The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1825-03-31 00:00:00

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AMERICA .1f I NINSI 4506VireiT ON's. •
A leiter has been puhlisiw , Dr/dread Le
Mr. Baring, on the subject•itiryld iifdns made b 7
him in the House of Comenotultsi ticelSit inst. relative ILO
the Foreign Mining Assoefatiohs.- Tkis pamphlet is cleady.
and temperately written ;. and, by undeniable facts, it sx.-
futes the loose and vague• opinions. which it con teorettt.
After quoting the observations of the Honourable Meenber,
Mr. Powles proceeds:- •
"The nonsense which is talked in club-rooms and caree-ldlimee
on these subjects I the ertoneout conceptions which have sometimes
fould their way into Courts of lustice respecting them (forwilwr
more practically ignorant of the destines elf life than lawyers ?) moo
be passed titer in silence ; but when the first metkhast m theeneto
try delibefately puts forth, in his place in the Senate, such un--
founded opinions as are thin, attributed to you, it is -time that dime
attempt be made;however feebly, to place be nature of Sheet
transactions in its true light." •
" To proceed at once to your eret remark-
"' He (Mr. Baring) believed that all the Mini* Asembidbire
would turn out to be delusions.'
" Is its delusion to affirm, that up to the year 11110, the mines of
Mexico (of which alone, for the Lake of coneenienee, I will speak)
produced annually a considerable amount of specie, over and above
the expense of working them-that they not only enriched the pro-
prietors and paid large doties to the State, but were also UM
source?rem which considerable remittances were periodically made
to the Government of the Mother Country, after defraying all dm
expenses of the Vice-regal Government ?
" Is it a delusion to state that the produce of these mien was
suspended by the events of the Revolution alone•-‘-that dose Rig
volution having accomplished its object, the proprietors of dna*
mines found themselves (after having been for fourteen yam de.
priced of their income, their buildings and works dilapidated Cr de-
stroyed, and many of their mines filled with watery witness the
means of pectin these sources of wealth again in activity ? •
" Was it unreasonable to believe, or was it delusive to torment
to others, that by the application of English capital, skiii..and ma.
ebincry. these capacions mines might again In pat in madam, with
great advantage both to those who should supply, and to these who
should receive such assistance?
" The latter point may be illustrated by a Hide ramie* to
figureas...:. • .• • •
" The Mine of Valencians (so well known
that I need give no other description of it)
produced in the nine yens, between 17114:
and 1802 - - - 13,805'0G7 d°llars.'p
" The expenses of working it during the same
period were - - - - 8,046,064
" A-id the average annual division among
the Proprietors was - - 643,479:
" These particulars arc taken from an official document. (Sao
Ifunekildes New Spain, Vol. lIL p. 199.) Humboldt .does not
tarry the table farther than 1802.
If then, this mine produced a net annual income of about
128,0001. sterling under Mexican management-if the proprietors
were willing, in order to obtain the supply of capital which they
needed, to concede to those who choold furnish it, a Urge portion
of the produce of the mine for a considerable terns of >ears, with
possession of the mine as security for its payment-sir s contract
had been actually concluded with those proprietors on this basis,
in what did the ' delusion' consist, of believing that such an under-
taking afforded a fair, tit, and legitimate object for the employment
of Br twit capital'''
Mr. Powles then shows, by reference to the Report of
the Anglo-Mexican Association, the highly satisfactory pro-
gress actually made in working the mines within the limits.
of' their contract. From the results already ascertained he
affirms, that "supposing the mines to produce, with the
advantage of English skill, machinery, and intelligence,
not one dollar more than tmder Mexican management alone,
the expectation of ample returns will not be diseppointed'
In proof of this assertion he quotes the works of Baron
Humboldt, and the letters of the Cornish mining captains
now employed in Mexico. It was the custom of the
' Mexican mine proprietors to sell the c., 3 weekly at the pit's
mouth. The English Associations will proceed upon'. the
plan of reducing the ore, by which they will unite the
profits of the two branches of the business.
Mr. Powles concludes his pamphlet with the following
remarks in • self-vindication, and on the general character
and tendency of the projects of the day :-
" Having taken an active part in the formation of some of these
Associations, I had conceived that if any class of undertakings
could deserve, on public grounds, to meet with favour anti emu-
ntgement, one whose direct tendency was to put in motion the in-
dustry of &large and imyor.rished, though once rich and populous
district-to circulate wealth throughout a community, certairu to •
become in retain customers to us for our own manufactures-to
supply revenue to the government of a new 11/111,11 in the mainte-
nance of whose independence and prosperity this country is deeply
interested-would be at least among the number. Compared with
such considerations, the demand for Eoglish machinery and labour
-the employ inept of Bridal) shipping, to which they have given
rise-are but of secondary importance- To see so severe earwax.
"arasenernmitton'painedur stretrtnettertatrtner, -reuse new., .Mn.
have been anticipated. Nor is the hanhness of the judgment any
way softened by a, consideration of the quarter whence it proceeds..
Could it have been expected that of all men in EngLuid, be who
most conspicuously displays-in his own rank and station inseam',
the enviable result of powerful and honest enterprise, should have
isiepnaised undertakings such as these, as mere delusion ? In
whet times are we living, when legislative enactments are talked et,
to restrain such a spirit of enterprise as this ? So wholnome,
nest, legitimate, and, I sill add, prAseworthy, are these und-umk-
logs in their whole scope and purposes, that if it had happened
that they had needed assistance from the Legislature for the flu-
therance of their proceedings, they would, on every Paucielle of
sound policy, have been entitled to have asked fer it, instead of be-
tog thus held up as objects of suspicion and disttanit.
" I have conceived it, Sir, to be my duty, implicated as I am by
the put I have taken in the formation of some of those entermiesss
thus to attempt a vindication of the prisicip.ieell which they ham
been formed. There is nothing infallible tit human caticulationa,
and our expectations of benefit may still be disappointed ; but be
that as it may, 1 do maintain that in no measure or degree is the
language applicable to them which you are reported to have used
on the occasion in question. In urging this vindication, I shall Doc
be so misunderstood as to he considered the advocate of a blind,
gambling speculation, or be supposed to say one word in favour of
those multifarious home projects, each pressing upon the other,
and many of them destructive of individual competition, which
have, of late, been springing up around us. Even there, I appre-
hend, except incase of fraud, to be beyond the reach of legislative
interference, and long before any law ern have been digested far
the purpose will the appetite for such schemes have passed away.--
It is already visibly on the decline.
" The rule obviously applicable to Joist Stock Companies is
this-for purposes beyond the compatriot individual means and ex-
ertion. (such purposes being lawful in themselves.) they are an un-
questionable public benefit ; much public cot venier.ce has hereto.
tore resulted from their labours, and more will continue to follow •
but when directed to pursuits fairly within the 'nape of individual
industry and competition,-bringing the overbearing weight of in-
, pital to compete with the limited mesas of the industrious trades-
man, they are a great public injury, and deserve se be discounts-
nanced by every man who takes the smallest interest in the general
welfare. But let Dot the legislator confound the good with the
bad, and hie anxiety to root up a few tares destroy the whets:
also. A,, unnatural demand for labour-an injurious and dimes-
raginoi competition mar be produced at home : there is no fear if
that kind abroad. We mad form Companies to work mines in
America-to colonise lands--440 cultivate indiga-to ash for pearls
-and coral too if we please-there Si roost sad to spare. The
earth and the ice are open to us in dist immense region, and will,
with due care, prudence, And diligence, yield us an sinedam bar.
vest. Del;ghtful is it to see this country in the glorious situatiou
of being the tint to put in motion the industry of the New Woad
I -.affording the most splendid illustration winch the wooed has yet
seen of the philosopher's axiom, that ' knowledge is prover,' and
making her commerce at once, ' under the blessing of Providence.
a slain source of strength and power' to herself, while it ' costa-
buts, in no less a degree, to the happiness and chriheasion at was-
kind.' "
• The produce of the mines luut twee in et
increase. It was as follows foe IA yeller =littatreel=s-
two, hut.-
Prom 1090 to 1729 - - - - 145,m4,esdoesra.
1736 to 1769 - - - ei,R90..44
1770 to 11810 - - - 796.1334,616
-r Fire debars may be reckoned to the pound atertlng.
: During this period the duly paid to the tioverruaset was 20i
per cent. It is now 6 per Mot.
. _
The Eclipse sailed from Falmouth on the 73th instant.
for Valparaiso, with the principal part of the estabLsiametu.
of the Chilian liiniag Association on board. An agent
and a Cornish mining captain preetsied this party soma
time shim.
The French Government, upon the report of M. eerie,
who cattle to England some time ago wage:gay our dock-
yards. life. have ordered one of the patent Arafat the nava!
service at, 'Coulon.

