The Express.
London, England, 1848-12-08 00:00:00

We.
azdest7dthneseot
thia
nligtllelpenrerepnlecxinrga.ny
of trade has acquired a more than average ht-^
tune, we are accustomed to see it invariably etch
bered with so much help, and smother, d beneath
th
great a weight of " protection; as to afford a wee.
bly severe test of the intrinsic stamina width at
enable it to bear up against so many well interaieu;
lets and hindrances. The coal trade of the Dor
London stands pre-eminently in this prediee-
"
The article itself has long taken its rank as the nor
important element of the national wealth; aid
tt
system of its transport from the pare,
the northern coast has been justly eteede;
as a prolific nursery of hardy seamen. T 4
encouragement which this valuable traffic b
received at the hands of the general or local leggy
tares may be estimated from the fact that of the 30,,
paid upon en average for every ton of„ btet week"
Walisend," nearly one half is charged to defray chi
endless dues and imposts accruing baweea Gra%
end and the consumers' cellars.
But taxation is not the dbly grievance of wpb
the coal-merchant has to complain. There are echo
annoyances and restrictions not represented by lb*,
payments, but in the end occasioning a lose rot ya
real. A specimen of these—one out of many v.
eties—came before Mr. YARDLEY on the day ow
mentioned. Mr. BRODIE, master of the IS
collier brig, was summoned to the police-
having discharged his cargo of coals in contra •
of the terms of the " Coal Whippers Act;
he had made himself liable to a 101. penalty, et
default of
.payment imprisonment for a term tot
ceding six months. The defendant, it apptik
upon reaching the " Pool" had found himself utg
to procure a " gang" of registered %hippies, chile:
the moment ho required or at the wegen he tire,,,t
and bad therefore got a set of irregular and an
workmen to perform the job. For so doing he
upon the face of the enactment, clearly guilty of he
breaking and liable to the statutory penalties.
According to the best history of the
Whippers Act" which we have been able to p
it was originally designed as a protection of
waterside labourers against the avarice of the pop;;
cans and middlemen. Certain public-houses el*
the river banks were used as houses of a:
by the whippers, who very speedily bear,
nearly dependent upon the keepers of thou plea
and mulcted by them in a large per cemagespz
their profits. Between debts and drunkenly,'
the poor whippers lost to these gentry very nue)
the whole remainder of their earnings. To reined,
this crying evil the act was passed which appointed'
board of commissioners, established an office andate,
tered list, where the captains of incoming cola,
might apply for whippers, and where also the moo
were engaged, the prices regulated, and a dedutioen
one farthing in every shilling of the money am
was fixed as the maximum of fees to the office.
So far all was perfectly unobjectionable. Bat et]
Was the statute stretched into a prohibitive enactuit
against the coal-owners, and the employment cf
glistered " whippers," and those only, made compeller
upon the captains? Why should it not be left
the discretion of the employer to get his co
work done in his own manner ? Such
interference must often prove, as Air. Bit
me seems to have found it, annoying to the Is
degree. It appears, indeed, to be one of those pa
pi:melees embarrassments to commerce which enema
trade at so many points both by land and see, b
no where with more troublesome frequency thin
the port of London. Nor are coals the only antic
subject to this species of restriction. The importer
a pipe of wine cannot have it conveyed from thedoe
to the vaults beneath his warehouse by any bet t
ticketed cellarmen. The system in fact prevails a
extensively. We may almost say that the except(
would be in those articles that are cot included
some such " statute of limitations" It is a relic
by-gone and barbarous ages, hallowed still by
relationship to that god of civic idolatry—mocopol
It is c.trions that the main defence offered by 3
BRODIE'S counsel should rest upon a verbal arena
larity. The act defines "whipping" as naked
coals "by manual labour only, with ropes en
pulley." Mr. BRODIE%) crew, it appeared, had saladded a" derrick," or machine worked by a ICI
Were they then guilty of unlicensed " whipping
knotty point. He suggested an appeal, which we
dined AtoßicilMETnitwhhiiime sienlflf ictotiang fiannaolindinvaclikPeionbaioT
very probably result in a practical annulment of
clause. But such is the lanai destiny of enact=
like the one we are considering : the irrational eta
is overset by a quibbling technicality.

