The Express.
London, England, 1859-12-26 00:00:00

THE EXPRESS, MONDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 26, le n.

barracks of a huge permanent army, that would be bit
burdensome ; nor the vast additional mount of ad .
ministrative jobbing that it would soda A comatry
like ours that hu come to be what it is by the elabo-
rate training and discipl;ning of its investive sad
um:easing industry cannot aford to sentence sixty
er seventy thousand of its youth to an unproductive
line of lib. It is not as if these lama were to add to
our annual list of emigrants to the colonise t thither
they woald go to plough new lied, to peados* new
wealth, and to become new outman for those they
bud left behind, as much as if they had remained at
how, or more so. But if to guard against a possible
contingency that hes not occurred in our own, our
fathers', or our grandfathers' time, and that may not
o .;ur for • century to come, we lock oat our
healthiest, stoutest, and most motive heads from every
workshop and fee tory is the kingdom. sad Bader.
take to support them, clothe them, and feed them,
out of taxes to which they shill contribute weight,
we cut off so many fingers from the national hand, we
disable ourselves nationally to an extant which it is
dills/at to estimate, we perpetrate that which is both
▪ Niel and a blander.

♦ threntmghly effective local Militia would be free
km all each objections. Men would not be taken
ken their pursuit. and callings long enough at a
time to forget them. For the purpose, of ordinary
drill, eight and twenty days divided between diffe-
rent periods of the year are said to be sufficient. For
rifle practice some are of opinion that a few hours
in the week daring the long days of summer might
with advantage be set apart in addition. But the
Meal expense of a militia corps when not embodied
is a bagatelle compared with that of a regiment of the
line. A month's soldiering in the year is little more
than a due proportion of healthful exercise. It incapa-
citate. men in no way from the continued pursuit of
their ordinary callings. A young man here and there
likes it so well that he volunteers into the line; that is
teeny, he is soberly and deliberately recruited for the
regular army instead of being cajoled and bullied
into taking the Qour.s's shilling when he is half
drunk. But when the militia shall have been pot
upon ita proper footing as the established and per-
manent domestic force of the State, no man will feel
it derogatory to be enrolled in its ranks. A good
deal we own is required to be done before it can be
said to have been placed on the footing that is desir-
able. We think a greater number of regiments might
bombed isd, and certain ly the streugth of the rank and
file of those that are on duty might with advantage
be increased. Bat other things are wanting to uplift
the spirit of the force, and to place it upon a footing
of nearer equality with the standing army. Great
detriment is at pelmet dose to the tone and temper
of the militia by the facilities afforded to scamps and
vagabonds to appropriate the bounty foe enlistment
in one regiment, free which after a few weeks
they desert for the sake of obtaining the Name in
another. The fault use in the defective state of the
law, which might without any di/Sanity be reme-
died; and the evil is not confined to the waste of so
much money upon worthless enlistments, but extends
by its demorali►tng example throughout the force.
The number of desertions from the nominal roll of
the militia is greater than may be generally sup-
posed, but it dose not follow therefore that an
adequate muster roll might cot be kept up if proper
means were employed. The great bulk of the
desertions, so called, are from unembodied regiments,
and from corps recklessly enlisted from the lowest
class of the population, and badly °Seared. To con-
found such mummy, however much to be regretted,
with desertion of colours in the field would be aboard.
It proceeds from very differext causes, and must be
very differently dealt with.

TRADE AND FINANCE.

(From the Daily Napa.)
THE annostasements of new piddle sempanies have
been vety numerous daring the WI moth or two,
and it seems probable that they will become still
more frequent. The present is, therefore, a fitting
moment for calling attention to one or two points
which have hitherto eluded discussion, but in respect
of which it is highly desiuble that caution should
be invited. Anew undertaking is launched—whe-
ther for railway, mining, steam navigation, or other
business, it matters sot—and the shares are at once
quoted at a premium, although the subscription list
still open. The uninitiated are apt to regard this
apparently spontaneous appreciation of the new con-
cern as a bond fide indication that it is favourably
received and possesses intrinsic merit. If at
so salty a stags of its existence people are
found willing to pay a premium for the shares, it is
.fair to infer that they most be worth having at par-
This consideration, combined with the allurements
in which prospectuses are deficient, suffices in
many instances to attract numerous applications.
Nor do the subscribers consist merely of the inex-
perienced class—inseh as well-to•do tradesmen, clergy-
moo, females of independent means, and so forth—
for they include wary operators, versed in all the
tricks of the market, who, however, frequently take
the precaution of selling shares before they subscribe
for them.

