The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-02-11 00:00:00

can give of their superfluity of cotton, corn, and
provisions, articles which are of more importance
to them than gold, as these productions give em-
ployment to her people, and so should we act. Our
first duty is to see that money, in its incremental
ohm aster, it cheap and abundant, so as to secure
employment for our labour pepulation. This is
the most important duty we can engage in, and we
may safely undertake it, without fear and trembling.
Our exchanges we should leave to tho instincts of
self-protection, which the bankers of the time of
Charles IX., of France, requested of that monarch
to be allowed to act upon, without being encum-
bered by restrictive laws.
In order not to trespass too much on your
valuable space, I will for the present defer entering
upon that portion of my plan which I have pre
pared for publication, and remain, Sir, respectfully
yours, T. H.
Liverpool, Feb. 9th, 1857.

ORGANIC MATTER-WHAT IS IT ft

TO THE EDITOR OE THE NORTHERN TIKES.

Sir,—Doubtless the question, what is organic
matter? has been frequently asked during the last
few ,:'weeks. Organic Matter, then, is a general
name given by chemists-to all matter of vegetable
or animal origin,—matter derived from organised
beings ;—it will, therefore, be seen 'that this name
embraces a very great number of substances of
extremely opposite characters. Organic matter,
unlike mineral matter, is susceptible of an infinite
variety of changes of the most marvellous charac
ter, which are sometimes effected by very simple
means, Sugar, bread, and clash meat, matters
essential for life, are easily convertible by the
chemists' art into the most deadly, poisons.
Dr. Taylor, in his late letter to the town clerk,
states, that one quarter of a grain of organic
matter in a pint of water is not injurious to health.
Let me ask whethef that quantity of strychnine
in a pint of water would not be injurious, and yet
strychnine is organic matter. Strychnine, however,
is an active poison, but there are other forms of
organic matter that aro equally fatal and sure,
though much slower, in producing 'an effect, and
some of these forms undoubtedly exist in all surface
water.

Organic matter is not always dead, though the
chemist takes no cognizance of this fact, but the
microscopist does. Dr. Arthur Hill. Hassan, the
greatest micros' opist in this country, has shown
that the water of the Rivington district contains
an abundance of peculiar yellow coloured filaments,
supposed to he microscopic fungi, a most
pernicious form of vitalized organic matter.
Would not the continual consumption of one
quarter of a grain of this form of organic
matter not prove injurious to the health
of the inhabitants of Liverpool ? Perhaps the
thousands of live fungi which every pint of water
contained,- would be 'absorbed, and in some
instances attach themselves to the necks or faces
of the fair ladies of Liverpool, giving rise to some
charming tumour, which would do anything but
enhance their beauty.
Clever as Dr. Taylor is, and however high he
may stand in. the profession, he has yet much to
learn respecting the influence of organic matter
in water on the health of people drinking it, and,
it would be better for him, as a scientific man, to
be more cautious before he stigmatises, as down-
right quackery, the statement of Dr. Herepath,
and our talented townsman Dr. Muspratt, that
the organic matter in the Rivington water, is a
highly injurious ingredient.— I am, Sir, your
obedient servant, MICHAEL ALEX. GAGE, JUN.

MONETARY AND COMMERCIAL.

LIVERPOOL, Tuesday Evening.

The Cotton Market keeps rather active, a good
demand being experienced both from the trade and
speculators, the latter pf which took one half of
to-day's sales, vii., 5,000 bales, the total transac
tions reaching 10,000 bales. Prices are firmly
maintained.

