The Sun.
London, England, 1854-01-13 00:00:00

(From the Times.) ! The following review of the shipping trade of the
'
The corporation of London appear to be aware of the past year is from a circular issued yesterday by
value of the last word. It is generally known that the Messrs. W. S. Lindsay and Co. It describes the
course proposed by the Commissioners was, that the evi-
extraordinary advance that has taken lace of
dence should be taken against the corporation in the first p
nearly 50 per cent. in the price of ships, and of 100
instance. Then there was to be a pause in the inquiry,
continuance of these prices for some time, and of
that the members of the corporation might prepare their per cent, in rates of freight, and the prospects of a
a partial.. reaction ultimately from the increased
minds for business with a little Christmas festivity, and,
rapidity of construction. It also refers to the when this day of grace had elapsed, they were to be heard
in turn. There was never any kind of idea that the handshad greys and results of the competition between this
pro-
of the Commissioners were to be tied up ashen they
heard the evidence of the corporation and the cor- country and the United States, with the advanta-
effects during the year of the favourable accounts
ges afforded us by our supply of iron ; to the
of the goldfields, and of the demand for breadstuffs,
poration witnesses. They were to be free to
and finally, to the contingencies to be kept in view
reconcile discrepancies and to extract the truth
from counter-statements in any way they might please. ,
There is no reason why the Commissioners should bind
sia, both as regards liability to seizure and rates of
in connexion with the coming hostilities with Rus-
themselves down by the strictest forms of a court of
law. They sit to hear evidence in any shape in which insurance :
it may presentset itself—nor is there any reason why
theythe
y from open competition and the tree exchange of comm.
"In 1852 we commenced to feel the benefits arising
should he door against any witness until
by rapid intercourse through the aid of steam, and the
have satisfied themselves that they know all that can dities with other nations, increased to a surprising degree
i aennoeermoofusootaralsde wFhircehiashttesamrositeselafncdreaatileddieneetrhie
descriptions
seyof-
be known on each successive point that may arise. It
was natural enough to take the charge before the defence,
! vessels were materially enhanced in value. A stillp more
but there is something more in the present inquiry than a
mere proceeding between accuser and accused. Had not ' rapid increase, however, took place after the discovery of
any man in the first instance raised his hand against i the goldfields in California and Australia. The price of
'
the Corporation, they would equally have been bound our highest class British ships rose from 151. to 211. and
! 22/. per ton, and colonial fromto 11/. per ton.
to lay a full account of their constitution, revenues, ex-
Freights, in many instances, advanced more than 160 per
penditure, abuses, &c., before the Commissioners,
who cent., and it was soon discovered that, though we had
would no doubt have examined witnesses upon the ' opened our carrying trade to the vessels of all other na-
points disclosed in the case made out by the Corpora- ! tions, our merchants could not find sufficient tonnage to
tion. The members of this body, in a word, desire to I execute legitimate orders ; for, unlike many branches of
confine their numerous opponents to the evidence de- commerce, the demand was to supply actual wants.
livered before is particular day, and then to take their Throughout 1853 freights from Odessa have risen from
655. to 1205., and at that port as high as 1708, and
own time for an answer, without having to dread any ' 180 s. per ton has been paid. Freights from America,
further contradiction. It would seem a much more ra- both in timber and grain, have advanced fully 100 s. per
tional course to give the Corporation an opportunity for cent. above former rates ; from the Baltic in like proper-
replying to any charge which may be urged against them, I tion ; and even in the coal trade between Newcastle and
this port the usual standard rate (certainly a very unre-
but not to shut the doors, on the other hand, against
ve one) of Os. per ton his been more than
any accuser who may have a rational charge to prefer munerati
doubled. From India and China dere has been, how-
at any stage of the inquiry. This is, in point of fact, Geer, very little advance on the average of former years.
the course which will be adopted by the commissioners, By all appearance, the present rater in every branch of
who—we will borrow the words used by Mr. Labou- trade are likely to be maintained throughout the whole
there yesterday—" although desirous of pur suing the of this year at least.
their presentbut,thoughlairandimasteraianld
though materials
course which had been pointed out, must yet reserve in arepr
ourcarryingttycertain
trade continues to o maintain
increase,proe the
their hands the most unfettered discretion of calling power of producing ships, not merely in our own country
evidence afterwards upon any points which either might and in our colonies, but also in America and in the nor-
appear not to be sufficiently cleared up or to require them parts of Europe, is so very great that tonnage
e—
dto
e a
explanation." With this decisive blow this little pro- maeyaseev en before the
exhectleons et
than th
of theeeqn
presentrierrneyez
of
be
our
'trade—one ongr
in-
ject of the corporation was knocked to pieces, and their
orextremeeate too often begetting another—so that
zealous advocate was compelled to leave them to their for a time we may experience a reac:ion in our rates of
impending fate. freight and in the price of ships.
