The Express.
London, England, 1847-02-26 00:00:00

BROKERS AND FACTORS.

A contest has recently arisen, or rather has been
revived, about the claims of brokers to charge brokerage in
their sales both to the seller and the buyer, or, say to the
merchant, whose goods are consigned for sale to their care,
and to the dealer, factor, or consumer, who makes the pur-
chase. The more special ease in point upon which the
question is now raised, and at issue, concerns the hide trade,
to which, therefore, the few observations following mast be
understood to be addressed.

Although nominally the parties in the came are the broken
only, and the tanners (after all, but a portion of the body),
who are called up in the character of complainants, yet, in
reality, there is a third party, which should he prominently
in court, and who must evidently be considered to have
pushed the tanners into the advanced poet of a controversy,
In which really they can be said to have no interest at stake,
and no grievance to allege as against the brokers. That
Party ie the leather-factors, when bye play consists in keep.
lug in the back ground certain interests of their own, whilst,
as it seems to us, somewhat harshly endeavouring to depre-
ciate those of their neighbours engaged in another branch of
the same trade. Some of the country tanners are made to
feel aggrieved about the brokerage they are compelled to
pay to the broker, according to the conditions on which
the goods are put up to publics sale. It may be assumed
that the exorbitant amount of the brokerage is not so
much the grievance, as the right of exacting it, for the
matter in litigation refers only to one half per cent, wkich
is levied upon the buyer, the other half, which constitutes
the entire commission of the broker, being paid by the mer-
chant owner of the goods sold. Now, 'supposing the entire
one per cent. to be laid upon the owner—what then ? Does
the tanner conceive therefore that he should he able to buy
one half per cent. more cheaply ? It seems scarcely pos-
sible that any man could fall into so egregious a mistake.
For the owner would naturally lay the half per cent.
additional upon the value of his goods, with some fractional
amount more to make up round numbers in prices. If no
advantage therefore could possibly result to the tanner,
why should an old custom of the trade (a century old), be
quarrelled with, when it has at least the merit of linking the
interests and sympathies of the broker, in favour of the buyer.
as well as the seller, and of leading him to deal in • certain
spirit of impartiality between both. An old custom is not
necessarily an abase ; it may be, as in the present case,
a real advantage, not to the tanners only, but to the leather
factors as well, for it must not be supposed that the brokers
do not give a sufficient quid pro goo in their mot for the
half per cent. in question.
The custom of the trade is, that goods sold should be paM
for in fourteen or twenty-eight days, which is milled the
prompt. The broker need not deliver the goods before the
expiration of the prompt, when at the same time the value
' should be paid. The purchaser ham an equal right to decline
receiving them until the some period. Bet, in the usual
honourable spirit of British credit and confidence, the broker
waives this condition, and at his own risk too. " If,"
said Mr. Rim, at a recent public sale of Marrs. Goad and
Rigg " a 51-• buys goods from us, and comes the next
day for his delivery order, from the moment that order
passes from our hands to his, we are responsible tea the seller
(the owner), and if anything happened to the factor within
those twenty-eight days, we alone would be the sufferers."
The delivery on demand is never refused to any respectable
factor or buyer, and to show the extent of risk to which the
broker in nth caw roam himself liable, take the following

