The Express.
London, England, 1848-02-01 00:00:00

THE EXPRESS TUESDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 1, 1848.

sun, 108 to 110.
Some observations were made a few days ego un-
der this head, about the extraordinary eagerness dis-
played by the American government in sending to
the mint for re-coinage almost all the foreign gold,
British sovereigns more especially, which entered the
treasury in payment of customs dues ; and it was re-
marked that the operation must present some advan-
tages from the superior puri B
ty of the ritish coin to
compensate the necessary charges of such an opera-
tion. In such case the American recoinage must be
less pure, and be made up in weight with more alloy.
The conjecture was not hazarded without something
more than suspicion of the fact, the verification of
which, however, with any pretensions to precision,
must necessarily be the province of practical and scien-
tific men only. A valuable little work, entitled,
"Tables of British Gold and Silver Coia," by Mr.
James IL Watherston, a respectable goldsmith well
accomplished in the craft and mystery of assaying and
refining, as may be supposed from his selection as one
of
of the jury of the pyx, appointed on the Pith
March last to examine and report upon the standard
weight and fineness of the coinage issued from the
Mint within a given period, comes opportunely to
throw light upon the subject, and to confirm in a
considerable degree the suspicion which was ex-
prmsed. From the explanations gathered from Mr.
Watherston's work, and the tabular illustrations with
which he has favoured us in MS., intended as
a supplement to it hereafter, there is reasonable
ground for the conclusion that advantage is
taken in the United States, and not there only
though principally, of the superior purity of the Bn-
tish standard, both as to weight and fineness, to melt
down and recast British sovereigns into a coinage of
inferior, not to Bay baser, properties. The American
gold "eagles" may, it is true, be coined of the legal
weight, a fact not difficult of ascertainment by the
least intelligent of mankind with the help of money
males, but the weight after all may merely represent
so much more of the alloy employed at the expense,
and to the deterioration, of the fineness of the re-
coined metal, as measured by the British if not the
American standard of purity. It is in all probability
the superior fineness of the British gold coin that is
chiefly speculated upon for defraying the charges of
melting and re-coinage, if not also leaving a profit
beyond. The reduction of the fineness by so many
grains in the ounce may be cheaply substituted as to
weight by the addition of so much more alloy, and as
American gold eagles are no where current or recog-
nised out of the United States, either as circulation or
merchand hie, the inferiority of the standard of the metal,
as tested by that of the sovereign, when slightly only
debased, will net readily be detected, or would he
difficult of detection if suspected, when serving the
purposes of domestic currency only, and circulating
from hand to hand for the adjustment of internal
transaetions alone, and the every-day uses of com-
mon life. But out of this reduced fineness a sufficient
advantage may still be reaped on recoinage, to cover
possibly more than the costs of the process at the
American mint.
So far as concerns internal circulation here, no dis-
advantage can of course be experienced, from the fact
that British gold coin is of the purest and most per-
fect standard in the world, but the reverse. Fur it
must be a satisfaction for the public to be assured, on
the irrefragable authority of the skilled and respect-
able gentlemen who composed the jury of the pyx, by
whom the facts were determined after laborious ex-
periments, and calculations upon a mass of coin laid
before them, that, as Mr. Watherston says, "the most
perfect confidence" may be felt " that the money in our
chests is actually, both in weight and fineness, what
it purports to be." But with gold coin as
exportable merchandise, and as such influencing the
rates of exchange according to its more or hss
accepted parity, the case comes to be materially dif-
ferent. For if the law makes allowance, as it does, for

~. .

" fallibilitise in workmanship," both as regards weight
and fineness, to the extent of so many grains in the
pound troy of coinage for each, whllit by the perfec-
tion to which the Mint processes have fseen brought
such allowances are for
to be superfluous, the coin
being in feet as nearly as possible of standard value
according to :gold which is ascertained
to be within three troy grains of mathematical so.
curacy," it follows naturally that foreigners, fully
aware of the extent of the allowances for the working,
or " remedies," as technically understood, being so
much drawback eßon the standard, calculate the
value of the coin in exchanges as if the
whole of the "remedies" had been availed of,
as y in their own and other countries,
and t the
he are
coin therefore so much below standard.
