The Sun.
London, England, 1853-03-21 00:00:00

IMPORTS ANP EXPORTS OF GOLD.

The imports of the precious metals this week have
again been very heavy, owing to the continued influx of
Australian gold.. Our list includes —by the Falcon,
from Sydney, 14;655 ounces of gold ; by the Sydney
steamer, from Australia, 175,790 ounces of gold ; by the
screw-steamer Alps, from New York, 200,000 dollars ;
by the City of Manchester, from Philadelphia, 15,000
dollars ; by the Iberia, from Lisbon, 1,600/. ; and by the
TeViot, from the Brazils, three boxes of gold, and a case
of old silver (besides nine packages of diamonds), the
value of which was not stated in the manifest. The total
value of these imports may be stated at fully 810,0001.,
nearly the entire of which is in gold.
The custom-house account of the shipments of the pre-
cious metals direct from London, during the week ending
Thursday last, is as follows :—Gold coin—To Belgium,
9,400 ounces ; to Hamburgh, 1,840 ounces ; to Dunkirk,
4,000 ounces. Gold bark—To Hamburgh, ' 2,500
ounces ; to. Boulogne, 4,000 ounces. Silver coin—To
Boulogne, 700 ounces. Silver bars--To Boulogne,
3,100 ounces. This gives a total of 21,740 ounces of
gold, and 3,800 ounces of silver—representing an aggre-
gate value of nearly 85,0001.
We are also advised of the undermentioned shipments,
viz.:—By the Lady Jocelyn, 29,773/., chiefly for Cal-
cutta ; by the Magdalena, for the West Indies, 1;336/.
in specie, besides 1,900/. worth of jewellery ; by the
Marco Pblo, for Melbourne, 76,7501. in specie ; by the
Euphemus' for Geelong and Port Philip, 20,000/. ; and
by the Sir Henry Hardinge, for Port Philip and Sydney,
30,0001. The Ripon, which will leave SouthAmpton
to-morrow for Alexandria, will carry out specie and
bullion to the value of 242,9201., of which 30,0001. is
in gold, and 212;920/. in silver, forming a large pro-
portion of the late arrivals of silver from the West
Indies. The destination of this large sum is as follows :
for Ceylon, gold, 1,0001. ; for Bombay, silver, 124,0301. ;
for Madras, silver, 8,8901., and gold, 5,0001. ; for Cal-
cutta, silver 80,000/. ; for Alexandria, gold, 24,0001.
The total. shipments from the kingdom for the week are
thus raised to 485,0001., and the excess of imports
over exports is consequently about 325,0001. The
large shipments of silver to 'the east, it should
be remembered, have' no effect upon the balance
sheet of , the Bank of England, as this silver
merely passes through the London market like any
other mercantile commodity. The result of our
statement is, that the movement of the precious
metals is at present decidedly in our favour, a result
. which cannot fail to have an effect upon future returns
of the Bank. Next week there will be further ship-
ments of gold to the continent. On the other hand, we
continue to notice the favourable feature of a falling off
in the demand for coin for Australia.

CANTERBURY ELECTION.

(From the Weekly Dispatch.)