At the Cloornel Aurae' on the 173.1 instant--John A. H.
Beer:, Esq. v. the Karl of Dononglictione. —Tins was an. screws
against the Noble Earl, fat " falsely sad primary-1r
Thomas White to exhibit an information op oath before lain (.is
the lthli day of ..laritiary) the said Earl against i trisintfilt toe
an alleged attack cn the house at the said Thomas White. are
the lumina' 7th of January, 1823, and under colour and pram*
of said inf,rcwuioo, gymting a wairant to apprehend phansiff,
bring him beron: defendant." Under this warrant, it appestea, as
plain tiff was confined for wine time. The alleged attack go Wl:Ages'
house waa this : some cattle of the latter, taken as a dishitios, tia4
been re,,,:aed, and •n tier night in question the pLaintlff went no
White's. and seeisg in his stable two boron which had heft twice
rescued kom a eets.:re of distress, the plaintiff cusped thus to tit
driven *trey. Per this act he was chimed with felony, and the
Not defeAant grentrd his warrant, acd treated him at a feu.
The Jury rinseined lis onniultation some hour,. what they cye
low Court with a 'act for the plaintiff of Tiro Hundred end Aar
Poises damages, _Sixties:me costa. Ott Jaw point wag moat
for the statism dCx..Bl abort.

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