The Express.
London, England, 1849-12-18 00:00:00

THE EXPRESS, TUESDAY EVENING, DECBMBER 18, 1849•

M. BASTL4T attacked tie impost on wines gas sound growth of Wealth hap. moreover, raced the WWl-
tool omical principles; he demonstrated the inequality tees in a position the reveres of that which
of the promote of the tax, and its tendeafy. dl ,emery their. test for istended; for whilit he meant
them to be Ike mere distributon and conduit
one of the most important branches of French sgrif
cultural industry. M. LEON rapist painted to the wpm of his specified bounty, which at his demise ex-
immense and continued deficits 'ln the national in- tasted the rental of hls.proyerty, time has placed
come as compared with the expenditure. He in their power no lees a sum than 7,0001. a year be-
, reminded his hearers that the government yond the original income devised for charitable pur-
-1 which had re,--"e. IMpbe on drinks had poe. r: anti Witt tto: enplaning KM ilia Durham
neglected to provide a reliable substitute, and " dignitaries" do Ina as they please. They
showed the inadequacy of any substitutes which manage it without system, without control,
have been recommended on the present occasion. without responsibility, without publicity
He de.knowledged, therefore, that with a view to gratifying by a grant high church friends, now
avert a ffnanaa: I crisis in France, and the attendant punishing by the refusal of all aid a low church in-
risk of new disturbances, it was neressitry to cumbent ; at one time investing large sums
yield to Use re-impositioa of the impost for the year to support the distant and uninterested, but
1850. But to that brief period of critical urgency Romantic episcopal.church of Scotland; at another
be limited his acquiescence in a tax every way so in- overlooking the vice, ignorance, and spiritual deans-
expedient, so unequal, oppressive, and impoverish- tion which lie under their reverend noses ; sometimes
mourning over their own poverty, at others needlessly
late staling contrast with the wound abstract views accumulating money in the public securities. But, at
el M. BAsTIAT, and the practical good muss of M. no time or under any circumstances letting the inks-
Laos FAUCHER, was the oracular mysticism of M. bitants of the diocese know aught of the affairs of a
Di MONTALEMBIRT, a good sample of what trust in which they are the oat interested objects ;
the • y toryism of France is given to doing some little good undoubte ly with the charity ;
Ha oration was an nnversified hymn but the cause of mach more good being intercepted
in worship of taxation in the abstract. 'fax- and denied to the diocese.
ation, according to him, "is one of the For one hundred and twenty years the Durham
principal signs" of civilisation, for "it is only in sae- " dignitaries " have been revelling in this trust, with
ties of savages that no taxes ere paid." "France," all its attendant advantage, at Bamborough Cantle,
=liaised M. DE MONTALEMBEILT, hes no longer and on Blancbland Fells. Bat of its concerns all
efiry norporationo, traditions, great institutions, great that is known is the publication of a single year's
essiid interests; its religion, justice, public instruc- accounts, now some twenty years old, in an old
tiss all its gnat and exclusively moral forces, have charity report. The time, then, we submit to the
their roots in the budget, that is, in taxation." Re.i- new Charity Board, ha at last name when something
glom find property had been attacked, bat to defend more must be ascertained of their property and its
them was easy ; nett so with taxation. In defending application ; when this their privacy mast be in-
taxation in the abstract they were defending "the vaded : when this their secrecy must be disturbed;
moral interest of most importance." 11. DE MONTA- when their 7,0001. must be applied on some known,
LEMBERT had seen with grief and indignation the authorised, and duly proclaimed public scheme; when,
attack upon the postage of letters, and upon the salt in short, the Durham " dignitaries" must be re-'
duty ; but when the audacity. of the party which lieved of the power and importance of the CREWE
seeks to sap morality by reducing taxation assailed trust; and its benefits be bestowed on the diocese.
the impost on drinks, he could hold his The putlio in the northern counties of England