There was a great gathering of the city magnates on ~ In the models and in the mode of constructing our
sd Wedneay in Downing-street. The Lord Mayor was vessels there has been a marked improvement since
1850
there, and the Recorder, and the Town• Clerk, and the when we were thrown into open competition with those
Remembrancer, and the late Clerk to the Remem- of other nations. The result is, that our ships have
brancer, and the Chamberlain, and the Controller of fully maintained the superiority, and though the ' clip-
Bridge-house Estates—all the city notabilities, in short, per' ships of America bade fair (and many of them are,
except Gog and Magog. A statement of the city case indeed, magnificent specimens of nsval architecture) to
had been drawn up, and was read by the Recorder to monopolize our carrying trade from China, we have pro-
the Commissioners. The document will be found duced ships fully equal to theirs in speed, of greater
in another portion of our columns this day in the capacity in proportion to the register tonnage, and sups-
report of the proceedings in Downing-street. For nor in strength, as the clipper ships of this country have
the present we will only direct the attention of our certainly delivered their cargoes from China this season
readers to the examination of Mr. B. Scott, the in much better condition than their American competi-
late Clerk to the Remembrancer. This gentleman tors. American builders appear to have in the constuc-
is not only unable to disprove any of the statements ! tion of their clippers overlooked an important fact—that
which have been made, but absolutely discloses matter the strength of fastening should be increased quite as
as damaging to the interests of his employers as any much, if not more, in proportion to the speed than to
which had been pronouced by the adverse witnesses. We the size.
find again the little story of the newspaper, the Citizen. "In iron we have a material which will enable us to
Mr. B. Scott advanced 2501. out of his own pocket in build vessels of still finer mould and greater strength ;
the course of this transaction, which was afterwards re- and in ships of that construction, which ar ver, .nosh
paid to him under the head of "Miscellaneous Expendi- on the increase, we have little i5.....50n to dread compe-
ture." The transaction was, of course, a " confidential tition even wit'. tl.- shipowners of America, who are,
matter." Again, Mr. B. Scott was risked if there had in a manner creditable to themselves, straining every
been any expenditure in Parliamentary matters of a nerve to attain a maritime supremacy. That they will
"confidential nature ?" The question and answer, or do so in amount of tonnage is unquestionable, for the
answers, stand as follows in the report : tonnage owned in the United States is now nearly as
" Has there been any expenditure in Parliamentary great as the whole of the tonnage owned in Great
matters or in any other things by the city, except the Britain, her possessions, and her colonies ; and New
transaction to which you have referred, which may be York alone now owns about as great an amount of ton-
called of a confidential nature, and of which a full ac- nage as London and Liverpool combined. On the 31st
count has not been given ?—I am not aware of any sums of December, 1852, London owned 681,713 tons ;
of money respecting which a perfect knowledge has not Liverpool, 633,485 tons ; while so far back as the 30th
existed in the minds of those who administered the funds, of June, 1852, New York owned 1,016,599 tons of
although the matter may have been sufficiently confi- shipping.
dential to be referred to a sub-committee of a few per- ,i
The season for chartering from the West Indies and
sons, instead of to a large number. Brazils being now at hand, the merchants show con-
"ls there any system of expending money for what siderable anxiety for tonnage to and from Havannah,
you call `private and confidential' purposes of which no Porto Rice, Rio de Janeiro, and Bahia, so that from all
detailed accoun
t is rendered tee?—Tre are very many these ports rates much higher than were paid last season
entries in the accounts of which h totals are given ; can now be realised.
but the details are not rendered. The details of Par- “In timber charters an immense business was done
liamentary expenditure could not be given.
in the Autumn, so that we have now in port an excel-
' Is that because there is anything in that expenditure sive supply of wood, which it may take long to dispose
pp
which requires to be kept secret ?—lt is not desirable of, but still many are of opinion that our Canadian and
in matter h
s of
at
kind to!publish to the world the precise Baltic timber freights will open at higher rates than
nature of the expenditure. even those paid in autumn. Our general spring Baltic
" Why not ?—lt has been so considered. rates depend entirely on the question of peace or war,
" Why has it been so considered ?—Because it is and we have no transactions in anticipation of either.