Snowing that the "remedies" are there as allowed
by the regulations of the Mint, and might be taken
advantage of if necessary or desired, it is only
emrsonable for their own more perfect security that
limy should value the coin in exchange at the loser'
fate of the standard, less the "remedies," or allow-
:was to the worker for possible deficiencies of weight
Theess.
j enury of the pyx had submitted to them a
number of gold coins to the amount of 9,5451. 105.,
being so many °eine taken indiscriminately from so
many pans& of a coinage operation representing in
mites the value of 7,177,7701. 84. The real question
was, from the sample to ascertain the weight and
fineness of the mass as compared with the standard
of the gold trial-plate. Watherston gives,
supplementarily, calculations as to what the " reme-
dies," supposing they Tai been taken advantage of,
as they might have been, would have amounted to in
favour of the workers, but pro tanto to the deterior-
ation of the purity of the coin. It was found that
Ithe 9,5451.105. was found to weigh 2041 be. 3oz. 10dwt.
trey, or four grains more than required by Mint
indenture. The mass of 7,177,7701. Bs. weighed
proportionally 153,6171b1. 4oz. 2dwt. 14 grains,
therefore over weight in favour of the public by
eget. &dirt. 8 grains, whilst in point of fineness it was
found on assay exactly to correspond with the " stand-
ard trial-plate of 1829, which has been proved to be
within 3 troy grains in the pound of mathematical
accuracy."
Now, apart the alight variation in regard to
weight, so slight indeed as to beta en an
astonishing precision of process, and moreover a va-
riation in excess of the required or standard weight,
what would the "remedies" for weight and fineness
have amounted to in weight and value, supposing
they had been taken to account, as they might have
been? From Mr. Watherston's calculations, we learn
that the legal " remedy" for weight (12 grains to the
pound troy) upon the 153,6171b5. 4oz. 2dwt. 14 grains,
representing the sum of 7,177,7701. Bs., would have
been 32011 m. 001. Bdwt. 16 grains, or say in sterling
14,9531. 13e. 9d., whilst the " remedy" for fineness
(15 grains to the pound troy) would have been
4001bs. Ooz. 10dwt. 20 grains, or in sterling
20,3921. 6s. Upon each million of sovereigns the
" remedy" for fineness would be equal to 55Ibs. Boz.
16dwt. 21 grains of pure geld, or 2,8411. Os. 60.
These figures represent the pro rota of lose suffered
in the operations of foreign exchange by the custom
of calculating British gold at the lowest rate of value
upon the presumption that the " remedies" are
availed of, and therefore the coin so much
below standard weight and purity, whereas
the fact is, that the " remedies are no
longer called for, through the perfectibility to which
the art of coinage has attained, and are become a
thing of name only, a sort of al fiction, without
substantial existence, like a shoal of other venerable
remains of antiquity which cling about courts of law.
With respect to France and the United States the
case is different The whole " remedy" the amount
of which for fineness is the same as in this country,
is there taken advantage of by the workers and con-
tractors of the Mint, so that it is only just that other
countries should estimate the coin of those nations
at ita lowest point of fineness and of value in ex-
change.
would be difficult to estimate even approximately.
the aggregate lees sustained by this country in the
operations of foreign exchange alone by the under-
estimate of the real fineness and value of British
coin, arising out of the " remedies," which are known
to be exigible, and by which, if availed of, the coin
would be by so much deteriorated, althoug the coir
is in reality rendered quite pure and of h the less.
standard, and the " remedies" are not called
for or taken advantage of at all. England—
London above all—is the great drawing and paying
place—the general loaning and liquidation bank of
the world. Hundreds of millions are yearly drawn
upon, and made payable in, this country from
foreign parts, or vice versa, bills are drawn and ne-
gotiated here upon all quarters. The rates of ex-
change are based upon and regulated proportion-
ably by the value set upon the legal coin, itself a
common article of merchandise. Supposing that the
fifty-two or three millions of British exports were to
be taken as the amount, subject only to the influence
of the under-estimate of gold before pointed out, the
difference in loss upon the bill exchange operations
consequent (leaving imports out of question) would
amount per anaum to no less than 147,550/.
The remedy suggested by Mr. Wathereton for this
wanton waste created by " remedies " for defective
working at the Mint, which are now superfluous, is,
if not the abolition, the material duct
on of the
" remedy," on fineness, to one half atre least of its pre-
sent nominal figure, say from 15 grains to 7i grains
in the pound troy. On view of the results of the last
great coinage of over seven milliens, no prejudice
would appear to be suffered from a larger reduction
still, although the Bank of England might lose some
of the advantage now possessed of having their gold
reported lower to them than to the public.
The following table, constructed by Mr. Wather-
ston, gives a simple and intelligible view of the loss
inflicted upon the country by the present system of
the Mint:
BRITISH MEASURE OP VALUE IN RESPECT OF L 1,869 STER-
LING WITH FOREIGN COUNTRIFR CONTRA.