Tlie.Liveipool Share Millet was very quiet to-
day, but few transactions being reported at rather
above .yesterday's quotations. The day's sales
were as follows :-Blackburn, B+l ; Caledonian,
• att. t. E tstern Counties, 91. Lancashire and
Yorkshire, 96k, 7, 71 +. f„ 1. London, Brighton,
and South Coast, 108 cx div. London and
North Western, 1061, 1. Manchester, Sheffield, and
Lincoln, 34 1 lop Midland 821, B. North Eastern,
211, 1. 1 Dovers, 22, k, 1, *, 1, 5.16 A. Dutch
Rhenish, par. Grand Trunk of Canada, 12+
GreatiLuxembourg, ltd. The closing quotations
were as follows t-Blackburn 81 81 Chester
and Birkenhead, 66 661. Caledonian, 311 311 -
Chester and. Holyhead, 18 181. Eastern Counties,
91 91.. East Lancashire, 231 231. Great Northern,
231 231 Ditto A Shares, 91 10. Great Western,
67* 68. Lancashire and Yorkshire Stock, 971 97+.
Liverpool,'Crosby, and Southport, 181 181 London
and North Western Stock, 1061 1061. Man
Chester, Sheffi3ld, and Lincoln, 34g 34L
Midland Stock, 821 821 North British, 10 108
North Staffordshire, 5 411. South Eastern. 22
3-16 221. York, Newcastle, and Berwick, 21 3-10
21 5-16. York and North Midland, 301301. Leeds
capital Stock, 18/ 181 Buffalo and Lake Huron,
1111 p. Dutch Rhenish, par 17. Great Western
of Canada, 241 241. Ditto New Shares, 2 -11-16 21p.
Great Luxembourg, 111 10'11. Grand Trunk of
Canada, 12+ 12 11-16 The continuations paid
were-Blackburn, 9 1 6(1 76d 61 9.1. Caledonian,
2s 9d Et 2s 9d 1 Eastern Counties, Oil 104c1 is
East Lancashire, is 6d is Ocl. Great Western,
3s 9d. Lancashire and Yorkshire Stock, 5-16
London and North Western Stock, 1 7-16 N. 7-16.
Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincoln, A is Od 2s.
Midland Stock, / 5-16 15.16 /. North British, ls.
South Eastern, 2s Is 9.12 s is 9d. York, Newcastle,
and Berwick, 2s is 9d is 6d is Od Is. Dutch
Rhenish, 10d 9.1 10d is 10d (ex loss is 41.) Great
Western of Canada, 2s is 91. Ditto New shares,
10d 11. d 91 10.1. Grand Trunk of Canada, 1-16
Is 6d,

The business transacted on the Leeds Stock
Exchange to day was at the following prices :7--
Midland, 82k; Leeds, On, s, g, 2; East Lancashire,
23 13-16, I; London and North Western, 106 f ;
Great Western, 67k; Lmeashire Insurance, par;
Leeds and Carlisle, 67.

The demand for money continues pretty active,
the arrival of gold from Australia not having any
any very material influence upon the Discount
Market. Some are looking for a rather more
favourable state of things, but at present there is
but few signs of such a desideratum. There
are two vessels now nearly due from
Australian colonies, the Ocean Chief and the
Admiral A continuous supply of gold may thus
be anticipated, and even should the drain to the
Continent still go on, there is no cause for appre-
hending any serious reduction in the Bank of
England bullion. The accounts from the colony
relative to the production of gold are encouraging,
and in confirmation of this it is mentioned that
the exports up to the Bth November had exceeded
105 tons Qf gold, being much larger than, the
shipments of the previous year.

The market for the Public Funds and Securities
was rather dull to-day, and in the morning a
-slight decline oqcured, there being sellers at
931, it having been as low as 921. At the
close of business, howeveF, the market was rather
stronger. and the quotations were— for money,
93k; and for the account, 931 t 0.93). Exchequer
Bills were neglected at par to 3 pm, and Three
and a Quarter per Cents closed at 931 to 931 to
931.
The London Railway Share Market was firm
to-day, and the full prices of yesterday were easily
obtained.

French Shares were in steady demand. The
following were tho clOsing quotations, as published
in the official list :

Ambergate, Nottingham, and Eastern Junet. 4 ... 4Z-
Caledonbn
Edinburgh and Glasgow
Eastern Counties ..... .....,.....
Eist Lancashire.
Great Northern
Ditto, A 78 .. 80
Great Western

Antwerp

Lancashire and Yorkshire
Leeds Northern ' .. . 184...
London and North Wts,ern
London and South Western
Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire
Midland Stock
North British _
—2 c.

South Eastern and Dover
,
York, Newcastle, and Berwick .., .
York and North Midland 6l ... 61f,
After the official hours the following prices were
paid, being an advance on the above quotations :
Caledonian
Eastern Counties.
Ea-t Lancashire

THE NORTHERN" TIMES.--LIVERPOOL, WEDNESDAY.

made up by the Government ; if in excess of the
required amount, the balance t.) be returned to
the Government until 1867. After that date a
sinking fund to be commenced"
The following were the closing quotations of
Foreign Exchange

Amsterdam, Short .
1111
11
7,
14 to„ 11 1
11
1I 1
Do. Three gontha
Rotterdam ~ • 2 1, 1
4

i) 25 30 25 35

ii,
Brussels Is „
• 25 30 25 35
Hamburg
13 64 13 7
is Paris, Short
24 22
2 II
.Do. Three Months 25 574. „ 25 621
Nlarseilles ~
Frankfort If
Vienna If lO 27 „ 10 30
Trieste ~ .....
Petersburg 1, • • 37.1 „ 37
Madrid ,) ...... .. . .... 491 „ 494