tongue no longer. Although " neither a fioancier expect, and it will be our task to see that they get,
nor an economist," be must enter the arena no less.
against them. M. DE ISIONTALEMBEET appeared We insert, tan, in another column a letter on the
to forget that the abolition of the tax upon salt, that scandalously abused Brentwood Grammar School,
great provocative of thirst, in a manner rendered the which, with funds to educate some 600 or 700 lads,hati
abolition of the tax on potable liquids inevitable. We not for sixty years past turned out three scholars a
have fairly stated the sum and substance of the arra- year. Here, again, however, the Arroitterr-Gannat
molts in a speech which occupied nearly one-half of is doing his duty ; and by his exertions a great
the sitting of Thursday last, and will be bound to say educational establishment will be secured to the county
that never before did a lmrisletive assembly hear a of Essex, with ample university provision for
financial question discussed in such a fashion. Yet the most distinguished of its pupils. In truth, the
IM. DE CHARENCET almost equalled his colleague, amount of good that may be effected by extending
when he pathetically adjured the Assembly to per- this crusade against abused foundations and charities,
paste the impost on drinks, because it had origin- especially in the education of the middle classes of
Sly' been imposed to tans= hiog Joint when a society, is incalculable. By Mr. WHISTON'S disci°.
prisoner in England. sures, ere another session is over, our cathedral gram-
, The iniquity of the impost on wines is easily mar schools will be put on a sound looting ; and the
summed up. It increases the price of wine to the day of reformation of the Charter-house draweth nigh,
consumer, and promotes its adulteration. It dimi- for if government will not issue its commission to in-
nishes the consumption of wine, and thereby the pro- quite ihto its state, the Daily Netts and Express will
duction of one of the best articles of export produced send their commissioners; and they are quite as
in France. It presses with undue severity on one class effective.
of agriculturists in a portion only of France. Lastly
the manner in which the duties on wins are imposed
and levied makes them rest with greater weight on
the poor than on the rich. The duties on wine are: those
on circulation (paid when the wine quits the producer);
on entry (paid at the entrance into different towns) ;
on the retail of wines; and the license. Tae
duties on circulation (averaging seven millions of
francs per annum), and the entry duties (ave-
raging eighteen millions) tall principally on the
rich consumers; the retail duties (averaging forty-
seven millions) and the licenses (avenging three
millions) fall almost exclusively on the poorer classes.
Twenty-five millions are paid by the wealthy and
fifty millions by the poor consumers.
The discussion of the impost on drink in the I
French Astutely has a more immediate inte-
rest for Englishmen than the majority of dis-
cussions in that assembly. The case of the op-
ponents of the impost in France is exactly the case of
the opponents of the malt, hop, and tea duties, here.
The taxes on malt and hops in England, like the tax
on wines in France, are of unequal premium, and tend '
to depress agricultural industry. Thu tales upon
malt and hops raise the price of what is most espe-
cially the beverage of the working classes, and the
less affluent of the middle classes. The tax on tea
falls with a much heavier per mange on the common
teas consumed by the poor, than on the finer kinds
consumed by the rich.
The arguments employed against the impost on
drinks in the French Assembly may with advantage
be re-produced, almost in the same words, in our own
parliament when the customs duty on tea and the
excise duties on malt and hops come to be discussed.
And be it remembered, too, that the crisis in French
finances before which M. Farcriza has given way,
does not exist in England. Will Mr. DISRAELI, or any
of our young Englanders, mist these arguments with
plagiarisms from M. DE MONTALEMBERT ? It may
be doubted ; English oketackery and mysticism is
audacious enough, but M. DE MONTALEMBEIT has
soared to a pitch of sublime insanity beyond its reach.