1,869 Diaeresis are selected is this atatement im account of their
weighing an even number of pounds Tray without fractions. In the
manufacture, however, of thts amount, a melody for contingencies
of the value of E 9 44.00. is allowed for such errors as are supp 104osed
to be unavoidable in the promss of coinage, namely.
EI 1
for inamorata.* in weight, and Xi M. 2d. for inaccuracies in line-
men*.

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MY Mech, ICI 9
tiallaailirtictlll4, a
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Diaz: Cie3,4l.

IUNDS.
• tor 04 Danisa Dia. 1926,
der., 1069 9
6 Ds CON trilt Doak. Dlr.
Do,. IMO.
Do. .Lixt.. rob. liati.
3 pot C4DpAlei 319
Iffels.
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4 Pet Ct. Ditto Oitida..llll
errocKe 11110 AD.
Mismal.

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lON. 913 : DM°. Bee. IT;ok le 19819w0. 79i 72 WI ; Ts .nc. on
Lemke : 24 614
Bum. JAN. W—a. lawiL sad. 39. 929 92.
T,,,,,,A, jaJA W—ltes pad
0M... lin . Four roe Ceuta, 99:
Three pa 0.1;;. 'ftwoldirlhall per Chute. 604; Lo is. a* 184:
Ditto. lOW, 01; Ira ohms. Lem.
31001,0940. JAS. 27.—Arwriea PM per Conta.lol4 • Bea Sharer.
1,,,
LBW ; MaCenlaaa. 184 d: lire per Cent. UNA. eat. 1014
p.. 95 ; Hope and Co . MIA atol Fourth Bsrles,
WI,. pu NM, liewe NM Co. 86 ; Ditto. admllta. U;
=.., in. v. ch.t... 139 bilh, 13knone7 ; DlBOO. T9l9eza
ALS; NIA Met. Debi Tenased s 1 per Cede. IA ;
law pw OW; SO ; Dasidalhatieh Loa. 81

himself were dientiefied with the management of emirs wend
have the manliness to com
ae *,*wand sall dimmed a sememittes
it
ingwiry, in order irotr laamoshas ; Ind
it leler Nand the MoraC bell hese bib efelip, impireeil
then hae greet meideeddl is ergallthell demi of staggnid
isedid v
essy. To wadi ea nimbi ler Ins ia deseanding ink
emandlles si leepky le meald my, let dna amen imessewlesies
ease therinenelessimer was dosed, andimmeneelnly apes
disk rosin paddent Iss then ask thenedess Inn wowed
be dr value eftheirperselp
_ekes *lithe peeper& smitswaree
De carried eat; ark 101 them rk dreariesembelber
=lwo any way wherag *it peemed Wining repair
etselklie Amen. If Ikon line ley redness mow web.
weald Jell la sate nediat he should be bow to Mate byi
views to them, sad to WWI a elsolidea wpm the
_Me. Pelee had ow Mid Whatever et Ifee still Vitt
work now proposed. bet at She more dee it was
that the shire olden should know where the fall. Mae
i
to come from. He was at one time in the late Lines
pool and Bury line, and at that time he remembered then
was a meeting held at Liverpool, at which it was deems
rained to apply for the an of parliament, and sham I,
were issued to the proprietors to enable the company
to airy out the proposed extension. It therefore appeased to
him to belong more particularly to the late Liverpool and
Bury_Company then to the shareholders in the original Leeds
and Yorkshire line. The country was at this moment la-
' boning under the effects of the paaie, mad he thought those
who had invested their property in the Yorkshire line
ought not to pay up calls for this extension. If they were
called upon they would moat of them be obliged to sell out
'at a greet loss, as the shares were now at pante prices. It
appeared to him that this business belonged peculiarly to the
late Liverpool end Buy shareholders, end ought not to
affect the abereholders in the original Yorkshini line. lie
considered the amalgamation with the Liverpool and Bury
Company was ill-considered, and that the burden now
' should be put on the right shareholders. The question,
therefore, wee—out of what funds, and upon whom, area
I this expense te fall? It ought only to fall upon these
,who first proposed it.—The Chairman said that, with
regard to the observations of Mr. Price, that gen-
-11 dram wee under • misapprehension when he sup-
reed that the capital for the Tithebarnetreet extension
I weed& be raised by any calls upon the shareholders in the
1 original Manchester and Leeds line. It would come out of
the capital raised as the 321. Extension Stock of the Man-
i cheater and Leeds Company, and the whole of the money
let the proposed snowiest would be raised by calls upon the
lulders of that particular stock. As there appeared to be
considerable misapprehension with respect to the object
of the extension therm, he would beg to refer the thine
holders to the report of the directors at the half-yeedg
meeting in 1846, where they would find detailed particular
with reference to the extension stock. They would en
there that the Manchester and Leeds shareholders, who
had provided that stock, would in return be entitled to
dividends upon any portion of that capital as soon u it camel
into profitable operation, or in other words they would be I
entitled to their dividends upon any portion of their money i
expended on an extension railway, too aeon asthat extension was
I opened. With regard to the question, and it was one oficapor-