The meeting of the Peel River Land and Mine-
ral Company, 'held this morning, passed off satis
factorily. A dividend of is per share was declared,
which would be payable on the 9th of March next.
A. profit of 4,920/. had been made in the year by
the stock operations, but the result of the letting
of the gold fields. was not very encouraging, the
area of the deposit being very limited. More hope
was placed in the letting of the lands and live
stock operations The report was agreed to, and a
vote of thanks was passed to the Directors.
The directors' report presented at the extraor-
dinary- meeting of ,the Australian Royal Mail Com-
pany yesterday, stated that government were dis
!Aged to grant °a supplementary charter to the
Company, provided the sharehol'lers ratified the
resolution previously passed. In the course of the
meeting an amendment was moved by a share-
holder for the winding up of the company ; but
the result was the adoption of the report of the
directors, which carried with it the approval of the
proprietors to the application for a supplementary
charter. The amendment was only supported by
a few hands.

The balance sheet of the Bank of Vienna for
the month bf Januny shows a further increase
of 1,848 687 fl, or say 184,0001 in the metallic
stock, and a decrease of 5,242,948 fl, or 524,0001
in the paper in circulation. The former item
stands now at 89,089,296 fl, or say 8 908,0001,
and the latter at 374,938.137 fl, or 37,493 0)01.
This statement is chiefly int€ resting us proving
that the Austrian National Bank is still absorbing

The half yearly meeting of the proprietary of
the Bank of New South Wales was held at Sydney
on the 29th of October last. The report to
the shareholders was highly satisfactory, and
showed a total of 66,6851 5s 4d net profits for
distribution. The directors recommended a
dividend at the rate of 20 per cent per annum,
which absorbed 50,0004 . the balance was dis-
posed of as follows :-3,0631 3s lld was carried
forward to new profit and loss account, and
13,6221 is 5:1 was „added to the reserved fund,
increasing it to 125,000/, including 1,3771. Ws 7d
recovered, which had- been previously written off
as bad debts, 'l'h3 directors have, during the last
half year established fear additional branches, viz ,
at Albury, Bathurst, Mudge°, and Tamworth, also
an agency at the gold fields at Rocky River, and as
occasion may require, fresh branches or agencies
are to be opened at the dis3retion of the directors.
The report was unanimously adopted.
The Peninsular and Oriental steamer Aden, with
advices from Bombay to the 17th January, arrived
at Suez on the .28th There is nothing further of
importance from the Persian Gulf. General Out-
ram and staff left Bombay in the Semiramis on the
16th of January. The troops at Bushire were
reported healthy.

With respect to the important subject of the
'renewal of the charter of the Bank of England,
and the continuance or non-continuance of the
existing laws relating to banking in Ireland and
Scotland, a very generally expressed opinion is
entertained that it would have been far more satis-
factory if the GovernMent had, upon their own
responsibility, introduced the measures they
deemed most advisable, rather than endeavour to
throw the responsibility upon the House of Com-
mons, by the appointment of a select committee.
As the committee has now been appointed, and for
several weeks to come a considerable amount of
public attention will be attracted to the subject, it
may not be amiss here to give a short resume of
the history of the existing Irish joint-stock banks,
and the leading provisions of the Act of Parliament
of 1845, the 8 and 9 Vier., c. 37, under which at
present they are regulated. The joint-stock banks
carrying on business in Ireland, which have the
privilege of issuing.notes, are six in number. We
subjoin the amount of the capital of each, the
proportion which has been paid up, and the fixed
issue in each case. Tha fixed issue was deter-
mined by the average circalation possessed by
each bank during the year ending the Ist of
May, 1846 :