Now, a market premium forms a moat delusive
guide to the value of a new project. There are, it
is true, instances such as that of the Ocean Marine
Insurance Company, lately established, wherein a
marked and bowl Me demand promptly springs up
for the shares. Subscriptions to an enormous aggre-
gate are poured in ; and as it is known that the
apportionment to each applicant must be restricted,
a premium is naturally established. The genuine
demand outstrips the probable supply. These cases,
however, are quite the exception. As a rule,
the premiums quoted for the shares in new
undertakings are more or less factitious.
Promoters " of public companies —a class
of persons whose province is now se clearly defined
as that of election agents—are well aware that no
project will float unless the shares are at a premium.
This indispensable preliminary to success must ac-
cordingly be achieved. Bids are made for the shares,
and, none being as yet in existence, the required
effect upon the price is soon produced. Whether
the agents in the transaction are the "promoters" or
the directors, the dice with which the pan is played
are " loaded." AU the chances are against the public.
If the scheme be withdrawn for went of subscrip-
tions, no shares are issued, no " settlement " takes
place in them in the Stock Exchange, and
the persons who are engaged in the manipulation of
the market have nothing to pay. If, on the other
head, the floating of the scheme be ',cared, the
large " pickings " which usually fall to the share of
the promoters are far more than sufficient to defray
the cost of the operations in the market. The fre-
quency of the instances in which the price is kept up
at a premium during the whole of the time fixed for
receiving subscription., and falls to par or &discount
directly the list is closed, cannot have failed to strike
attention. Upon not a few sonsione the shares have
proved entirely unsaleable as soon as the artificial
demand has ceased.

These are only a few of the tricks which preside
over the inception of new projects. Strenuous efforts
are made to get the factitious price quoted in the
newspapers. "Puffs" of all sorts are pat into cir-
culation, and, unfortunately, are indiscriminately in-
serted by some organs of the press. It is not always
easy to ascertain, upon the instant, whether the
quotation for the shares is a genuine or an artificial
one, for the machinery used is of a subtle character.
These remarks are not addressed to speculators, who
may be left to protect themselves against the perils
of their profession. But it may not be altogether sit-
perfi nous to warn the uninitiated publis against devices
now habitaally practised. The golden rule should
be observed of never embarking in a new enterprise
because it is at a premium. If the subscriber is
'edified with the conditions, let him by all means
follow his inclination ; but let him beware of relying
upon the current market price as a means of profit-
The mischief and misery which have been occasioned
in thousands of quarters throsgh the non-observance
of this simple rule are incalculable.

Ciceely allied with this subject is the question of
the enormous allowances made to "promoters" and
" vendors," the monstrous commissions of stockbro-
kers, the high fixed solarise of directors, the extra-
elegant sums frequently charged against unwitting
shareholders se "preliminary expenses "—(repre-
Renting in some OWN a portion of the
oast of " rigging " the shales in the mar-
ket, so that the doped shareholder finds himself
actually paying fa the machinery by which he has
been deceived)—and kindred abuses. Public com-
panies are preyed upon to so fearful an extent that a
large portion of the community is already completely
disgusted with this clue of enterprise. There always
have been, however, and always will be, persons
anxious to embark their surplus funds in such chan-
mile, and thus we merely warn to scrutinise the con-
ditions more narrowly than has been the practice.
If a speculation is desired, the opportunities abound
but a man who seeks an investment and finds him-
self at the eleventh hour involved in a mere specula-
tion, and mulcted on all sides, may reasonably com-
plain if the organised machinery of deception is a
subject tabooed by the prem.
Now that we are within a few days of the close of
the twelvemonth, the statistical department of the
Board of Trade have favoured us, with characteristic
deliberation, with the usual record of the movement
of imports and exports for the eleven months ending
the 30th of November. The figures fully corroborate
the evidence furnished from many other quarters
that the trade of the country is steadily increasing,
and that the aggregate is already large beyond pre-
cedent- As regards the export trade, the enormous
figures reached in the speculative year, 1857, are
considerably exceeded. The latest statistics show
that the vastly increased foreign demand for
oar cotton manufactures still holds, but it

is • satisfactory indication that, now that 1I
the Indian demand has slackened, other foreign cue-
tossers who had been thrust aside are having their
wants atteuded to. Some foreign market. are said
to be almost bare of stocks. Fall employment is
thus ensured in the cotton districts, although the
accounts from the Bet bay. become decidedly dull,
and the activity in the Manchester market has died
away. Quietude Dually prevails during the last
week or two of the year, under the influence of stock-
taking and holiday enjoyments. The unusual extent
of the home demand for cotton yarns and goods con-
tinues to form a topic of remark.