passage from the speech of the same gentleman, referring to
the transactions of his own house: " I would just observe,
that one house alone, which is the prime mover in this appo-
sition to the buyers' brokerage, h • frequently owed us large
sums of money; at one time 29,600/., at other times 20,20 W.,
22,0001, 20,5001., for goods bought and delivered to them,
and for which payment was not demanded until the prompt,
we being, dunng that period, without one penny of security
for the mountourd alone responsible to the miler. When-
es er they buy largely, they invariably hive a prompt of
twenty-eight days. Is not that an accommodation worth
one-half per cent. ? "
It is not to be supposed that the, brokers always escape
without heavy losses upon such a system. Ina letter of the
hide-brokers to the merchants, explanatory of the nature of
the controversy on foot, it is observed that " Goods are almost
always delivered without the payment of money, and many
of the buyen are drawn upon by us (at our risk) at two or
four months' date for the payment; and it is a notorious fact
in the trade, that we have all suffered heavy losses, from time to
time, in debts so contracted." The merchant own ing the goods
shares no part of the risk ; the broker is bound to pay him
the amount realised by the sale, whether he receive it or not,
And, lastly, the fact may be stated that the twenty-eight
days credit thus afforded is nearly equal in interact account
alone to the one-half per cent. in liugation, leaving the risk
out of the question. As, at the sale referred to, it was inti-
mated that the brokers made one per cent. on their charges,
Mr. ltigg thus repelled the insinuation : "I do not hesitate
to say that we have no secrets whatever in our business, and
that if you select a gentleman to inspect our books, we will
gladly show them to him, and he will find that in ne can
have we charged more than the usual brokerage."
Several of the most respectable and extensive tanners
and hide-houses, such as Mr. Patient., Mr. Drake, Mr.
Meek, B:c., spoke highly of the upright and honourable con-
duct of the London brokers during the discussion in the sale
room on the occasion referred to. And it should be borne in
mind, that if, as stated, the same custom of charging
half per cent. to the buyer does not gain in Liverpool, Hull,
and other ports, the brokers there are not debarred, as the
London broken absolutely are, from dealing and jobbing on
their own account. A handsome testimony was recorded by
Mr. John Drake (said to be the largest tanner of
foreign hides in the kingdom) of a Liverpool mer-
e:hint in favour of the London brokers, to the effect
that "the selection of goods by broken in London is made
in a much fairer way, as regards the manufwiturer, than
takes place in Liverpool." Mr. Drake added, that the selec-
tion was " worth one-half per cent. more."
Let us hope that these disagreeable alterations, arising out
of unworthy clam jealousies between members of the acme
trade, will be heard of no more. There is room for the
exercise of the honourable industry of all, and whilst the
leather factors themselves charge the tanners some 2 or 2l
per cent. commission for buying or for selling for them, with
other advantages, they are surely little entitled to complain
!of the broker', hlt per cent., fee which they themselves
obtain such ample accommodation and compensation.

IRELAND.
DUBLIN, Fan. 24.
As I have often before stated, Mayo alurnates
with Cork in the display of intense misery. Not-
withstanding the greater sympathy which the remote
districts of Cork have created, and the assistance
which has been so liberally bestowed, I am disposed
to believe that, relatively to the population, the mor-
tality in Mayo is greater. The last May. Constitu-
tion contains another catalogue of " deaths from star-
vation," running up to twenty. Some, it is true, are
dated so far back as the 10th, which leads to the pre-
sumption that some of the deaths had been duplicates.
But the roll is altogether of new materials, and none
of the victims have hitherto been chronicled. Of the
number, two are reported to have died on the public
works. In the neighbouring county of Roscommon, the
distress is acute, and the state of the calendar
represents the connexion between crime and misery.
Judge Ball, in charging the grand jury yesterday,
regretted the number for trial, amounting in all to
260, but of these nearly ono-third was for sheep-
stealing, an offence for which that fine country pre-
sents a very tempting field ; and another large sec-
tion compnsed petty larcenies. Turning southward,
we tied sheep and cattle-stealing a prominent offence
in the calendars. Is Cork 20 prisoners in the county
gaol await their trial, of whom one-fifth are for
thefts of sheep and cattle. The whole number in
gaol reaches the immense amount of eight hundred,
the largest number I believe ever contained within the
prison walls. On the home circuit the calendars are
in general light, and in the north-east, which in-
cludes the chief manufacturing districts, offences are
neither serious nor numerous.