Capital. Fixed
Capital. paid up. Issue.
£ £ £
Bank of Ireland
Provincial Bank
National Wink ..
Ulster Banking Company ,
Northern Banking Company 500,000 150,000 243,440
Belfast Banking Company 500,000 125,000 281,611
Besides these there are two banks which do not
issue notes—the Royal, with a capital of 1,044 2501,
of which 209,1751 is paid up; and the Hibernian,
with a like capital, of which 250,000/ is paid up.
The Bank of Ireland was established in 1783,
with a capital of 600,0001, which has been enlarged
at various times, and in 1821, upon the renewal of
its charter for 17 years. it was increased to its pre-
sent amount of 3 000,0001 The greater part of this
' sum, or 2,630,7691, was lent to government, partly
at four per cent. and partly at five per cent., but by
the act of 1845 the interest was reduced to an uniform
rate of three and a half per cent. The act of 1845
continued to the Bank the privilege it had froth the
first enjoyed of being the banker of the Govern-
ment, and having the management of the National
Debt. By the same Act any bank privileged to
issue notes may relinquish this right in favour of
the Bank of Ireland, according to certain regula-
tions, but cannot resume such privilege. Previous
to 1821 no joint-stock bank other than the
Bank of Ireland. having more than six
partners, was allowed to be established in
Ireland. The Charter granted to the Bank in
that year continued to it the exclusive pri-
vilege of issuing notes in Dublin, or within
fifty miles thereof, but did not' absolutely prohibit
any bank, not issuing its own notes, from
establishing itself within the prescribed li-
mits. Owing, however, to numerous obstacles
thrown in the way of the formation of such
companies, none were started until .1824,
when the repeal of certain restrictions led to the
founding of the Hibernian Bank. This was followed
up by the establishment of the Provincial and
Northern Banks in 1825, the Belfast, in 1827; the
National, in 1835 ; and the Ulster and Royal in
1836. The consequence of this rivalry for business
was the establishment, by the Bank of Ireland, of
branches in the principal towns, and the number
of such branches now reaches to twenty-five.
The number of branches of the other banks
amounts in the aggregate to 142; of these the
Provincial possesses forty, and the National forty-
seven.

It is understood that at the half-yearly meeting of
the East Lancashire Railway Company, on Friday,
the 27th instant, the directors will recommend the
shareholders to declare a dividend at the rate of
five per cent, per annum for the past half year, on
the ordinary stock of the company.

FOLEY'S AMERICAN GOLD PENS.—Charles Willmer
wholesale and retail stationer, 19, South John.street
respectfully intimates to merchants, traders, and dealers,
that he has been appointed sole agent for the sale of Foley's
celebrated American Gold Pens, which are universally
acknowledged to be far superior to any other manufactured
either in America or this country, They are sold cheaper,
are made of the best gold, with superior points, and are
warranted to wear at least ten years. In America they
have been extensively used for that period, and are pre-
ferred to new ones. The prices range from five shillings to
a guinea each. Supplied wholesale by Charles Willmer,
19. South John-street, Liverpool.—Advt,

tomiutrttal Inteltigerice.

LIVERPOOL COTTON MARK 10

The cotton market continues without change; the
demand to-day has been fair, speculators still directing
attention to long stapled descriptions, and yesterday's rates
are firmly maintained. The sales—including 800 Pernam-
bucos 70 to Sid, 2,000 Bahias 7id, 50 Maranhams 7id to
2.000 Egyptians Sid to 103 d, 700Surats 5d to 63d—are
reported 10,000 bales, of which 5,000 are on speculation
and for export,

AWLE'S PECTORAL COUGH LOZENGF,F
V, FOR THE CORE OF COUGHS, COLDS, ASTHMA,
SORE THROATS, Bm.—Thrse Lozenges. which, for many years
hare held the highest reputation, will be found a most kvaluable
remedy for all affections of the lungs, relieving and strengthening
them, thereby protecting them from future attacks of co'd and con-
sequent inflammation. For pooping cough in children, they are an
infallible, safe," and pleasant remedy.'-Prepared only by Terrick jr,
Williams :(late Rawle), Pharmaceutical Chemist, 79. Lord-street,
Liverpool. Sold in boxes at is. 13d., 25. gd.. and 4s. 6d.

ALMOND
or chapped hands,
WHITE AND SOFT SKIN.—To obtain this
leasan WILLIAMS'edy
sore throats, or any roughness or re nose of the skin. This prepa.
TABLET, desideratum,the surest an itingoestp
ration will be found much superior to' such noxious compounds as
camphor ball, Bcc., and being free from grease, and perfumed with
otto of roses, makes it an indispensable toilette requisite.—May be
had from MI chemists, in boxes at is lid, and from the proprietor,
TERRICK WILLIAMS (late Rawle), Chemist, 7g, Lord.street,
Liverpool. Wholesale Agents-.:Ciay, Dod, Case, Raimes and Co.
SELLING OFF,
NOTICE OF REMOVAL.
JMACLENNAN respectfully intimates
• that he has taken the PREMISES, No. 28,
BOLD STREET (at present occupied by Mr. Parsons), and
that during the alterations he will SELL his present STOCK
of valuable SHAWLS and MANTLES at very reduced
prices. Therefore those desirous of getting extraordinary
bargains will do well to make an early call, as he Is deter-
mined to make an entire clearance, so as to make room for
an entirely New Stock on ettering the above premises.
SHAWL AND MANTLE WAREHOUSE,
36, CHURCH STREET,
(OPPOSITE FARBER STREET.)

Sale to commence on MONDAY NEXT, February 9, and
will be continued on the following days,