FRANCE.

PARIS, MONDAY, 530 P.K.
The debate on the excise was steamed today in the
Amenably.
M. Fould appeared first in the tribune, to correct
some mistakes in numbers which he asserted M.
Mauguin had committed, and which (he said) the
hon. member had announced as official. M. Fould
denied that they were official, and if he knew the
agents of the administration who had thus furnished
false documents, he would not hesitate to separate
himself from them. The speaker then repro.
duced the figures he had brought forward at the
commencement of the debate as to the number of
hectares under cultivation in vines, the number of
hectolitres of wine produced, &c. He maintained
that these figures alone were official. He would say
a word as to the petitions against the tax, which he
had already stated, there were strong grounds for
supposing to be spurious,. He had received several
letters revealing some of the means used to attain
these petitions. They had been hawked about from
cabaret to cabaret, and signed by foreigners, and
even by the hawkers themselves. Often the same
individuals had signed them several times, and under
various names. (Laughter on the Right, and signs of
disapprobation on the Left.) The minister then read
two letters from public functionaries, giving him si-
milar information.
M. Charamaule presented two petitions from the
department of the Herault, signed, he said, :by 111
names. He defied the functionaries of that depart-
ment to assert anything against them.
M. Jules Favre opposed the project of law. He
announced that he should examine three questions :
1, the intrinsic value of the tax ; 2, the necessity of
the continuance of the tax by the treasury ; 3, the
financial disorganisation of the state. M. Cirevy had
already disposed of the first question, by showing
that the constitution required the abolition of the tax,
that the Constituent Assembly had examined, dis-
cussed, and judged it, and that the Republican As-
sembly had declared it to be an unjust tax; and
had decided on abolishing it. The Republican
Assembly had wished to give effect to promises
made to the people by previous governments, but
which they bed always neglected to fulfil. It
is wished to strike a blow at drunkenness.
What right had the Assembly to tax the sole
pleasures of the poor ? Let the members begin
with themselves. (Applause from the Right.)
When they gave brilliant feces the excise
did not interfere; but the narrow lodgings of the
poor did not permit them to enjoy family reunions
within them, and they were compelled to seek their
pleasure in the cabaret. Let them respect the family
enjoyments of the poor, and not destroy the only
spot where they could assemble with their friends.
Drunke..ness was certainly the greatest enemy which
the working classes had; but let them consult the
statistics of those classes, and they would find t'Ait it
was only with low wages that drunkenness increased
—when their misery became extreme that the °eerier
visited the cabaret. No one in the Assembly would,
he believed, defend the vice of drunkenness ; he
himself would only say, let them endeavour
to ameliorate the condition of the labouring popnla-
' don, and give them their food and wine at the cheapest
possible price; that would be the death blow of
drunkenness. (" Oh, oh," and laughter.) The tax was
condemned by the public conscience as well as by the
law. The second question which he had to examine
was its necessity. He denied the existence of any
necessity of the kind. On all occasions when France
had demanded the reform of an abuse, they had been
laid that it was necessary ; and when France had
said that it would pay no more, they were told they
were factious, and that they shout be watched
by the gendarmes. (Applause from the Left.) An
unjust act was never necessary—above all, an unjust
tax. (Cheers.) M. Mauguin had proposed a series
of measures which might be substituted for the tax
on drinks, but the Assembly would not even examine
them. But he did not agree with M. Mauguin. Ile
(M. Jules Fevre) believed that there were other
things to be done than to re-impose taxes upon coa-
-1 eamption—above all, the expenditure of the country
should be diminished. (Cheers from the Left.)
Beronomy should be exercised in the war and naval
departments, imwhish more than 100 millions might be
sated. He now came to the question of the reorganisa-
tion of the public service. M. de Montalembert was full
of the most profound admiration foe the French fiscal
ffstem. He (M. Julie Favre) did not know whether
M. de Montalembert would be the apostle of this new
religion, but he c mid cite to him authorities who did
not participate in his admiration. Vauban, Napo'eon,
and recently one of the ministry, had
.opposed this
complication of administrative combination, and had
renounced against the impossibility of cohesion
between all the parts of the great machine. M.
Leon Faucher had made a umarkaole speech in
the former chamber of deputies, in which he con-
demned our system of taxes, their foundation,
and the iniquity of their assessment. He compared
this system with that of England, and
_praised the
latter at the expense of the former. Before such
authorities he (the speaker) thought that M. de
Montalembert would abate some of his admiration.
What was it that M. de Montalembert approved of
in this system? It could not be its justice; was it
the interest of the army of parasites who shackle
the work? or was it the expense of 155 millions for
administration P If there were proposed a new
financial system which should reduce these 155 mil-
lions to 15, and which should license this army of
parasites, would M. Montalembert give the preference

