The Sun.
London, England, 1865-01-11 00:00:00

FRANCE,

INQUIRY INTO THE STATE OF THE BANK OF
FRANCE.

PARIS, JAN. 10.

The financial report of M. Fould, which appears
in this morning's Moniteur, is followed by a report
of .ABI. Bak and Fould to the Emperor, including
petitions addressed to his Majesty upon the rise in
the rate of interest which has taken place in France
as well as the rest of Europe, and has been main-
tained for nearly 15 months. The petitions, signed
by 300 commercial men in Paris, by manufacturers
and commercial men in Lyons, precede a lengthy
document presented to the Emperor by the govern-
ing council of the Bank of France, praying an in-
quiry into the state of the establishment.
- . .

_
The report of the. Ministers of Finance and Agri
culture then continues :

" We propose to your Majesty to grant these
demands. Experience teaches us that a comprehen-
sive inquiry, by throwing light upon obscure and
complicated questions, by confirming authentic
facts, and by causing the truth to emerge from the
shock of opinions and doctrines, cannot fail to re-
store calm to men's minds while enlightening them.

" The Superior Council of Commerce, Agricul-
ture, and Industry has appeared to us to fulfil all
the conditions desirable to conduct with authority
and impartiality the inquiry solicited from your
Majesty. It is to this Council that we propose to
entrust it. We are convinced that all the witnesses
it may wish to hear will respond to its call, and that
all the information it may desire will be eagerly
furnished. •

" The inquiry would embrace the whole of the
principles and general facts which influence the
monetary circulation in France. The Superior
Council of Commerce, Agriculture, and Indus-
try will be able to render this programme pro-
ductive, and, from the discussion it will excite,
the country will derive much useful information.
" We are unanimous in praying your Majesty to
nominate the Minister of State to direct this im-

portant inquiry.
".If your Majesty deign to sanction our propo-
sitions we pray you to invest this report with
your approbation.
" We have the honour to be, with the most pro-
found respect, Sire, your Majesty's most humble
and most devoted subjects,
" The Minister of Finance, ACHILLE FOULD.
" The Minister of Agriculture, Commerce,
and Public Works, ARMAND BEIIIC.
" Paris, Jan. 9, 1865."

(Approved) NAPOLEON.
The Princess Mathilde held the first of her Sun-
day evening receptions at the Hotel Courcelles the
day before yesterday. The Princess Clotilda was
present.
Baron de Budberg, the Russian Ambassador at
the French Court, and the Baroness, have left Paris
for Nice.

The tower of the church of St. Lawrence, a
Nuremburg (Bavaria), which is 300 feet high and
one of the finest monuments of Gothic art in Ger-
many, was struck and set on fire by lightning three
days back, when the whole of the upper part was
totally destroyed.
According to the last accounts received from
Mons, the catastrophe which recently happened in
the coal mine of Chevalieres has cost the lives of 61
persons, and some of those who were wounded are in
such a state that little hopes are entertained of their
recovery.
BOURSE, Jan. 10.—The market has been heavy.
Threes, for the Account, are now at 67f. 15c.
Mobilier have slightly improved, being last quoted
at 967 f. 50c. The Railway Market has been
buoyant, and some of the lines show a further im-
provement. The market continued feeble to the
close, and left off as follows :-
4-} per Cents 95 10
Do. end month —
3 per Cents. 66 90
Do. end month 67
Credit Mobilier 957 50
Do. end month 955
Bank Shares 3440
Credit Fonder 1275
Roman 72 50
RAIL

Italian Loan 65 75
Do. end month 65 55
Ditto Threes —
New Mexican
Russian 9O
Austrian
Spanish Threes
Home Debt
Deferred

'AYS.

Cash. Acct.
Orleans
Northern 990 ... 992 50
Lyons and Mediterranean 9lB 75 ... 922 50
Southern 575 ... 580
Western 535 ... 535
Eastern 5lO ... 512 50
Sardinian 3OB 75 ... 307 50
Austrian
Lombard 533 75 ... 533 75
North of Spain
Saragossa 432 50 ... 430
Ditto to Barcelona

