The Sun.
London, England, 1855-12-19 00:00:00

THE BILLETING SYSTE:if.

MEE' LUNG OF LICENSED VICTUALLERS IN

ST. PANCRAS.

Yesterday afternoon an adjourned meeting of the Li-
cense,d Victuallers of St. Pancras was held at Mr. Suter's,
the Pilnce of Wales, Hera-mod-street, Camden-town, for
the !impose of organising a deputation of the trade to
wait upon Lord Pannsure, 'her Majesty's Minister of
War,, -with a view to representing the hardships under
which the trade suffer with regard to the present billet-
ing system.
ilI r. D. PATTLF., of the Queen's Arms, Queen's-road,
Cam den-town, having taken the chair, remarked that
the :,Licensed Victuallers were highly taxed to the house
duty; as well as having to pay an additional malt duty,
which was, to all intents and purposes, a war tax. To
him alone it made a differerce of at least 2001. a-year, to
meet; which he was not able to increa,,e, the price of any
article he sold. For this reason he felt that the trade
were, entitled to the best consideration of the Govern-
ment. (Hear, hear.)
DL,. PARSONS proposed that a deputation be appointed
to wait upon Lord Pantnure, and lay before his lordship
the :iardships of "Lich they complained.
ETARBERT seconded the motion.
M:r. QUINTON, of the King's Arms, King-street, in
supporting the resolution, stated that he had four men
billeted on him for forty nights and three for sixty nights,
which during three months cost him upwards of 6/. It
was a hardship that no trade could support ; in addition
to which the system, as regarded the men themselves,
was most objecionable. Being highly taxed already, it
was impossible that the trade, in its present position of
affa,',rs, could continue to pay these heavy imposts.
21. r. WHARTON made a similar statement, and corn-
plahled bitterly of the highly indecent and insolent con-
duct of the men billeted upon him. They used the most
disgusting language, and annoyed every person in the
house.

Mr. HARBERT had paid out several men who had been
billeted upon him, but no sooner had he done so than he
had three more sent to him for 36 nights. On looking
over the books at head-quart<•rs he found that some of
the men whom he had accommodated belonged to another
district.

Mr. Prickett, Mr. Wharton, Mr. Sugden, Mr. Suter,
and other members, having addressed the meeting, it
was resolved, on the motion of Mr. Suter, seconded by
Mr. Wharton, that a memorial be prepared for the sig-
nature of the trade, and the secretary was requested to
write to Lord Ebrington, requesting his lordship to in-
troduce the deputation, and also to communicate with
Lord Panmure, asking his lordship to fix an early day
to receive the deputation.

A vote of thanks to tho chairman concluded the
bueines3.

STATE OF TRADE.

MANCHESTER, DEC. 18.
In cotton cloth a more active demand has been expe-
rienced, but higher prices have been asked, and the busi-
ness transacted, though considerable, has not been large.
The advices from China are considered very favourable,
both as regards exchanges and the prospects of business,
and shippers have been inquiring actively for the better
makes of 40-inch skirtings, including 60, 64, and 66
reed cloths. Manufacturers, however, have asked as
much as lid., and in some eases 3d. per piece advance,
and this has checked the business. Printers, also, have
been active buyers of cloth suited to the home markets.
For India the business clone was not so large as ex-
pected, but souse considerable orders were in the market,
the execution of which has been prevented by higher
rates being demanded. In addition to more cheering
accounts from foreign markets, an easier state of the
money-market and the rumours of peace (though not
much credited) have had an effect in producing a better
feeling. Men of considerable experience regard affairs
as in a much better position than for some time past,
though the complaints from manufacturers and spinners
of unremunerative prices are still very numerous. There
has been less business in yarns, both by shippers and cn
account of manufacturers, but no change in prices.
The suspension of a large spinner and manufacturer at
Firwood, near Middleton (Ur. James Cheetham), was
mentioned on the Exchange, and took people a good deal
by surprise. The amount of liabilities was so variously
stated that it will be better to avoid giving the rumours
on that head. The meeting of creditors is called for
Friday. It is feared that the stoppage will bring dewn
one or two smaller manufacturers who were connected
with the concern.

LEEDS, DEO. 18.
There has been a fair amount of business done in the
cloth-halls this morning, taking into account the season
of the year. The tone of the woollen trade is at least
firm, with some signs of improvement. Some of the
manufacturing villages !ri the neighbourhood have just
received an accession of work in the shape of orders for
from 12,000 to 15,000 ends of Spanish stripes for the
China and India trade, which has for some time b3en but
slack. The news from America hrs given a little impe-
tus to the houses engaged in the export trade to that laud,
and they are beginning to give out orders. Wool con-
tinues firm in price, and there is no great disposition to
sell.

By order of the trustees public announcement was
made i❑ the Colourci Cloth-hall during the time the
market was held to-day that, in consequence of next
Tuesday being Christmas-day, the market will be held
on Wednesday in next week, instead of Tuesday.
The report of to-day's Huddersfield cloth market is
again of o aatisiNctory enaraeter. ri better feeling ap-
peared to prevail, and a tolerable amount of steel mix-
tures, unions, and other goods changed hands. Job
lots at reduced prices were in demand. Wool was
steady in price.