MERE are two charity cases, besides that of the
Meer hospital, on each of which a fee words may, we
think, be usefully given in season at present. The
one is that of our tough old friend his severer ce the
Earl of GUILDFORD, at St. Cross, who, by this time,
is (thanks to the Daily News) very effectually in the
gripe of the ArroRREE-GENERAL; the other is that
of the trustees of Lord CREWE, in the diocese of Dur-
ban, on whose affairs the Daily News desires to fix
tie attention of the new charity commission.
Theis eases are, each in its bad way, very fair speci-
IBM flt two different sorts of abuse, to which our
charitable foundations have for centuries been sub-
jected. In St. Cross may be seen the also of misap-
propriation to the pecuniary advantage of a
bishop's son. In Lord CREWE'S trust will be
found the abuse of management, which, without
conferring pecuniary advantages on the trustees, is
made to confer great social and political power on
pluralistic ecclesiastics, and to support a vicious
church system.
The ArroareET-GENERAL has, our readers know,
in obedience to the QUEEN'S answer to an address of
the House of Commons, filed an information against
Lord GUILDFORD, to irquire into his past management
of the Irbspital of St. Cross, to ascertain the amount
of its property, and how that property can be ha-
proved, and to procure the sanction of the Court of
Chancery to a scheme for the application of its large
revenues to some really useful purpose. With Ole
public wealth of St. Cress Lord GUILDFORD has, it is
understood, been paying off the mortgages on his
family estates. Now, it is confidently expected that the
ArroisEE-GENERAt's proceedings will, if reeo
lately carried on, recover, for the public benefit,
some portion, and a large portion, too, of the funds
thus scandalously applied. Lord GUILDFORD. with
characteristic greed, is, however, desirous, at all
events, to retain all he has deprived the public of ; and 1
for this purpose a compromise, we hear, either has I
been, or is likely to be proposed, to the Arroßtetter- '
GENERAL. Its terms are said to be these,—that Lord
GUILDFORD shall at once resign the great benefice of
St. Mary's, Southampton, and, if insisted on, the hos-
pital of St. Cross, also, on condition that ingaili into
the legality of his past proceedings with the
hospital property be dropped, be assisting the
ArroßnEe-GENERAL in his efforts for is future
improvement. Now, desirable as we thick
Lord OLILDFORD'S resignation of all his ecclesiastical
benefices—of Alreeford as well as of St. Mary's—ir,
we hold any compromise with so flagrant a clerical
delinquent to be quite unjustifiable ; for his " day"
has been already too long. And now let ts turn to
the great CREWE Charity. Great may it well
be termed; for twenty years ago its rental was
upwards of 8,0001. a year, and it is now
probably nearer 10,0001. All, too, in ghostly
keeping of four of the Durham " dignitaries!"
Our readers may well tremble for its safety at the
very thought. Yet its safety—for of that nothing is
known—is not wiat we impeach. I.s distribution
and appropriation are what we press on the in-
vestigation of the charity commission ; and on very
sufficient grounds. The trust was established by
Bishop CREWE for the benefit of the diocese of Dur-
ham : it is therefore a public trust in which all the
inhabitants have en interest. Yet this publics
charity has for 120 years been privately, secretly, and
coprictouely administered by c.:nrch "dignitaries,"
who treat all inquiry into its affairs as lay imper-
t'nence—who, by its management, lave augmotted
their personal power and impoetabee, and who have
made it a buttress to prop up and support the de-
testable system of Durham cathedral. The