The Royal Marriage Act.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

SlR,—When this unnatural law, which, in my "Plea for
Urania," I described as a " curious specimen of legislative
wisdom," was enacted by the astute Government of King
George 111., in the year 1772, 14 peers strongly protested
against the bill, giving eight reasons, and six other peers
protested against it, giving ten reasons for their respective
objections, which may be perused in the Parliamentary
records for that year. Lord Radnor protested against the
bill solely because it did not guard " against the greater
evil," indiscreet marriages of Princes on the Throne.
Amongst the peers were 26 non-contents against 90 contents,
giving a majority of 64 in favour of the third reading of
this oppressive law, which, now nearly a centenarian, has
inflicted, and does inflict a severe hardship upon members
of the Royal Family, including all the actual descendants of
King George the Second, who now form a large family

circle.
Even if Parliament should assent to particular unions—
after the late age Of 25 years—the marriages so approved
would take place against the desire of the Crown, thus
causing the Legislature to oppose the monarch ! Mr.
Howitt, in his History of England stated that " this bill
did not pass without violent opposition. Both within
doors and out there was much bitter comment on the bill,
which our Princes for 800 years had done without, and
it was styled A bill to encourage fornication and adulte-
ration in the descendants of George the Second.'
It was passed to prevent the repetition of secret royal
marriages ; but if ever such a law be deemed desirable with
respect to the heir-apparent for the time being, the posi-
tion of all collateral branches of the Royal family renders
such a questionable restriction wholly unnecessary and
against public policy.—Yours obediently,
10th January, 1865.

Cult. Coox.E.

INQUESTS IN LIVERPOOL.—The yearly return of
inquests 'held within the borough of Liverpool has just
been issued. This return shows that during the year 1864
960 inquests have been held. Of these 325 were on chil-
dren under seven years of age, and 56 of that number
were illegitimate ; 93 were old and infirm. Among the
verdicts were—of murder, 13 ; manslaughter, 18 ; and sui-
cide, 40. There are 143 cases of young children having
been suffocated, chiefly between the Saturday and Monday
in each week; and four cam of hydrophobia.

The Loss of the Jura,

The following is the report in the case of this
ship :

TO THE RIGHT HON. THE LORDS OF THE COMMITTEE

OF PRIVY COUNCIL FOR TRADE.

"My Lords,—l have the honour to report, for the
information of your Lordships, that I have, in con-
junction with Capt. Harris and Baker, as nautical
assessors, held an inquiry into the circumstances at-
tending the loss of the steamship Jura, on the
Waterloo-bank, in the river Mersey, just below the
north end of the Liverpool Docks, early on the
morning of the 3d of last November.
" The Jura was a large iron screw steamer belong-
ing to the Montreal Ocean Steam Navigation Com-
pany, built at Glasgow in the year 1854 of 2,240
tons gross, and of 420 horse power. She was com-
manded by Mr. J. Graham, who holds a certificate
of competency, and had a crew of 95 all told. The
Jura left Quebec on the 22d of October, carrying 69
passengers and a full general cargo. She had a pro-
sperous voyage across the Atlantic, and called at
Moville on the 2d of November to land a portion of
the mails and a few passengers, and having taken
on board Mr. W. Parry, a duly licensed Liverpool
pilot, proceeded on her voyage to that port. The
pilot took charge of the vessel at 6 p.m. of the same
day off the Calf of Man. At 11 15 p.m. they passed
the bell buoy, when the engines were slowed, and
they proceeded up the river with the flood tide, and
passed Crosby lightship at 0 20 a.m. of the 3d.
The engines were then stopped for 10 or 15 minutes,
being too early on the tide. After the engines
had been set on again, a vessel was reported at
anchor ahead, and according to the evidence of
one of the witnesses, the chief officer of the Jura,
another light was also reported ahead, which he
took to be a steamer coming down, but which the
pilot states that he believed to be also a vessel at
anchor. He ordered the helm to be starboarded in both
instances, to clear them, which she did, but she took
the ground before the helm had been shifted to port.
Every effort was made to back her off by her own
power, assisted by a passing steamer, and also a tug,
but the tide having by this time fallen, their efforts
were unavailing, and at 6.30 a.m. she broke in two.
" I feel happy in being able to report that in this
case, the vessel having been in charge of a duly

licensed pilot, no blame can be attached to the
master, who was at his post, a proper lifokout was
kept, all hands were on deck, and every man appa-
rently at his station.
" I have therefore had the satisfaction of restoring
to Mr. John Graham his certificate.

