The Sun.
London, England, 1855-08-01 00:00:00

of Parliament or a Charter, which would cost al

least a thousand pounds, and would take by an-
ticipation a large share of the profits obtainable
by a moderate success. These are the examples
of a crowd of undertakings, which (even in their
first failures) are of the highest public advantage,
but to which the present state of the law presents
obstructions which in a great majority of in-
stances are insuperable. In such instances as
those above cited, the most safe trials with a view
to observation and commercial success, would, in
the first instance, at least, be on such compara-
tively small scales as those stated ; but the state of
the law creates the temptation on the part
of the inventor to magnify the promises
of certainty, in order to attain the only legal
means of trial—those under limited liabilities—
by works of a magnitude to diminish the propor-
tionate cost of the privilege for undertaking them.
An outlay of five thousand pounds only in some
instances would be provident, but the Board of
Trade's proposed limitation of the privilege to
enterprises for 25,0001. would have created the
necessity of a fivefold, and, in the first in-
stance, improvident, expenditure—increasing the
chances of misapplication and failure.
Mr. EDWARD STRUTT, and other large capital-
ists, declares that money is always to be found for
really provident undertakings ; but nothing in
their view is provident which is not on a scale for
great capitalists, to whom undertakings like those
cited, though wise and beneficial, and eventually
commercially productive, are beneath the dignity
of their attention or their comprehension. Not
one shilling has Mr. STRUTT, or such as he, given
in aid of any one of them, nor would they be
entertained in the " sweating-room" of the Messrs.
JONES LLOYD. But Mr. WILLIAM BROWN should
know that the strikingly successful progress of
manufacturers in America, a progress reported
upon by Mr. WHITWORTZI, and the other Com-
missioners of Inquiry at the Exposition of Ameri-
can Industry, as being in new and various direc-
tions, far in advance beyond Lancashire itsel
(which is only superior to America in textile
fabrics), are due to beginnings with small means,
readily and cheaply combined on the principle of
limited liability. The following statement is
cited by Mr. JOHN MILL on this question.

" According to Mr. CAREY, nowhere is associa-
tion so little trammelled by regulations as in New
England ; the consequence of which is, that it is
carried to a greater extent there, and particularly
in Massachussetts and Rhode Island, than in any
other part of the world. In these States the
soil is covered with compagnies anonymes—

chartered companies—for almost every conceiv-
able purpose. Every town is a corporation for
the management of its roads, bridges, and schools,
which are, therefore, under the direct control.
of those who pay for them, and are conse-
quently well managed. Academies and churches,
Lyceums, and Libraries, Savings Fund Societies
and Trust Companies exist in numbers propor-
tionate to the wants of the people, and all are
corporations. Every district has its local bank,
of a size to suit its wants, the stock of which is
owned by the small capitalists of the neighbour-
hood, and managed by themselves ; the conse-
quence of which is, that in no part of the world
is the system of banking so perfect, so little liable
to vibration in the amount of loans—the necessary
effect of which is, that in none is the value of
property so little affected by changes in the amount
or value of the currency, resulting from the
movements of their own banking institutions."
"In the two States to which we have
particularly referred, they are almost .200 in num-
ber. Massachussetts alone offers to our view 53
insurance offices, of various , forms, scattered
through the state, and all incorporated. Factories
are incorporated, and are owned in shares; and
every one that has any part in the management of
their concerns, from the purchase of the raw ma-
terial to the sale of the manufactured article, is a
part owner, while every one employed in them has
a prospect of becoming one by the use of pru-
dence, exertion, and economy. Charitable asso-
ciations exist in large numbers, and all are incor-
porated. Fishing vessels are owned in shares by
those who navigate them, and the sailors of a whal-
ing ship depend in a great degree, if not altoge-
ther, upon the success of the voyage for their com-
pensation."

Mr. CAREY adds A careful examination of
the systems of the several states can scarcely, we
think, fail to convince the reader of the advantage
resulting from permitting men to determine
among themselves the terms upon which they will
associate, and allowing the associations that may
be formed to contract with the public as to the
terms upon which they will trade together,
whether of the limited or unlimited liability of
partners." " I concur in thinking," says Mr.
JOHN MILL, " that to this conclusion science and
legislation must ultimately come l"
Mr. STRIITT, vindicating the authority of Mr.
SAMUEL JONES LLOYD, now Lord OVERSTONE, in
his opposition to the application of the principle
of limited liability, asks what interest his Lord-
ship can have in the matter ? The reply is, an
interest of the most powerful description—so
powerful that the Noble Lord forgets what is due
to the assembly he addresses, when he omits to
refer to the circumstances naturally tending to
bias him--that of interest-begotten prejudice. The
profits of the banking firm to which he belonged
were reputed to be upwards of fifty thousand
all
r aelnicnitium.menln, his
what
hat sight,ean be
or inm
more
he
offensive
e
voef
than to see joint-stock banks edging out
regular bankers by returning one part of such
profits to the customers in the shape of inte-
rest on their deposits, and another part in the
shape of dividends to the shareholders ? What
more threatening (to the State) than to see Joint-
Stock concerns increase on the principle of limited
liability Their concern, and the concern of that
man of lively and munificent benevolence, Mr.