.4.44
•

-~

to it! The time had coats when taxes on articles of
consumption, which are in reality nothing. but taxes
of priiation, should be osnitt.d front our budget. It
was necessary that the grand and noble idea of the
Constituent Assembly in favour of the people should be
realised. History, continued M. Fevre, will reproach
the Constituent Assembly with an unpardonable fault,
which was to have surrendered its place to the legis-
lative. Had it understood its duties, it would have li-
berally executed its work, the constitution, and, instead
of yielding to unjust chums, remained at its post,
and endowed the country with those organic laws,
which the legtive bad not yet dared to look in the
face. What bad the legislative done ? It had re-
face.
sedition ; but history may yet charge it with
having fomente it.
M. Fevre was here interrupted by loud cries of
" Order " from the Right. The President having
invited him to explain, he justified himself in such •
long-winded manner, that M. Dupin told him that if
the remainder of his speech was accompanied with
such oratorical precautions, there was no fear of his
being called to order. (Laughter.)
, M. Fevre added only a few words, and left the
; tribune.
M. litugnot then deposited on the table the report
of the committee on the bill relative to primary in-
structors, of which it proposed the adoption.
M. Pussy next rose, and was left speaking.
M. de Saint Priest has presented to the Assembly
an amendment, the object of which is, ors', to sup-
press the octroi duty on potable liquors, and to replace
them by a charge on manufactured articles, and by a
tax on coffee, on private carriages, horses for pleasure,
and billiard tables; and 2nd, to reduce by one-half the
entrance duty of the Treasury on potable liquors, with
the creation of a tax on paper, and a duty of one per
cent. on personal property.
The Minister of Finance has addressed the following
circular to the heads of the different branches of the
finance department in the provinces:
I have duly appreciated. the cake of the services ten-
dered to the state by the administrati on of the finances dur-
ing the difficult efircumetanose through which we have
passed -• The greater pleasure I have in paying homage to
the intelligence and devotedness of which it has given proof,
the more I regret to find, from information which has
reached me, that some of the agents of the &dance depart-
ment have been gailty of serious faults with regard to their
political conduct. Without demanding any account of those
sweats as to their private opinion of the ac's of the govern-
ment, I have • right to require that they should
not make use of the influence and authority which
they derive front their 'unctions, to second the
projects of anarchists, and to propagate doctrines
subversive of society. To let forgetfulness of duty
proceed to this length, is to commit a real act of treason.
am willing to hope that the agents of all ranks in the ser-
vies of the finance. whose good spirit is generally known, will
be more than ever influenced by the necessity of keeping
aloof from the proceedings of the enemies of order ; that thiy
will continue to exercise their functions with that real and
ex-ctitude which the government of the republic has a right
to demand from them. If any one should neglect their duties,
you will have to point it out to me without hesitation, men-
tioning all the facts. Disposed on all ccavions to reward
faithful services, I shall show a just severity with regard to
those agents who shall allow themselves to be misled from
the path which I have pointed out to them. You will be
pleased to make known this warning to all your sutordi-
notes it will, I hope, have the effect of rendering unneces-
eery any measures of repression which it would he painful to
me to carry Into effect, but from which I should not shrink
in case 01 need. ACHILLE FOVLD,
The Patric, alluding to the petition for the aboli-
tion of the tax on potable liquore, has some observa-
tions which will be read with interest. The fact of
there being in France a wine shop for every hundred
inhabitants or thereabouts, is one which mast speak
volumes as to the state of society. The Patric says :
Toe 700,000 signatures to petitions against the tar on
pdmble liquors of which the red jouraale 'sulfa such • for-
midable argument is at bottom much less frightful than it
appears to be. If, in fact, we deduct the 322,000 retailers of
wine who eaiit in France, and who are too peculiarly in-
wrested for their signatures to have much value, we find
368,000 real signatures ; but even as regards these it may be
doted whether they are really serious, as there is not a re-
tailer who has not some customer dependent on him—
namely, in a position which would not allow him to refuse
his signature to • man who vuld reduce him to the regime
/[cold water.

year occupy only thirty-five pages small fol;t3 all de-
tails being entirely omitted this year. There are
no accounts of the proportions of revenne contributed
by each province and department, or how large
the expenditure has been in particular dis-
tricts, but the whole income and expenditure
are alluded to only under the general heads of land
tax or class taxes, army and embassies, &e. A com-
parison with the accounts for 1849 shows that the
income for the ensuing year is estimated at 2,735,973
dollars, and the expenditure at 2,787,079 dollars more
than in that year, so that the expected surplus of
9,213 dollars is 51,106 dollars less than in 1849. The
extraordinary expenses for 1850 are estimate& at
734,106 dollars less than in 1849. I shall return to
this subject to-morrow.
HAMBURG, Dec 14.
The city of Lubeck has negotiated a loan at Berlin
through the royal " See Handlung." It bears 44
per cent. interest, and its amortisat►on begins from
the let January, 1856. The nominal capital is
3,200,000 Prussian dollars. Stocks of it were sold
7esterday on oar Exchange at 97j per cent. Accord-
ing to the statement of tue contractors, the proceeds
are for the purpose partly of aiding the construction
of a railroad from Lubeck to Buchan, there to join
the Berlin and Hamburg railroad, and partly of im-
proving the bed of the river Trace. At the same
time, a subscription is opened by a company to under-
take the same railroad, the distance of which is stated
to be 04 German miles, and estimated coat to be
2,668,000 Prussian dollars.