thought, probably, that the opposition would be more ,r The Australian trade has fluctuated less than might
effectual by not publishing to the world the precise have been anticipated, for, although the quantity of
means by which the bill is opposed or public opinion goods sent out has been immense, and the Emigration
elicited." Commission have been chartering regularly throughout
Really, the most determined opponent of the Corptoras the year, the number of private emigrants has been very
tion could scarcely render them such disservice as their small as compared with the numbers whose exodus to-
own late servant. When we come to-morrow to consider wards the close of 1852 gave rise to much speculation in
their written statement we must beg our readers to re- freights. The increasingly favourable accounts which
member that we are dealing with a document issued bY we receive from time to time from the gold fields may be
gentlemen who are in the habit of getting over awk- expected to attract many this year who have been in-
ward points by dealing with them in a "confidential eluted to remain at home hitherto by the high rates of
manner." wages which they have been able to command in this
country.
•
"The large exports to India and China caused the
outward freights to those places to advance steadily till
the autumn, since which they have remained about sta-
tionary. Seeing the demand which still continues in
other trades, which can give employment for ships of
larger size, the freights of these cannot fall materially at
present,
even though many of our merchants may delay
their shipments.
~ The grain trade, above all others, has been charac-
terised by extraordinary activity, the result of a combi-
nation of events which it was impossible to foresee. The
shortness of our supplies of grain, added to,the practical
closing of our most important granaries by the war be-
tween Russia and Turkey, has given rise to very large
importations from the United States and other parts.
" Should this country be unhappily plunged into war
with Russia, then neutral flags will have a preference in
our carrying trade, as these ships are not liable to con-
demnation as prizes ; but it must be borne in mind that
all cargoes, even in them, if the property of the people
of either of the countries engaged in hostilites, are
equally liable to confiscation.
" The extension of foreign trade, both export and
import, and the consequent additional employment of
shipping, have caused a corresponding increase in the
business of insurance, both on ships and produce.
The general cliaracter of the weather since the autumn
of 1852 has, on the average, been unfavourable,
and most premiums are rather higher than they
had been previously to 1853, and the tendency is still
upward. The unsettled state of Eastern politics ' • has led
the underwriters to require either a warranty from cap-
ture, seizure, and detention, or
an additional premium.
The risk of capture, however, bein
g trifling, except on
vessels in the Baltic and Black seas,
the additional rate
demanded on all other risks has been small ; and, as it
has been uncertain whether we
should be involved in
war, few merchants or shipowners have been willing to
give a high extra premium on tire Baltic and Black Sea
risks to cover a casualty which may never occur, but
have preferred
should the danger to
actually
ar and
ise PaY." even a higher rate,

INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS.

The usual weekly meeting of this institution was held
on Tuesday ; James Simpson, Esq., president, in the
chair.

The proceedings of the evening were commenced by
an address from the president, on taking the chair for
the first time after his election. After expressing his
sense of the distinction conferred on him by his election
tion to the post of president, he embraced the oppor-
tunity of acknowledging the debt of gratitude he, in
common with many other members of the profession,
owed to the Institution of Civil Engineers, where they
had first found a field for the exhibition of their ta-
lents, and had there formed the valuable and last-
ing friendships to which might be attributed the good
feeling prevalent in the profession. He then alluded to
the difficulties formerly experienced by young engi-
neers, at the commencement of their. career, chiefly
from want of opportunity of contact with, and expe-
rience of, the proceedings of the older practitioners ;
contrasting it with their present freedom of commu-
nication with the seniors at the meeting of the insti-
tution, where all met on a footing of equality, and with
a predisposition to afford the aid or advice that might
be required. He then gave a slight sketch of the pro-
fessional career of his father, who entered the metro-
polis as a millwright in 1778, and, before his decease,
had raised himself to eminence as a civil engineer, and
was the coadjutor of Smeaton, Jessop, Watt, Rennie,
Telford, and others. "Under him Mr. James Simpson
commenced his practical career, of which he gave a rapid
outline. As a very old member of the institution, having
been elected in 1825, and chosen a member of council in
1826, he ventured to give some sound practical advice