A petition of some importance is now being signed
by the clergy of the diocese of Raphoe, to the effect
that, among the sources of profitable labour is the
better cultivation of such portions of the glebe lands
as are actually occupied by the clergy ; and that the
clergy being debarred from the facilities enjoyed by
other landholders, and by the nature of their tenure,
would not be justified in effecting permanent improve-
ments at their own expense. As a remedy it is pro-
posed that power should be given to the incumbents
of parishes occupying glebe lands to borrow money
from the board of works for thorough draining and
subsoiling, to be repaid half-yearly, in twenty years ;
and to bind themselves and their successors to the
repayment.
Considerable irritation has been excited in many
portions of the south midland districts, in oonse-
quence of a recent regulation of the Irish Inland
Navigation Company. The company have determined
upon raising the freightage of several classes of goods,
amongst others, that of cern and breadstuffs. Latterly
a considerable traffic in these articles has sprung up,
and the inland navigation is mach used for transmit-
ting them from Dublin to the south by Portumna,
Dromineer, Killaloe, and Limerick. The advance of
freights in corn, flour, rice, and Indian meal, ke.,
equals one hundred per cent.
Whatever profit the company shall net by this pro-
ceeding, seems likely to be more than counterbalanced
by the public disfavour it must necessarily produce ;
and it seems more than doubtful whether even on the
grounds of profit, it would not be better to trust to
an increase of traffic which must flow into the com-
pany if not repelled by such an anti-commercial
policy.
STATE OF THE COUNTRY.

From every county from which iceo- ,;;;1;;;e reached us,
the intelligence is of a distressing character. In Waterford,
even at fertile Lismore, two deaths by starvation are
recorded. In Kilkenny the city relief fund amounts to
2,8141., of which 8081. remain in hands. Want is universal
in the county of Kerry ; Killany, Kenmore, andPingle, and
those localities within which famine has made many victims.
So many as twenty deaths are said to have occurred from
Narration in one parish of that county within one welt.
The accounts from Tipperary to-day are less painful in
every respect.
I shall conclude ray notice of the state of the country
to-day by a gratifying fact, which I have upon the authority
of a gentleman of the county of Kildare, namely, that in
that county there is not one onensployed labourer, and that
the landlords afford that employment. I need not assure
you further, that there are no deaths by destitution in
Kildare.

SCOTLAND.
EDINBURGH, Fra 24.
Pursuant to 8 and 9 Viet., cap. 38, the Scotch banks
are at present publishing lists of their shareholders,
and the publication reveals very strikingly the sta-
bility. of these institutions. In some instances the
proprietary are eo numerous that their names occupy
five or columns of a newspaper, and gathered as
these names are from all quarters of the country, and
embracing every kind of rank and profession, nothing
short of national insolvency could bring them into
disrepute. Five of the Sooteh banks are chartered—
a privilege which is generally understood (it has
never yet been tried) to limit the responsibility of
partners to the amount of their shares, but even in
them the wide distribution of risk is such as to insure
the utmost confidence. Thus, of these five, the lowest
number of partners is 222, and the highest 1,512. If
any doubt were entertained as to the stability of the
establishment having the least number of partners,
the circumstance of its dividend being 8 per cent. at
once settles that point
The Short Time Bill will not affect Glasgow, just
now. Already • number of the power-loom factary
employers have put their workers on short time--some
of them, indeed, working only during day light. The
manufacturing business II represented as being in a
more distressed state in Glasgow than it has been for
some years previous.
Independently of other obvious reasons, the ir-
regular way in which births, &c., are registered in
Edinburgh and other parts of Scotland sufficiently
warrants the introduction of the new bill proposed by
the Lord Advocate. When • birth is registered at
present, the names of the parents and child, and date
of birth are given into the memion-clerk, who furnishes
a certificate for out shilling : but then no proof is
asked or given of the identity of the parent, or of the
reality of the birth. Hence, although a certificate
furnishes legal proof of the important matter of a
birth no steps are taken t• verify the circumstances
which constitute the legal proof. To do this, medical
or other collateral testimony should be made obli-
gatory, otherwise facilities are afforded for frau-
dulent registration in cases where bequests are
made contingent on the birth of children.
Similarly, the present system provides only for eccle-
siastical proclamation previous to the solemnization of
marriage; but it is left to the optioa of the parties to

return to the authorities for the purpose of recording
that the ceremony has actually been performed.
Generally the officiating clergyman subscribes a
declaration that be has effected the nuptual tie, but
when the document happens to be lost no register
remains behind. And in regard to deaths, the
recorders of the different burying-grounds keep
records for their own convenience, but the diseases
and other particulars being furnished by the relations,
their medical value is worth little; and besides this,
there is no machinery for collecting into one general
national register the returns, such as they arc, which
are kept by individual parties over the whole king-
dom. The parochial divisions of Scotland afford
every facility for a system of vital statistics, but the
co-operation of the clergy and medical practitioners is
also indispensably necessary ; and it is to be hoped
that the Lord Advocate will not overlook this.