PAM, Dee. 17. For I
Money. Opening !fished. Lowest. Closing
-
5 psi Cents. ...... .... MI 25 58 25 58 40 56 23 38 35
6 par Cants-
3 do. New Loan „ a a 09 01
4 pee Cents.... -
4 par Cents a . a• a
bzi.lnunte on Landau: 30 osys, .5 45; 90 as" 25 324
lite.sixt, 1., ISM
I De. 5, 1842
Do. 44
Do. 24
, Boossa.—St. Germain, 415: Vandlies (right bank), 205 ; Do. (left
bank), 161 50; Orleans 753; Paris and Rouen, 051 55. Rouen and
Havre, 240 ; Strasbourg and Bale, IN 23; Centre, 331 25 ; Barneaus,
4ni, North, 461 25; Pais and Strasbourg. 382 50; Too:sand Nantes.
275 75; Montereno OW IMO 115; Dieppe and Primp, 180; An.
vets and Oend, 280.

We have received the following letter from a cor-
apondent :

BELGRADE, Nov. 20.
I have previonely had oecivion to remark the in-
tense interest with which the Christian populations of
the Danubian provinces watch the most trivial signs
from which any indication can be gathered of the de-
cline or rise of Russian ascendancy at Constantinople.
In this principality, over which Russian intrigue has
contrived to keep revolution chronically impending,
the news of the apparition of a British fleet in the
Dardanelles has already been productive of more
than the effect which I had ventured to anticipate.
In a recent communication I endeavoured to explain
that on the politics of this seemingly unimportant
province hinges to a great extent the question of the
future integrity of the Porte, and to show your
readers how completely the subservience of the
majority of Serbian politicians to Russia was owing
to the prevalent impression (industriously prpularised
by Russian agents) that England was tacitly with-
drawing a fruitless resistance to the irresistible match
of Russian influence in the East. The earliest of
support given by Lord Palmerston to tne Turks has
had here the effect not only of modifying the views of
those whose worship of the donh!e beaded eagle was
clearly the result of fear, but of unexpectedly occa-
sioning the defection of personages always hitherto
ostentatiously devoted to the Russian interest.
It has been generally believed here that Turkey
must accede to the pert mptory demands of the Czar,
and yield up the refugees. Its refusal, backed or
occasioned by the presence of a British equadron,
has produced a beneficial and amusing revulsion of
feeling and opinion, which it is to be hoped that the
Porte will not impair by inconsiderate concession on
this question. Amongst the first fruits of this change
have been the removal of the Russian Consul-General
Loveine, who had hitherto taken up his quarters in
the most convenient quarter of the house of the Pe-
trouovitcb, the Serbian Minister for Foreign Affairs.

UNITED STATES.

MEETING OF CONGRESS.

By Electric Telegraph.

[PROW OUR OWN COIRWSPONDENT.3

LIVERPOOL Dzo 18.

The steam-ship Caledonia, Captain Leitch, ras
just arrived in the river. Her date from Beaton
is to the Lth inst., the day of selling, and her
call at Halifax to land and receive passengers
was made on the 7th inst. In addition to the
usual mails, the Caledonia brings a considerable num-
ber of passengers.
She reports the arrival at New York of the Ca-
nada. The Europa steam-ship, which sailed hence
for Beaton on the 24th inst., had called at Halifax,
previous to the Caledonia's arrival there.
She does not bring the President's message.
Toe principal item of intelligence is the meeting of
Congress on the 3rd inst., at Washington. The Se-
nate was organised, after whick an adjournment took
place.
The House of Representatives met on the same
day, when a ballot took place for the speakership.
For this post there appeared Mr. Winthrop on
the whig, and Mr. Cobbe on the loco-face interest.
After three unsuccessful balloting!, the numbers stood:
For Winthrop, 96 ; Cobbe, 102 ; Scattering, 23. In
coniequence of no decision on this point, the house
could not be organised, and the President did not,
therefore, deliver his message.
There is nothing new of interest in our advices
from California or Canada.
The commercial affairs of the Union are represented
by our present advisee as being favourable.
The money market is still easy. Money at New
York was very plentiful. Treasury Notts, Illt.
Pennsylvania Fives, 891.
Toe market for breadstuff., was inactive, and prices
are without change.
Western Canal flour, 4 dole. 75c. to 4 dole. 871 e.
Gennessee prime wheat, 1 dol. 22c. to 1 dol. 24c. per
601b5.; southern wheat, 1 dol. 12c. to 1 dol. 14c. per
60Ib. Indian corn, round yellow, 60c. to 62c. ; flat,
yellow, 60c. per bushel. Indian meal, 3 dull. to
3 dole. 121 c. per bushel.
In cotton there has been a fair amount of business
doing at New York, former quotations bting steadily
maintained. New Orleans and Mobile mid. fair to
fair, 101 c. to 111 c. per lb.; Uplands and Florida,
111 c. to 111 e.
Provisions have advanced in price. Mess park, 111
to llt; prime, 81 to Bk.
Freights remain unchanged, asking rate being—
Flour, to Liverpool, Is. 6d. to Is. 9d. per barrel ; grain
to Liverpool, 41d. to sd. per bushel ; cotton to Liver-
3-16d. to Id.; cotton to Havre, Id. to ad.
Exchange on London, 1081 to 109, steady ; on
Paris, 5.27, sales small ; on Hamburg, 33 to 351 ; on
Bremen, 78 to 781.