The House of Commons, on Monday night, on the
motion of Mr. Ker Seymer (chairman of the committee
appointed to try the merits of the Canterbury petition,
which set forth that bribery and treating prevailed toa
great extent at the last election), agreed to an address
for a commission to inquire into the state of the borough.
From time immemorial bribery and treating have pre-
vailed to an enormous extent in the ancient metropo-
litan city ; and this species of corruption
the
not been
confined to the Tory party, since what is called
Liberal interest has done its best to win the elections
by the same dirty and dishonourable means. The
late Earl Darnley, when Lord Clifton, was plucked
as clean as a pigeon by his " dear friends," and at
length found himself obliged to retire from the repre-
sentation. Viscount Fordwich abandoned the repre-
sentation on similar grounds. The late Hon. R.
Watson, brother to the late Lord Sondes, notwith-
standing the long purse of the latter (a good-natured
benevolent nobleman), felt himself compelled to cut the
Liberals, after thanking them for their support. Those
individuals were all professed Reformers. It is impos-
sible to form a notion of the amount of money spent by
I the Tory Mr. Lushington, but he or the Treasury must
have squandered thousands in order to maintain his
seat. In fact, there has not been a Tory representative
for twenty years past who has not been obliged to bleed
freely. It may be as well to look back to past elections.
In the general election of 1832 (December), the Hon.
Richard -Watson and Viscount Fordwich were returned.
The former polled 834, and the latter 802 votes. One
John Tom, calling himself Sir William Cotirtenay, a
maniac, at this election, polled 375 votes. At the
general election in 1835 (January), Lord Albert Conyng-
ham and Mr. Frederick Villiers were returned. The
former polled 755 votes, and the latter 660. Mr.
Lushington was a candidate on the occasion, and se-
cured 658 votes ; and, on petition, Mr. Lushington
was seated, Mr. Villiers having been declared unduly
elected. At the general election in August, 1837, one
Bradshaw, a Conservative, and Lord Albert Conyngham
were returned ; the former polled 761, and the latter
755 votee. There were two other candidates at this
election—H. P. Gipps, a Conservative, and Frederick
Villiers, a Liberal : the former. received 751 votes, and
the latter 698. In February, 1841, Lord Conyngham,
on the ground of ill health, but, in truth, because he had
been alarmingly fleeced, accepted the Chiltern Hun-
dreds, and the Hon. G. Smythe was returned. There
were two other candidates, Mr. Wilson and Mr. Twisden
Hodges. Mr. Wilson, a Liberal, was so terribly plun-
dered that he quitted the 'city in disgust. On the death
of Mr. _Bradshaw, in March, 1847, Lord Albert Conyng-
ham was again returned ; and at the general election,
on the 9th of August following, Lord Albert Conyngham
and Mr. Smythe were returned : the former polled 808,
and the latter 782 votes. There were two other candi-
dates--Mr. Vance, a Conservative, and Lord Clinton, of
the same way of thinking. These two unsuccessful candi-
dates polled, the former 643, and the latter 641 votes.
Lord Conyngham behaven like a trump on this occa-
sion. He came " down with the dust," "like a man.
In February, 1850, Lord Albert accepted the Chiltern
Hundreds, on becoming Lord Londesborough, and
Lieut.-Col. Romilly was elected in his stead. With the
last election, which gave rise to the recent inquiry, our
readers are familiar ; the candidates were Sir William
Somerville, Colonel Romilly, and Messrs. Gipps and
Johnstone ; the latter have been unseated on the score of
bribery through the agency of others, and a very pretty
exposure has taken place. The commission will
consist of W. F. Slade, T. C. Anstey, and W.
Burcham, Esqrs., and we had hoped the inquiry
would have gone back to the general election, in 1841,
because the parties who took a prominent part on
that occasion and subsequently, have not, to our
own knowledge, died out, nor has their residence been
Unfortunately,election.
however the inquiry must
There is a Clause in the act of
stopst uarbt etdh.e
last
Parliament, passed by the Lords, rendering it oblige,
tory on the, part of the Commissioners, to confine
the inquiry -to that particular period, because the
previous election, when Colonel Romilly was re-
turned without opposition, was " pure one." A pure
election at Canterbury ! Was ever such a thing known ?
We could name parties who never move without being
paid for their services ; and we know that claims for
enormous sums of money sent in to Mr. Wilson for the
honour of being a candidate only, were from persons
who walk with a pretty high head at Canterbury. There
was some bustling conversation in the lobby of the
House of Commons last night on the matter of the peti-
tion, and the following list of persons who can give in-
formation as to the means by which election matters are
conducted was handed to Mr. Anstey

LIBERALS. TORIES.
Alderman Cooper. Mr. Pout.
Mr. G. Cooper. , Mr. Holthum.
Alderman Masters. Mr. Edward Southee.
Alderman Brent. Mr. Goodwin.
Mr. Rutter. Mr. Ward,
Mr. Claris. Mr. Williamson.
Mr. T. L. Burch. Mr. E. Homersham,
Mr. Welby. Mr. G. Smith.
Mr. C. Sharpe. Mr. Dombrain.
Mr. A. Engeham.
The inquiry will be of a most severe character ; and the
evidence will be published as soon after the commission
closes its labours as possible. The object of the inquiry
is not to disfranchise the city. It has no aim of that
kind in view ; but to furnish such data to the House as
shall enable it to correct an evil which has taken deep
root in Canterbury as in almost every other borough in
England.

THE WEATHER IN IRELAND.—The unseasonable
state of the weather is almost the general topic of the
day. The snow which ceased falling yesterday evening,
has been succeeded by an intense frost, and all appear-
ances of the spring season have completely vanished
under its blighting influence. The severity of the wea-
ther is generally complained of in the provincial popers,
and agricultural operations have been again, in many
districts, completely suspended. There is now scarcely
a doubt but that the ensuinc, will be one of the latest
harvests of the last quarter of a century. Such a con-
tinuous run of disastrous weather, commencing at the
close of last autumn and lasting up to this, the second
spring month, is almost without parallel: even in this
variable-climate.