A decided iscrous in the export of linen goods
and yarn is a •ery satisfactory feature in the lost
month's Board of Trade tables, and its effect is
already smut in the cheerfulness and activity repotted
by the somata from the north of Ireland. The
Belfast advices describe an extremely firm and good
market, both for goods and yarns, and the stocks of
the latter in first hands are now much reduced.

The reports from the English woollen, worsted,
sad Itasisry aides are quits or satisfactory u lately

noticed, and far more so than usual at this period of '
the year. The clothiers in the Leeds district are
exceedingly busy. At Huddersfield there have beat
during the last week large deliveries of ill kinds of
goods at the Cloth Hall. At Rochdale, the stocks of
flannels " were scarcely ever so low as they are now?
Throughout the woollen districts, the firmness, and
even brisk nese of the local markets for the raw material,
notwithstanding the remarkable absence of specula-
tion, afford strong evidence both of a sound state of
trade and of the prosperity of the agricultural clue.
From the iron and hardware districts the amounts
speak of a healthy and improving condition of trade,
and an increase in the number of orders on hand.
The majority of the Birmingham manufacturers are
stated to be folly occupied in the completion of
orders previously booked. These details may per-
haps be dry to some reader,, bet the result is •
" Merry Christmas" to the millions engaged in the
staple manufactures of the kingdom.
Some remarks offered recently under this head,
with reference to the great Russian tallow specu-
lation, have given rise to a smart controversy, in the
course of which the two sides of the question have
been stated with equal vigour by the respective dis-
putants. The " trade " and the public may very
properly be left to form their own conclusions. The
end of the tallow speculation is not yet. Whilst
adverting to the fall in the price of tallow which
betrayed the inherent tendency of the market as
soon as the artificial support I. even temporarily
removed, we made special reference to the
prospect of the price being whipped-up again
by a renewed effort on the part of the specu-
lators in whose hands the entire control
' of the market at present lies. How long they can
' retain that control has to be seen; but with the
r approach of the great speculative settlement fixed for
the last day of the year in the tallow market, they
' appear to be at the zenith of their power. Mean-
, while the hard facta remain-1, a very high price I
2, a greatly checked consumption; 3, an unpreos-
' dented steak of tallow here ; and, 4, an enormous

stock held over in Russia. Let us wait and see
what will ultimately eons. of
.thie condition of the
tallow trade.

CO !tort.

WINDSOR CASTLE. Dic. SC

Her Majesty's dinner party yesterday included
the Primes of Wales end Primers Alice, Lady Caroline Bar-
dares, Major General the Hon. R. Bruen Coked the
Hon. Bra C. end Lady Phipps, the Hoe. Mrs. T. K. Bid-
dalph, Lieutenant-Cohost Koppel, and Count de Lanolin,
the Portuguese Iliniaer, who arrived on a visit in the
afternoon.

The bead of tba Ist We Guards was in stteadeutoe and
played doshig Maher the

Ileakb% 11.3313113°
Beleadap, .........
Her ibisety's private bond afterwards perhotel fa the
&swim-room the
•• Yam ?pi"
3.1 demo (Id Jail •• roamer
.

ii•-b..1.67.111.N.a I.

m=gris.
ease

U."--S—siseilla—rs7l7.7.
Seism as Is Tames

Tim Qos . with the Primers Ahem walked In the Home.
perk this morktng, and MAW the Dirket. of Kent, et
Fromm,.

Tie Primo Caron, asompoolod by Ilos Prince of Wake,
redo oat on bombast, Amid by Captain Du Plat sad
lioatooase-Colood Levy&
Primes Halos sod Primo Lodes rode to the Min-
ima&

The Porta/pees Minister, Count de Lairradio, returned to
Loudon to the bresoott.

The Ha•. Mrs. R. Bruce arrived In the sf4r•oas at •
viteß

Her Majesty's &aim petty lealuded the Prince of Wales
sad Prisms Alias, Major Omani the Hoe. R. sad Mrs.
Brace, sad liestesseest.Cokeed KeppeL
The bead et the Gesealea. (laude was in atteadsaas, and
*yid dierieedlessr She

Greed Pantie Ken ............... iswlrwer
belewbro." ....
Maws WlWP.Piel6'74WWW‘W.diiiiii'" (Warm ha
The chair of et. Chergals Chap* seder the direction of
Dr. Elver, had the honour of Meese before bee Majesty
otter dinars • sad bar ldelestre peyote bead performed is
the drewtee:room the
ammarof y Qom" W. IL Bessoilt.
Oben. N Tie
IeNW w ellen Obliflebers " IlawdeL
Third Woo MN
£. •
lethatif as lameare." Mearah-