" The responsibility of the loss rests with the
pilot alone. It seems clear that the pilot intended
to keep well to the eastward or port side of the
channel, for the facility of docking and to avoid
vessels at anchor near the rock, of which he had
been informed by a waterman off Farmby ; and, as
the Merchant Shipping Act Amendment Act, 1862,
has repealed the 297th section of the Merchant Act,
1854, the pilot does not seem to have been in error
in not keeping to the starboard side of the channel,
as he was therein directed to do whenever it was
safe and practicable.' The pilot admits that he was
more to the eastward than he expected, and he
accounts for his position' by having starboarded, as
already-stated, to avoid collision.
" The flashing out of the revolving light at the
rock just as they were passing one of these vessels
is also alleged by himself to have led him to be-
lieve for the moment that he was further up the
river. It may a* be remarked that the great
length of the vessel, and the fact of her going " dead
slow," which must be taken to have been the case,
according to the evidence of the chief engineer,
on this point the most competent witness, rendered
it more difficult for her to recover the fair
way of the channel after starboarding. Much,
however, as the loss of this fine ship is to be
regretted, when so near the termination of her
voyage, I am disposed to regard this unfortunate
occurrence as one of the mischances incidental to
river pilotage, and to consider it to amount upon
the whole rather to an error in judgment than to an
act of negligence. It is a matter of great satisfac-
tion to the nautical assessors and to myself that we
are able to arrive at this conclusion, as the antece-
dents. of Mr. William Parry prove him to be a man
of undoubted ability and experience as a pilot, and
who has not only never met with an accident on
any previous occasion, but has earned for himself
substantial rewards for bravery, and the highest
testimonials from officers of her Majesty's Navy and
others by whom he has been employed.—l have, &c.,
T. S. RAFFLES, Police Magistrate.
" Liverpool, Jan. 7.
" We concur in this report,
" HY. HARRIS,/ Nautical
"R. B. RAKER, Assessors."

The Builders' Strike in the Midland

Counties.

The following resolutions were adopted at a mee
ing of the Master Builders' Association held at
Birmingham on Friday :—" Resolved,—That the
members of the General Builders' Association have
the best feelings towards operatives employed by
them, and much regret the hostility manifested on
the proposed introduction .of the ' discharged
note ' (which is only a defensive measure).
The operatives evidently completely _ misunder-
stand its objects and meaning, as it does not
and cannot interfere with their privileges or
liberties as workmen and Englishmen. The only
particulars which will be entered upon* the
discharge note' will be the name and address
of the employer, the name of the employed, and the
date of the discharge. That the discharge note'
shall not be withheld from a workman at his leav-
ing the service of an employer under any circum-
stances whatever, except in case of strike•; in which
case, each workman shall, at the termination of
such strike, be entitled to a discharge note from
his last employer. 'That\ only one form of dis-
charge note can be used, being that issued by the
General Builders' Association ; and it must be
generally understood that the discharge notes
does not mean a character, and the counterfoil
will be a facsimile of the note itself." " Re-
solved,—That in no case shall the members
of the Association press an operative to accept
a discharge note on dismissal ; but all members,
before taking on a workman, shall ascertain who was
his last employer.; and if he should be a non-mem-
ber, then he shall write to him, and ascertain that
the man is not on strike (the operative not to com-
mence until employer's answer is obtained) ; but if
a workman has worked for a member of the Asso-
ciation he must give up a discharge note before he
can obtain work from any other member." " Re-
solved—That the Builders' Association, being most
anxious that a better understanding should exist
between employer and employed, and depre-
cating the disastrous results attending strikes,
strongly recommend to the whole body of
the operatives that all future disputes in
the building trade be settled by arbitration. The
arbitrators, in the first instance, to consist of an equal
number of masters and men, with full power to act ;
and, if they cannot agree, let each party have the
power to name a special arbitrator, and these arbi-
trators an umpire in the usual way, whose decision
shall be final and binding on both parties. " Re-
solved,—That this; Association calls upon every
builder in England to take up the cause of a na-
tional union of masters as a personal duty, and that
every town and village throughout the country at
once calls its meetings, and make itself thoroughly
acquainted with the objects of the Association and
the discharge note.' "

MONEY ILL GOT.—There is a great abundance of
greenbacks and St. Albans currency in the vicinity
of Slab City and other points on the frontier where the
raiders crossed. It will be interesting to the public gene-
rally to know that of the $226,000 captured at St. Albans
upwards of $90,000 was plundered from the raiders by per-
sons who took them prisoners or gave them shelter. Two
of the raiders captured had with them $14,000 at the time
of their arrest ; of this less than $5,000 was accounted for
by the minions of justice. Three of the raiders uncaptured
deposited in the hands of the person (we have his name)
who concealed them and afterwards assisted their escape
about $40,000, of which their host and friend, as a small
remuneration for his trouble and risk, took over $30,000.
Other individuals helped themselves in a like manner.—
Montreal Telegraph.