race, what would be the probable cost of the Tithebarn-
street e :tension, the line, although short, would be an
expensive one, paring through building property almost
entirely from end to end. The contemplated expense was
300,0001. • but he was more willing to assume that it would
be 400,000/. However, the East Lancashire Company had
applied to parliament claiming the privilege of constructing
one-half of the line, and that company would of course have
one-half of its use, and pay one-half of the coat of construc-
tion; and the half to be borne by this company would pro-
bably amount to 200,0001., to be subscribed for by that class
of shareholders who hold extension shares, and the other
half of the 400,0001. he war informed they would have power
to raiseby mortgage. Now, with regard to the observations
of Mr. Kynuton, as to • committee of inquiry, no question
of that kind could of course be decided at the present
meeting ; but it was • fit and proper subject to be
brought forward at the half-yearly meeting, which
duty
AS glad was so ear at hand as it would then be his
to lay such an statement before the shareholders as
won,' enable them to judge for themselves as to the position
of the company, and also as to the necessity which there
might be for following the course which the honourable
proprietors had suggested. lie assured the meeting that
it was the earnest wish of the directors to possess the full
confidence of the shareholders. Within die last three years
this company had obtained powers to make 233 miles of rail-
way , of which 100 miles was nearly ready to be opened, and
that was the portion upon which the company had concen-
treted the greatest amount of their mesas ; 33 miles were pro-
gressing slowly towardscomplt don ; and
pushedl had not yet
been commenced. Now, if they had n with all the
lines during last summer, the directors might justly have been
accused of having proceeded rashly and imprudently. Some
very absurd reports had been circulated during the month
of November with regard to various railway cempenies, and
their own company had not escaped. (Hear.) He would,
however, state, in cue no gentleman asked for details, that
every report which he had heard was entirely without foun-
dation.
(Applause.)—Mr. Kynaston: Then I have heard a
report that Mr. Hawkshaw'e salary is reduced to 2,5001. Is
that correct ?-1. he Chairman : The directors had given up
all claim to the 3,6001. per annum which had been voted te
them, and the salaries of the principal officers of the one-
pany had been cut down one-half, although their ellrfeele
would be continued a. formerly, After alluding to the sari-
fice made by Mr. Hawkshaw, in giving his services exclu-
sively to the company at the time engineers were in so much
request, the chairman said that everything had been done by
the directors which could be done by any board, for the pur-
pose of infusing energy and activity into the management.
If the shareholders Should at any future period determine
upon a committee of inquiry, as mooted by Mr. Kynastost,
the directors would be perfectly prepared to give any expla-
nation that might be required.—After the usual routine
votes had been passed, and the majority of the proprietors
bad left the room, it was discovered, by as accurate scrutiny,
that the votes were as follow : In favour of proceeding with
the extension, 96,913 ; against it, 7,514. The extension will
therefore be proceeded with.
East LANCASHISE.—GeneraI and Extraordinary Med-
ing.—Bury, Jan. 31.—J. Grundy, Esq., in the cbair.—Tbe
eighth ball-yearly general meeting was held, and at the clue
of the ordinary meeting an extraordinary meeting of the
company was held, for the purpose of confirming the for-
feiture of certain shares in the said company, already de-
clared forfeited by the directors, and for the purpose of di-
recting the sale or other disposition of the said shares. The
report stated that
Since the 31st December the arrears of calls have been reduced to
the sum of 57,9001., and now that the pressure on the monetery re-
moras of the isometry is considerably relaxed,
the directors trust
that ere long the amount now due for calls nit be further reduced.
From the secretary's circular of the 21th of November lest, it
will be seen that the board has considered it expedient to modify
the arrangement preetwelg weed upon in paying interest on
ants —a modification wails le authorised by
.the prorates* al
the company's wits of perilleelents and founded. oo the &min"
believe, upon just grin
opts The lea profit &Netleton the work-
ing of the lines now in operation inn the Pen hill reer eleeeete
to the sum of 14,405/. 195. 91.1.—• Winn winch, Waft la view the
commercial depreeion, affecting, 6Whie the pat Wig yew, every
branch of sennufacturing indany in thisierin an she the Wean-
pietc state of the railway, the ereakerserasiars mtlekatem7; hollows
a clear prat of 4 per own epee re mat at tiedbrisnow working.