FRANCE.

PARIS, WEDNESDAY, 6.30 P
M. de Tocqueville leaves Paris this evening
Brussels, to join in the conferences for the pacific
of Northern Italy, as the representative of Francs
The following details of the persons desimate
the government as objects of public pensions
created much sensation in the committee on pea
and in the Assembly :

Armand Marraat
_._

Trelat, ex-Minister of Public Werke

Flown

The son of Pepin, the associate of Pieschi
Vignerte (Montaguard)
Joigneux (ditto)
Bergeron, condemned to three years' impris4u-
mcnt tor striking Emile de Gaudin
The sister of Lccomte, who attempted the Tile of
Louis Philippe
Coffineau, condemned to the galleys for robbery

and political offence
Chanveam condemned for complicity with the
attempt on the litc of Louis Philippe

Pensions are also proposed for the conspirat4
June, 1832, and for the accomplices in the attem
Darmes against the life of Lotus Philippe, and,
in favour of all the political offenders and accom
of all the assassins since the revolution of 1830.
scandal produced by this has been so great, thi
Dufaure to-day was compelled to withdraw du
ject. On the announcement of this, M. de La
jaquelin demanded that the scandalous does
connected with the project should be deposited
archives of the Assembly. He declared that the;
was withdrawn before the indignation of di
sembly. M. Dufaure declared that he was
quainted with the documents alluded to.
The Toulon journals of the 3rd announce t
pasture of a part of the expedition for Civita
On the preceding day, M. de Corcelles having I
the Ist inst.
A letter from Naples, received to-dqv, ann
that some revolutionary bands, which had p
the Pope, were defeated in a conflict with the-:
litan troops.
I am informed that the most complete anarel
arisen in the bureaux of the Paris journals on tt
ct of the presidency. Each editor and sub
holds his own opinion, and they are too intracte
be brought into any harmony by the proprie:
their chiefs. In the Journal des Mbats, MNLI
Sacy, and Lemoine support Cavaignac ; and
Cavelhier, Fleury, Allonry, and Brod support
Louis. It will be remembered that the Daxi
journal of the moderate party, all the leaders
support Prince Louis.
Pietri, one of the representatives of the
has received the following from an officer at 131
Seven companies of infan,ry of marine, embui
ready for sail to the Antilles in the Proserpina and
were allowed to vote for the Prez:lent of the nein
anticipa ion. The result was as follows :—Froaerpin
Napoleon, 270 ; Cavaignat 170 ; bleak bulletin
1. -Rollin, 4. Allier, LAI' Napoleon, 276 • Ca.
'64 • Ledru Rollin, 28 ; Lamartine, 6 ; Lacrosse,
moriciere, 1.
The Minister of the Interior has just adds
circular to the prefects of the departments, in
after alluding to his former circular respecti
conduct they were to adopt respecting the else
President of the Republic, he says :
Your task is not yet accomplished. It is to the
election itself that I especially call your attention us,
Ninon. It is at that moment that you must exert
efforts to ensure what we have sought for above all
freedom in giving the suffrages, the truth and sin
election. You will remember that acts to be rpgrei
nalised, in certain places, the general elections in A
and presented a lamentable contrast with the calm
posing character which they had in nearly all the
France. In some places ignorance or ciedulity
posed upon by substituting false for real ;
places votes were obtained by violence, and the elcc
was profaned by a misled animosity. It may not b
Bible that, if net the perversity of same minds, al
of political passions, that species of intoxication el
the still novel exercise of universal suffrage, may a
duco similar attempts at fraud and disord, r. I To(
timata to you how much it behoves you to any rt tJ
how much importance I attach to their In leg r
energetically repressed. I well know that tile‘c