The Sun.
London, England, 1838-03-17 00:00:00

MONEY and COMMERCIAL MARKET.

(From the Morning Papers of this Day ( Saturday).
CHRONICLE.-Shares, on the whole, were rather languid
to-day, but those of the Birmingham Railway were the only
ones which fell materially. The old receded to 85 to 90 prem.,
and the new to 262 to 272 prem., but there was, we believe,
no cause for it. Southampton, old, were quoted, at the ter-
mination of business at 452 to 461 per share; ditto new, 212
to 222 prem. ; Great Western, 27 to 28 per share ; Brighton,
3 to prem. ; Croydon, 1 dis. to par; ditto new, 6to 7
prem. ; Greenwich, 3to 2 dis. ; Manchester and Birmingham,
34 to ati- prem. ; Birmingham and Derby, l r to 2 dis. ;
South-Eastern, 2 dis. to par; North Midland, 5i to 62 prem.
Letters from Pernambuco, by way of Parahuba do Norte,
dated the 7th ult., have been received. They mention that
intelligence from Bahia to the 19th of January, which is three
days later than the advices direct from thence, had arrived
there, stating that the insurgents, and indeed all parties, re-
mained' in the same position, but that the former were begin-
ning to suffer severely from the want of provisions ; the cor-
don round the towns being so well watched that it was impos-
sible for them to receive supplies from any quarter. About
eight hundred men had been sent to Bahia from Pernam-
buco, to assist in the blockade. The rate of exchange at
Pernambuco on London was 31d. The province was every-
where tranquil.
TIMES.-The quick voyages performed by merchant ves-
sels, as compared with those of the packet service, have given
rise on many occasions to severe animadversions in the mercan-
tile circles of the city ; and the instance of the present arrival
from Pernambuco may be cited in proof that they are not
always unmerited. The Rival merchantman, by which the
present advices have been received, sailed from the Downs
about the Bth of December, and reached Pernambuco on the
6th of January, whilst the packet Reindeer, which left Fal-
mouth on the same day, arrived at Pernambuco only the 29th,
or thirteen days afterwards. Nor is this a solitary example ;
the James Matthewson, which sailed hence on the 29th of
of December, or twenty-one days after the packet, entered
the port of Pernambuco, on the 29th day of January, with
the packet.
The Papers from Rio Janeiro contain the official returns of
the commercial movement of that port, which are worthy of
notice, as tending to throw additional light on the extent to
which the nefarious traffic in staves is carried on for that
country under the Portuguese flag. The imports for 1836
were valued at 27,100,000 dollars, and those for 1837 at
26,583,000 dollars; the exports for 1836 at 18,711,824 dol-
lars, and those for 1837 at 15,362,642 dollars, which shows a
falling off in the latter year of so:ne importance, principally
attributable, no doubt, to the disturbed state of various dis-
tricts of the empire. It is remarkable that, with one excep-
tion, a greater number of vessels under the Portuguese flag
entered the port of Rio than those of any other nation. The
number under British colours was 88, and under Portuguese
83, the tonnage of the former being 17,074, and of the
latter 17,334; and yet the commerce carried on in Portu-
guese bottoms, as compared with that of the British, was in-
significant, not amounting, for imports, to one-sixth, and being
for exports, still less in proportion. Even France, with 17
ships only entered, of the tonnage of 3,640, carried on a traffic
in imported and exported products of considerably more value
than Portugal, to say nothing of other countries. The number
of vessels engaged in the trade with Brazil and the nature of
that trade will be easily comprehended when it is stated, that
of the 83 Portuguese shipping reported, no less than 52 were
entered out direct for Angola, after taking on board, of course,
the particular descriptions of cloths and other commodities
suited for slave dealing, whence they would return with
cargoes of human beings for different points of the Brazilian
coast.
HERALD.—It appears by some of the Commercial advices
received from New York yesterday, that during the two weeks
preceding the sailing of the last packet, several highly impor-
tant legal verdicts have been made by the Juries in several of
the Judicial Courts, in which the existing Usury Lsws of the
United States were entirely annulled and set aside. It is also
a singular fact, that in almost every instance, the Court
charged under the faith of the Usury Laws, but the Juries, be-
lieving themselves to possess the right to controul the law and
the fact, have returned verdicts against the summing up of the
Court : thus establishing, says this advice, in the practice of
those Courts, in the teeth of an express Statute, that money
is an article of merchandise, and is, therefore, worth what it
will bring. Verdicts of this character have been given both
in the Superior Court and the Court of Common Pleas of
New York.
These decisions are said to have attracted much attention in
New York, as well as in other cities of the Union ; they are
much in accordance with the opinions of many of our monetary
characters, who, for some years, have taken part in the dis-
cussions upon our currency system, and, though it would be
far from prudent to adopt the principle in the ultra sense to
iavhich these New York juries have carried it in their late de-
cisions, the matter is worthy of consideration, especially when
the defective and oppressive nature of our usury laws enables
the Flights, and the whole tribe of money lending scamps, to
evade the law daily, at the expense and ruin of their victims.
The following official return will exhibit the deficiency of the
foreign trade of New York for the year 1837, as compared with
the year 1836 :--
-The value of imports at the port of New Dollars.
York for the year 1836
Ditto ditto first quarter of 1837 60,463,836
Ditto ditto fourth quarter (estimated) 8,132,846 68,596,682

Dollars.
118,886,194

Being a diminution in the value of im-

N. 289,519

ortS.

The amount of duties paid at this port
in 1836 was
Ditto ditto, 1837

17,114,305
9,430,124

7,634,185

Nlcney for commercial purposes commands a higher rate
o interest, and there are evident symptoms that discounts will
shortly not be effected under five per cent.
The transactions in the'foreign exchanges have been rater
flat to-day. On Paris they have receded to 25f. 85c. a 25f. 90c.
On Amsterdam they are 12 44 to 12 5. On Rotterdam they
are 124 to 12 5, and on Hamburgh the rule at 13 134 to
13 13A.
There has been a considerable degree of buoyanee in the
British Funds to-day, in consequence of the jobbers having
recovered from the panic into which the news from the Cana-
dian frontiers threw them yesterday, and the public have
rather felt inclined to resume their investments in Consols and
the Three-and a- Half per Cent. Annuities.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14, 1838.

S irt,—The care you bestow on private Bills, leads me to
request your attention to a Bill about to be introduced in Par-
liament by the Commissioners of Pavement for the town of
Margate, Kent, which Bill will raise the local taxation of that
town to upwards of 12s. in the pound. The present local
taxes are already enormous, owing to the town being burthened
with debts amounting to 110,000/., at 5 per Cent., consisting
of mortgages of the pier, the paving rates, and Dover rate, &c. ;
consequently the population is much distressed, one person in
twenty-three receiving parochial aid, and 304 houses are un-
tenanted. But if this debt be augmented to 116,0001., as it
will be if the Bill passes into a law, the results will be most
painful to a large and impoverished community.
The intended Bill is bad in principle, the present Commis-
sion nominating;the whole of the new Commission, (to consist
of 30,) and the Commission will be filled with the—
ist. Whole of the Directors of the Pier Company but one,
(who are now labouring under serious charges brought against
them by a Member of the Company, and also one of the
Directors.)
2d. The Directors of a Steam Company, existing upon a
loan borrowed of one the principle projectors of the Bill.
3d. Individuals involved to a serious amount with the Pier
Company for pier dues.
4th. Men between 60 and 70 years of age.
sth. That the rightof voting for Commissioners, ten of whom
are to retire in 1839, will be confined to about one-fourth of
the ratepayers.