on the subject of agitation in societies. He then gave a
succinct account of the great engineering works in pro-
gress in India, Egypt, Sweden, Norway, Denmark,
Canada, Australia, Cuba—on the European continent
generally, and in Russia ; chiefly under the direction of
members of the institution. The maritime works OD the
Thames, the Tyne, the Severn, the Clyde, the Avon,
&c.—the harbours and docks at Harwich, at Dover, at
Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney, Portland, Holyhead, Ply-
mouth, Leith, Hartlepool, and other places • the works at
the Norfolk Estuary, the reconstruction of the Bishop's
Rock Lighthouse, and other important labours of civil
engineers, were also noticed. He also alluded to the
subject of screw propulsion, and the valuable, and
hitherto unrewarded, labours of Mr. F. P. Smith, as
triumphantly demonstrated in the late naval review at
Spithead, and the general adoption of the system for an
improved class of steam and sailing vessels. The new
system of propulsion invented by Ruthven, and intro-
duced by
,Mr. Clark, for the Deep Sea Fishing Com-
pany, was also mentioned. The improvements in the
supplies of gas and water, particularly of the latter,
were noticed, in contradiction to assertions, made " by
authority," that little or no amelioration had taken
place. A short history of the waterworks of the me-
tropolis was given, to show that the extensions and
ameliorations of filtering and high service had closely
followed the facility for obtaining cast iron pipes, in
large quantities, and at a reasonable rate ; and that the
improvement in steam-engines and pumping machinery
had also produced corresponding advantages. Attention
was directed to the present state of the sewerage of cities
and towns, and also that of the drainage of farm lands ;
for the former it was urged, that more had been done
than was generally admitted, and for the latter, the par-
tial steps hitherto taken were contended to be inef-
ficient, unless the system was introducer OA a larger
scale, and extended to arterial and trunk drainage,
and the improvement of the principal drains and water
courses in the lowlands. The regulations for the pre-
vention of the nuisance of smoke, from steam and other
boilers, were noticed, and the various trials already
made were examined. The present general employment
of members of the profession was alluded to with plea-
tesain
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reporsceoescei
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concludedad
his address, which was unanimously voted to be printed-
The discussion was resumed on Mr. Harrison's paper,
" On the Drainage of the District South of the Thames ;"
and was adjourned until Tuesday, January 17, when it
was announced that the whole evening would be de-
voted to the subject.

ALARMING FIRE IN THE,
_BLACEFRIARS-ROAD.—Last
night, shortly after nine o clock, afire, attended with
the destruction of at least some hundred pounds' worth
of property, broke out in the premises belonging to Mr.
D. Davis, china and glass merchant, carrying on busi-
ness at 45, Blackfriars-road. The building was of con-
siderable extent, and stretched backwards from 80 to
100 feet down Cross-street. The premises were closed
at a few minutes past nine o'clock by the foreman of the
warehouse, at which time the place seemed perfectly
safe. In about five minutes afterwards police-constable
No. 449, of the A division, was passing along his beat
when he perceived smoke pouring forth from the area
gratings. He at once came to the conclusion that the
basement warehouse was on fire. —l-1-e, therefore, sprang
his rattle for assistance, and then sent off for the engines.
In a very brief period the engines of the parish, London
Brigade, and West of England offices attended. By
that period the flames had extended from the base-
ment, through the flooring, and had seized upon
the valuable stock on the ground floor warehouse.
An abundant supply of warer. was
pan mains the instant the plugs
obtained from
the Lambeth Com
were drawn, and the firemen, taking advantage of the
the same, set their engines to work, the men being
directed by Messrs. Henderson, Connorton, and Ham-
bleton. Having got the hose of the engines well charged
with water, the front shutters were removed, when the
flames rushed out half way across the foot-pavement,
threatening the most disastrous results to the entire
building. The firemen, however, followed the fire with
their branches in hand, and as they beat down the flames
in front they were enabled to reach them at the back,
and finally they succeeded in entirely extinguishing what
at one time threatened to be a terrible conflagration.
The damage done, however, will reach to several hun-
dreds, if not 1,0001. Fortunately the sufferer was in-
sured in the Alliance Fire-office. A crowd numbering
some thousands congregated on the spot, but owing to
the admirable arrangements of the police, under Mr.
Inspector Cowlen and Serjeant Harris, a road was kept
clear for the firemen.
The general report in military circles is that twelve
regiments of English militia are to be sent to Ireland,
and that two troops are to be added to each cavalry re-
giment.--Limerick Mronitie.