the least expectation of the withdrawal of L•td F.'s confi-
dence from his brother. We continuo to be ortuated by the
same motive, ►ud we refits, to be in any way mixed up with
matters which do not affect our first intention. It ts true
that no public demonstration had been made to forward our
views, which I ere iily regret, hot steps had actually been
taken to obtain another cant dste."
KENT.
Ate INCENDIARY FIRS O. cuff, d on Sunday evening ►ast
on Strood-hill. A stack, the property of Mr. Mace, contain-
ing fifty quarters of wheat, was destroyed. At a short dais
tine. film it, a box containing lueler matches was subse-
quently found. ethane ten o'clock the same evening, a
respectably dressed man, about 36 years of age, addressing a
police constahle, in Rochester, asked his way to the police
station, where, on his arrival, ha confessed that he bad fired
the stack with a 'nearer match, alleging that he had two rea-
sons for doing an, but declined stating what thee were, at the
same time to fusing to give his name. On Wednesday he
was plated. hi fore the magisrah s, when he denied the
crime, saying he hod accused himself far the purpose of
getting a night's lodging in the station-bouse. He was,
however, committed for trial.
A !I AIOIIBOORLY rLor.:a IMO Dour.—Lest Thursday,
a somewhat extraordinary feat was performed oat the farm of
Great Farthinalee, near Dover, now in the occupation of H.
Eire, El. From unavoidable circumstances, the cultiva-
tion of that extensive hum had got behind ; and, in conse-
quence, the farmers of the district kindly resolved to give
Mr. Rive ahi !ping hand. At early dawn thirty-two
ploughs were not to work, and by about three, p.m., an equal
number of acres of arable land won prepared to receive the
seed. The weather was rather thick aria hazy, with OrC3-
slow"' drizzling rain; but thin did not seem in the slightest
degree to retard the ploughing or to damp the ardour of the
towns-people, who had slotted the place to witness it.
During the day the men we re regaled most plenteously.
SU,,EX.
FALL Or CHALK IN Tv ON as..—On Friday a large mass
of chalk, supposed to weigh not less than 200 tons, fell in the
tunnel onw being made under Reece., on the Keymer
branch railway. Only one workman was no r at the time,
and he, perceiving from some crumbling of the chalk what
was about to take place, made his escape.

CHANNEL INLANDS.
OttingSEY.—MAJeit-13gs. NAPIP.II AND MR. WOOLLS
came before the Royal Court, at Guernsey, on Saturday last,
Feb. 20. Mr. Woulls appeared at the bar on a citation from
the law officers of the crown
" tow the said officers austain .soutenir) their proof on an 11(111.•
lion they had Intsred agsiinit him for having, on the afternoon of the
11th Dee., lath, in the house cruel • Ilaviland.hall,' occupied by hi,
Excellency Majdr.Gen.W. V. P. Nader, Lient..Governor of this island
and its depenthheisa, ~.nulled the person of his Aoki Excellency the
Lkitt..Governor, the raid Mr. Woolls, after baring been weirdly
desired by his said Exoellestry the Lieut.-Governor to quit the soul '
house, and after having repestedlv refused to do ro, nod upon
his mid Excellency the Licutenant-Gavernne, after the add refusals,
having pot his hand upon the shoulder of the said Mr. Woo'a, in en-
joining hint to quit the said house. having, the said Mr. Wools, with
force and violence seised his salt Excellency the Lieidenont-Gorernor
by the collar, and haring afterwards Waisted with voilhoe the efforts
which were wade on the part of hie anal Knoellenee the Lieutenant-
Gommine, and by hi, order, to make the said WiSils quit the raid
home. "On the above act baring been read, her Matesty:s Procureur
Les dab nificiers a silence, fi tale & prcure. `sus At pro-
shtisons pas de tessoins." (The raid otheers non-suited, no evidence
being given. We prodotono witnesses.)
Advocate Tupper wished that the sentence of the court
should record a reservation of Mr.Wooll's right of action for
the injuries he had sustained by the persecution he had un-
derpins ; and some of the magistrates also expressed an
opinion that the sentence should be so worded, as not to
admit of its being understood that Mr.Woolls was acquitted
on account of inaltffsciency of proof. It ought to he shown,
not that the proof wan insufficient, but that no proof was
offered. The crown officers, however, said that the form of
sentence they proposed was the same as was adopted in all
Meg where pro-secutions were abandoned, sod was a fall
acquittal. The Gretfier having been referred to, confirmed
this statement, on which the court pronounced the crown
officers non-suited, "joule de preare ••• and the bailiff in-
formed Mr.Woolls that he was "disciarged and acquitted."