for Account

MLDBID. Dee. 11.—Three per Cuts., 3011.16 paper. Roar wr
Ceuta, 121 paper: rive per Casta.,l3l=.. =eon. 6. beak of
St. Yermaaatl,lo paper. Ezelkasse on

ITALY.

SARDINIA.—From Turin, the news of the 13th
;net. is, that, out of 168 known elections, the conserva-
tives had obtained 102, the remainder being for the
radicals and the Left and Left Centre. Twelve elec-
tions in Piedmont were still neknown, and those of
Sardinia Proper were not yet published. The Con-
cordia states that M. Pinelli is appointed ambassador
at Madrid.

Nnw REGULATION RESPECTING ALDERMEN AID
Common CouxciLNEN.—ln the new Act of Parliament for
the government of the City of London, which will be en-
forced on Friday next, in the election of Common Council-
men, there is a provision in reference to the disqualification
of Aldermen and Common Councilmen. According to the
ninth section of the Act, (12 and 13 Vict. cap. 94, local) if
any person holding the office of Alderman or Common
Councilman for the City of London, shall declare himself, or
shall be declared bankrupt or insolvent, or shall apply to
take, or shall take the benefit of any act for the relief of in-
solvent debtors, or shrill make any composition with his cre-
ditors, or shall altogether absent himself from his duty for
more than six calendar months consecutively, unless pre-
vented by illness, or other reasonable cause, or shall be
convicted of fraud or of any crime, then, and in every or any
such cue, such person shall thereupon immediate ly become
disqualified, and shall cease to hold the office of Al !omen or
Common Councilman, as the cue may be, and the court of
Mayor and Alderman of the City of London shall there-
upon forthwith adjudge the said offioe to be vaunt; but
any person becoming disqualified, and ceasing to ho'.d
such office, by reason of having made any comoosition with
his creditors, shall, on payment of his debts in full, be capa-
ble (if otherwise qualified) of being re-elected to such office.
All acts done before an Alderman or Common Connadman
shall be disqualified, shall be as valid as if the party had not
been disqualified.
FIRE AT BELPER.—DESTRUCTION OP MS Ho-
HIRT ESTABLISHMENT OP WARD, STURT, SHARP, AND
WARD.—On Sunday night the town of Belper, in Derby-
shire, was the scene of a most terrific conflagration, which
terminated in the total demolition of the hosiery establish-
ment of the above-named firm. It appears that some of the
hands were at work until 11 o'clock on Siturday night. At
that hour the premises were closed, and, as is believed, left
in complete security. On Sunday morning two men were
employed in the store-room doing some repairs. About
eight o'clock on Sunday evening the watchman on
duty perceived a strong smell of fire, and immediately
gave the alarm. At that time people were leaving the dif-
ferent nieces of worship, and numbers were soon congregated
about the prenriaos. Mr. Taylor, one of the managers, and.
the otoer heads of departments were speedily on the spar,
and it was found that the lower windows of one warehouse
were so hot as to render the touch unbearable. Tha fire-
engines were soon got into play, but witlr.ut immediate effect.
About 9 o'clock the film*. burst forth in terrific fury, and
extended with such rapidity that the whole building was in
a general blue. A very small quantity of goods were
removed; and the remainder, comprising an extensive stack
of 'ilk, cotton, and other goods, were totally consumed. At
5 o'clock last evening the enuines were still playing upon
the smouldering ruins, and it was evident that part of the
walls must fall. The stock tnd buildings were insured in
the Norwich and other unions to the extent of 214,5001.
Nothing is known as to the origin of the fire.