told the truth, and
moreover there would be no difficulty in furnishing a similar
instance from another quarter of the county.
The analysis of the polling, as far as the mode of voting
goes, is correct enough, but your correspondent says not one
word of the strong fact that Grantley Berkeley had a great
majority of votes in districts where the property was divided,
and men dared vote as they pleased. Orem ills Berkeley's
majority was upon the estates of great landholders where
men dared express no opinion of their own; unfcrtunates,
whom Grantley Berkeley described, not inaptly, as being
driven to the polling-booths as beasts are driven to the
shambles.
Before I conclude, sir, you must permit me to make a
short remark upon your correspondent's assertion that, be-
cause Mr. Grenville Berkeley numbered more plumper* than
Mr. Grantley Berkeley, he was, par excellence, the liberal
candidate, a most weak and impotent conclusion. Now, air,
if your correspondent means to assert that Mr. Grenville
Berkeley did not make hie appearance as the avowed castle
puppet, popped up to take the place of Mr. Grantley Berke-
ey, the late castle puppet, he has a peculiar way of thinkiug,
which I can only reply to by the vulgar, but significant,
remark that ho must " tell that to the marines ;' but pre-
suming that I may venture to describe Mr. Grenville Berke-
ley as the present, Mr. Orantley Berkeley as the late,
nominee of Berkeley Castle, I look to the past conduct of
Mr. Grsntley Berkeley, as the castle puppet, for the proba-
bility ;;;`, completely replacing him
• .
in that roll had he got In. As all tun Z;T:..":!!!"' •
Berkeley were acknowledged to have arisen from the dicta-
tion of Lord Fitzhardinge, so there is hope of him when
he repudiates his dictator, confesses his errors, and promises
better foe the future. At least he is no nominee at the
present writing. Had Mr. Grenville Berkeley got in at the
end of the screw, and at the outlay of some 1,5,0001. of his I
patron's money, I do think we might have reasonably looked
for something like Fitzhardinge polities from the castle no-
minee ; and let us ask what those politics are, which your
correspondent says has never elicited a single murmur of
disapprobation from the liberal, of West Gloucestershire ?
Why, a decided opposition, on his lordship's part, since the
Reform Bill, to every measure of reform. By the Reform
Bill he obtained Lis political power, and likewise his reward; ;
and since then, every measure of reform has met with his
opposition. A friend to the corn laws; an enemy to free-
trade ; opposed to the ballot; opposed to the extension of the
suffrage, and an alteration in the qualification of electors ; a

great stickler by the Chandos clause ; an enemy to lease ;
an admirer of the game laws ; and last, not least, was a de-
cided opponent of that most beneficial measure, Post -office
reform. Both are the political opinions of the man your
liberal correspondent sets up as the beau ideal of a Oloucea
tershire whig : to my mind, he seems well matched in
poli-
tics with his Grace of Beaufort. At all events, whig or no
wbig, he is a long way brhii Peet.
As for the tory splits in favour of Grantley Berkeley, they
arise from no political motive, but from a sense of that in-
, decent and hart-faced dictation which bade fair to disgrace
West Gloucestershire—from a hatred of oppression inherent
in ell generous minds. Had a second tory come forward, he
would have been returned by the tortes; neglect of the re-
gistration had insured that on the part of Lord Fitzhardinge.
No tory appeared, and, in the teeth of the Duke of Beaufort,
the Write split for the ill-used man.—As INDEPENDENT
ELECTOR or WEST GLOUCESTERSHIRE, Sept. 18.