:Pint SM.
BRITISH InsranTioN.—The good pictures in the
present exhibition, and they are not many in number, are
nearly all sold. We will instance a few. Two landscapes
by Mr. Bright ; two ditto by Mr. Creswiek ; two subject-
pictures by Mr. F. Goodall; three pictures by Mr. Etty;
Mr. Boddington's "Village Church ; ' Mr. Lance's Fruit
Pieces; Mr. Herring's " Frond Meal;" Meters. W. and H.
Barraud's "Straw-yard." In short, there is little left that
is good, so that the prize-holders of the Art-Union will have
a poorer chance than usual in the present exhibition.
RECENT Plcrung SALE.—Several sales have
recently taken place, but not one, as yet, of any particular
consequence or value, though a few of promise are fast
approwhing. " A Virgin and Child," on panel, by Fr*
Bartolomeo, or said to be by bins, was toll on Saturday, at
Messrs. Chriatie's, for 49!. 17s. There was some devotional
beauty in the head of the Virgin. Now, the well-known
chiumteristic of early art and the picture was worth the sum
it realised, though the master it was assigned to had really
nothing to do with it.
WEsrantsrEß ABBEY.—We are glad to hear that
the Dean and Chapter of Westminster have determined on
restoring to the tconly, of Quren Eleanor and King Henry
V. the rich old contemporary iron-work taken down on the
recommendation of Sir Frond., Chantrey, sold at so much
a cwt. to an ironmonger in Westminster, and subsequently
rebought by the Dean and Chapter, and allowed to rust in
an adjoining vault. This iron-work forms an integral part
of each monument—the sculptor and smith generally work-
ing, in medieval times, in the same spirit and to the tame
end. Chantrey's reason for recommending the removal of
the whole of the iron-work throughout the Abbey was, that
it too often served an steps or ladders to the Westminster
boys to mutilate nose', /(c., merely from wantonness; and
to over curious collector, to climb to portions of monuments
otherwise beyond their rrath. In many of the modern
monuments the iron-work wu erected merely for protection
and not unoften distliftwed the monument it wu placed be-
fore. Here the recommendation wan judicious, but when it

was extended to medieval monuments, a piece of ►arbarism
was emosaitted not likely, we think and tryst, to occur again.
THE ILLUSTRATED NEW TESTAMENT contains some
ens bold and imaginative sketches, which do much credit to
Mr. Kenny Meadows and the artists who have aided him.
Muth tact has been shown in the choice of subjects and
even those which have been, as it were, pictorially used up,
are treated with originality of conception. It is to be re-
gretted, however, that in some instonem the more mechani-
cal portion of the subject has been ill executed, and the
general effect injured. Several of the cut•, however, are
perfect, and we would especially praise the manner in which
the parable of the ten virgins has been rendered. The work
is interspersed with views taken in the Holy Land, aptly
amen to interest the reader.