The dividend of S per ewe. dee as the
he
amowatiag to
the sum of I,o2ll=abis rant
4 the harms et revenue ac-
count ; but es the et Ow al
0111122115215 alonlet• Om
directors propose to apprepriste the remelneerd Ihisremete the
general porpone of the vwfareelffeg. Stbewarktagersemmitheem-
uray tor the hair-penamonattesesneee per ens.= der+
The directors on arms the obsesheMmis that it has sot blear=-
out the exordia either:4llrd esenten that they site bee able
to keep nide( urns ebbs als limit Ia essereares;
thew rasa.ei the Woman ember te hi the preffelleld abet
el the fasempiste stets er the poor rens et the era er% es-
=ilie Berbera awl nresess, end Ilamberse, Mien seat
Lbws are entirely unmerited, wale ensons ma r-
eread ansaditure in the &abbe et the Irene. At sae pried ot
the pest half-year, the dewier Wee ander the epprebnies that
the cowpony's worlor must be errewhel to es sleet thee weekt
how postponed indednitely the cawing ea the tweelediar et the rail-
way. Such • suspenake hie bees mobs& ebbe. the dbeelore
have curtailed the
expend
on the works ante the wirer COO-
oklorabl
fie .• the progressive return to • boner etemetilei end
goodie.= in the occi=r7l3l, it le herr; mak the beard
to mime the future et the vats.
Oa reberhhe to the report of
debe2 the drefasidera
ell be libelee& of the wawa e the herbs ebbe entreat:
mg teem bib &sport it appeals eel Is the mew et the yam&
me. the voliel mai le the nelsj=libil. The awe-
Willman more that the weeks ea the Deb Dm& have
set yet bees eserriesmeL This brenekkundor •Er Wen^ end 1
the whole et the bed (nth the einseden ed aro mai yeentm) I
required tithe eratatrwilkei hes len peelers& The Wine le be 1
works lemon wine ekseen, awl as the Nee le to he sesta en
Leine asesertaf thei and the lansulbe and Teelablee ishway
Company, mend al the met will he hem by the Wier mumany.
The director@ rudder it
sate bed
te weer& with re ansetioe of
these works lwatadtately, we *eine eseseete your uadietattag with
the desk at Liverpool, and la ateoindy astemary for the aseneamo-
dens et pser reds traffic at that port.
The Chairman, in moving the adoption of the report, ob-
eerved that the amount they had secured on loan since the
last meeting was only 10,0001., excepting where landowner
had taken their payments as loans subject to interest instead
of ready ash.—Mr. J. Rand, of Bradford, seconded the
motion.—Mr. Armitage, of Halifax, asked if there was any 1
truth in a report that the London and North Western
and Midland Companies had made overtures to lease 1
their line at six per cent.—The Chairman replied to
the effect that the London and North Western and I
the Lancashire and Yorkshire Companies had made
such en offer, but that it was accompanied with a'
contingent which would have set the offer aside if they had I
otherwise thought of entertaining it; and that contingent
pwasi tht the leasing oompanies should have the option of
aynga off the shareholders of the Rest Lancashire proprie-
tors at par. Of course the offer was based on the then con-
dition of the money market, and the fact that their share'
were at 61. or 71. discount; but, even under those circum-
stances, the meeting would see that this offer could not have
been accepted.—Mr. Blacklock said he understood the offer
to be 6 per cent., and tke line to be afterwards purchased at
20 or 2.,) per cent. profit, but with no contingent as to pay-
ing off at par.—The Chairman said the statement he had i
already made was correct —Mr. Vance, 01 London, in a
long. address, complained that the quarter shares had been
put in receipt of 5 per cent. interest, contrary to the original
arement, by which they were not to receive interest till
1850.—The Chairman explained that the filet agreement was
before it wail agreed to give interest on other shares, but an
act was subsequently passed empowering them to do it.—
Mr. Vance concluded. with an amendment negativing that
part of the report, but it was not seconded.—The resolution I
was agreed to with one dissentient only, in a very large
meeting.—The Chairman next moved the reappointment of
retiring directors, which was carried without dissent. In
answer to a question it was stated that the money required to
complete the main line was 280,0001., and that if that
amount were forthcoming that portion would be open by
June, and a remaining portion by autumn.—A motion by
Mr. T. Greg, against Sunday travelling, was also negatived ;
but it was stated that two Sunday trains had been taken off
the line.—The extraordinary meeting then commenced, and
the Chairmen proposed the forfeiture of 485 shares, on
which an aggregate of 2,2681. had been paid.—After some
unimportant discussion, as to whether the directors should