The Queen and Prima Coneest, tie Priam tiD ZO•t
Mean,
Prince Arthur, Princess Mien Printer Helens, and PriDIVIS
Louise, the Duchess of Kent, and the Prim and Polite...
of Lebangen, the ladies and gmtlemen of the court, and the
domestic household, attended divine service this morning in
the private obspeL The Hoe. and, Vary Rev. the Dean of
Wbideor performed the service sad !administered the Holy
II

Viscount Palmerston arrival in town on &tardily mottle
far, sod retuned in the afternoon to Breedleach,.
Despatches were received on Saturday at the Colonial-
dice how the Governor of Newfoundland.

The Marquis and Marehioneos of Ailesbury hays
bees honoured with a visit daring the put week by his
Royal Mishima the Duke of Cambridge. Amon the core-
party waresabled to meet his royal higlusem wets—V incase
sad Viscountess hydaey, the Right lion. Sidney Harbert sad
Mrs. Reebert, Load sad Lady de Vied sad the Minis
Vesey, the ikiehitalell Marla of Aileattary, the Ham.
Colossi sad Mrs. MseskaiaM, Lord &Aix; the Holt. Oil-
beet Reattgote, Mr. Napier tttort, Lord Alfred Paget, Dr.
thata, Ike.

The Earl and Countess of Gainaborough and Lady
Victoria Noel have arrived at St. Lwauda-on•Sea, troy
their seat, Raton Park, Rutland.

Lady Truro has left town for the Bedford Hotel,
Brighton.
Lady Do Donstanville has arrived at her house
In Charles-street, from Cornwall.

Lady Frederick Bentinck has arrived in town.
Lady Williams and the Misses Williams and
Madame Kainterron Days taken aka r departure from tha
Brunswick Hots), Jerm3rn-street.

Sir Roderick and Lady Murchison have left town
for the Bid turd Hotel, Brighton.

Us Bishop of London acknowledges the receipt
et miens important contributions to the Metropolitan Relief
Assoclatien, 4, St. Mastitis-place, and especially one of •
thousand pounds sent anoeymously.

Mr. William Hampton Chamber,, licentiate in
theology of Bebop Costa's Hall, Durham, and formerly •
reporter on the Dariemices now, hes been ordered a deacon
by the Bebop of London, and hanged to the curacy of St.
Mathieu Church, Bet oa the noontime.. of the
Rev. J. CoWeans, M.A.

Dax3H or Ma. WitlONT.—This favourite come-
dies, mar se_populer at the Adelphi Theatre, expired at
Boulogne ea Thursday monde; lea, after • long sad severs
1i1t.... Kr. Wright wee bona la 1813, and had therefore not
*melded his fortreixth year. He was orightally iatended
for • ormammial life, bat he exhibited as lachaation for the
stage at • very early periold. aid oratrived to make
sa appearance at the Queues Theatre in 18.14. Hie
TICOrieB wee sot very earmareglag, butotadmated by
the alvitts that was then gime to bun to emit
some what vocation, he went into the provinces to obtain
pretties, sad at Btrafaghern very won established himself as
ea warrofgrestbreadthef baceoar. When graham owned the
St. Jam as Theatre for the soma September 29. 1837, Mr.
Wright aaaeaaa that *yawn his first recumnared appearing.
as • aorsedhs before • metropolitan 50d5...,, playing Splash
fa rho Imy Wiens to Me Aarelle, of Mrs. Stirling, aad
dacioddy in • mem farce celled Methinks 1 Bee my father.
Ho atternseds vent to the Adolph' Theatre, when, with the
ezeoption of • brief interval at the Primers's, he permed
hie ester till witbia • few mouths ago. He we *great
famarite with hie amebae% sad the nuroorotte parts width
he erected, ma ia tastier mod Siwehm, bid Pew /sot Bawl
Year Wl* ee GLwhwWl Ltemenstie NCOMMr--whe ass
Ingot his Um Orembyf—sM, above all, his Hatter We-
midge, the Madam shrwmea, to 7As 19,11118 Bushes, will be
always Waved to la ma amice with hie same.
vita ALBUM Sairrii.—We have Tory Week
*sears la sadism that Mr. Albert Smith, whose snack cd
, apoplexy we maseleaed ea Saturday, has Mss reseal& lie
' soassimemse, tad Moo sea aaftriolool of No norm,.