Halt MAJESIT'S THEATRE. The performance,
under the sanction of the Queen, in aid of the fund for the
relief of the distressed Irish and Scotch, took place lit
evening. The arrangements were superintended by *com-
mittee consisting of the following noble ladies : the Mar-
chioness o: Ailrebury, the Marchioness of Clanriesrde, the
Countess of Clarendon, and the Viscountess Palmerston.
The theatre was completely filled ; but the sale of tickets
being limited to the numbers that each part of the house could
conveniently hold, there was no crowd or confusion. The
Queen, with hersuite, occupied her Majesty's box ; their royal
Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, and several
other members of the royal family, were present ; and the
boxes were full of fashionable company. We observed Sir
R. Peel in the Queen Dowager's box. The entertainments
consisted of the opera and ballet produced the first night of
the season, "La Favorite " and " Conine." A cantata,
appropriate to the occasion, was performed after the opera.
It walks English, and consisted of a recitative, ail, end chorus,
and though there was nothing at all remarkable either in
the poetry or music, yet it was a very respectable pike de
eircohstetnee. The solo part was rung by Madlle. Sanebioli,
who articulated the English words with great clearness and
propriety. "God save the Queen" wan then sung amid
great applause ; and her Majesty came forward sod bowed
her acknowledgments to the audience. We observe, from
the resolutions of the noble committee, that they had voted
their thanks to Mr. Lumley "for having generously devoted
the theatre to this charitable object, and for having under-
taken to defray the whole of the payments and expenses of
every kind, in order to leave the whole of the receipts to be
appropriated to the benefit of the charity ; " and we trust
that his liberality will be found to have been attended with
substantial benefit to the fund.

UNIVERSITY AND CLERICAL NEWS.
01170141), Fan. 25.—1 n a oroaregation holden this zooming the
following dogmm were conferred, eia. : Master. of Arts: J.
Quern's, Grand Commander, Rey. F. G. lam Atom Ilarwat=ra
A. Tanyie, New Inn; C. T. Conte, FeL •of t'brolli ; Imbelor
of Art.: N. Bright, New Inn, Grand Compounder ; J. Teske, Mag-
dalen Hail. (Ned Colommdcr ; A. Fun k, Wadham, Grand Com-
pounder;
HU OremJ.= at Mellingtos, as Chiettiihar of Ow tanbarsity,
has =mislaid the Poe. H. Mell mie% Thoetrhtelpal of Yaw Inn
Hall and Omsk, at the thframlty artini. to the Mho of Mad*
of New Inn MA tothe is of Dm armor,
The ire. 11. Lamm WA., Tatar amid Fell
oi= Coll, d
the Nev. J. Hammy, ILA.. Fa. at Itaneiter ColL. wan yonterdaan
elected by Ma nopouthe aoledot lo the bagortnot time d Praetors
of the Nntwedlty; lbw Ilirmor It la oadinisod w*new lades
and the MN Julia Priator.

Tss Ibmsw tr lIIMETATIIt, as lionesv, eassonsted a sew elswelk
last ampleled. et IMMO, war Sow* Aegis.
APIPMIIIIIIIIITIO—BIT. IL Pugh', to the ecosolidated perpstaal
imills• d LlWewy, Ystradenny, with Llahanel Rhydythol,
Baigiwirbkia do. Bt. David's. Vacant by the oeseko of R. W.
VOA Palm. lewd Kensington, lame of the prebendal tithes of
ThwibilliKe—lbw• B. Rogers. BA-, to Melverley S. Salop, dio. St.
&Rik veld by the death otDr. W. Carey, late bishop of chat we.

NAVAL.
Irgeggraer, Pn. 14.—Einerald tender arrived yesterday from
Portimildh, with suyeries foe the ficamond. eunel lighter
=Ogg yeelgrisi tar with Moron Itoustoreni, sL-v., riled
lut MI. tar tb• et Geed Rape. Eurynius arrived on the
Ugh vies to Olirstiar.
asairem. 11L—Teteltde, st..-fr., fa hi the bade, wpm*, tar
sr. Obi It Abetlsle Seed with peddle-bon Wet.
WU. lows Sims ar Lurringo.—On the fhb of Sept.
Let, IlloperukAger. is oregon, ILLS. Firtmrd war
MarkWYNNE& enriele - serried fairly off by the lightning-
fambrasa id ea the rot. Tam, doing the slightest damage.
MW DeMetrigirlstellre Afterslty that but for the efficiency a
Obi aminSailis not matt bone tern totally destroyed, and much
Oat reltesemproolitol.