The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1826-05-23 00:00:00

POLICE.

MANSION-110USE.
Yesterday Mr. Johnson, of Oxford-street, with the deputation
of silk-mercers and others, waited again upon the Lord Mayor,
on the subject of the frauds which, they stated, were committed by
shopkeepers in various parts of the metropolis. The several parties
assured his Lordship that tl:e tharge was by no means ridiculous,
and that they considered the conduct of the shopkeepers as amount.
ing to frauds cognizable More Itim.
31r. Hell, one of the Committee for managing the subscription
for the dis!retised manufacturers, waited upon the Lord Mayor re-
specting the charge.
The Loau AlaToß said, he need scarcely ash whether the Com-
mittee had given any such authority to those tradesmen.
Mr. Hell—The Committee have not the slightest knowledge of
them.

Mr. Johnson said, they would show his Lordship the uses made
of the name of the Committee, and then it might be judged whe-
ther the deputation had been guilty of an egregious piece of folly
in presuming that shopkeepers of respectable appearance must have
had some authority for such a proceeding!' He then handed in the
I copy of a lithographic circular, which ran in the following terms :
" London.
" Madam—We, the distressed manufacturers of Spitalfields,
beg leave respectfully to inform pm, that Messrs. A. Shears and
Co., 120, Itegent.street. are appointed to cell, by coinmission, for
our immediate reltef, 40.000 i. worth of silks, consisting of rich
Gros des Indies [Here the goods are enumerated', f)iaphone
Cntpes, and every hew article of Spitalfields produce. The good;
are of the very best quality ; warranted perfect, and will be of.
ftred at less than the cost price of the raw material--an advantage
of 45 per cent."
1 There was one advertisement from the Messrs. Carden and Co.
which used the following terms—" The Right Hon. the Lord
Mayor, and many other persons of distittetinto, having humanely
considered the distressed State of the manufacturers in :ipitalcields,
Macclesfield, and many other Manufacturing Districts, and con.
vencd a Meeting at the City of London Tavern, to take into con-
sideration the best means of affiirdiog immediate relief, Messrs.
Carden and Co. beg to inform the Nobility and the Public that
they ate appointed Agents the Committee of Manufacturers to
sell, for the exclusive benefit of the Working ('lasses, 47,000 yards
of silk, manufactured solely in Spitalfields, the produce of which
is to be handed to the Committee daily. The Committee find this
the best manner of affording releif to the weavers, as it is the sale d
the immense stock now on hand that will alone enable theta to give
them employment."
The Loan Atsron—l need not ask you, Mr. Bell, whether
any money had been received daily by the Committee from any such
source.

Mr. Bell—My Lord, we know nothing whatever of them.
There was another advertisement from the same Paper ( The Min
Bull of the 7th of May), which stated, that in consequence of the din.
tressed state of the Spitalfields manufacturers, and " it being signi.
fled that ladies will appear in silk exclusively manufactured in
dpitalfields, IVilliams and Price have just received several consign.
ments of silks, with positive orders from the Committee of Citizens
to sell, and remit the money immediately. The present distress
need hardly be stated as a cause for such sacrifices."
The Lotto Marou—Who are the Committee of Manufacturers?
They will doubtless say they are the Committee, and that they, or
those for whom they sell, are distressed.
Mr. Johnson said it was impossible to tell, hut when statements so
positive as these were sent forth by such houses, persons might be
excused for having believed that they acted under some authority
from the Committee for managing the Subscription. In a speech
made by Cobbett to the Elettors of Preston, on! of those advertise.
ments formed the groundwork of an attack which that person made
upon his Lordship and the Committee, and the Subscribers, as the
presumption that such a mo.ie of selling goods was authorized by
them. This person was acknowledged to be tolerably acute ..t any
rate, so that the persons composing the deputation who waited upon
his Lordship, were not the only persons who had been egregiously
deceived by these advertisements.
The Lord Mayor declared that he could scarcely have conceived
that respectable tradesmen would have resorted to such means for
procuring custom. Reprehensible as they were, lie however did rot
see that they were legally cognizable before him.
The Deputation, after declaring their conviction that much
mischief had been done to the Subscription by these practices.
thanked his Lordship for his attention to the case, and left tl:e
Justice Room.