The Sun.
London, England, 1831-12-30 00:00:00

DUBLIN TRADES POLITICAL UNION.

The Dublin Trades Political Union met on Mon-
day, to petition both Houses of Parliament in favour
of the English Reform Bill, and that a measure of
Reform on a scale equally ample might be extended
to Ireland. Mr. Costello was in the Chair. The
various resolutions were carried unanimously. Mr.
O'Connell addressed the meeting at very great
length. He commenced by abusing the Ministers
for " doing nothing" for Ireland, but bidding the
country " wait awhile,"—declared that the people
of Ireland must rely upon themselves, and " agitate,
agitate !"—said he rejoiced in the reaction pro.
duced by himself among the Protestants, as "he
was most anxious," we quote the words as reported
in the Freeman's Journal, "that the country
should not be permitted to sink into an un whol, -
some state of tranquillity—the repose of acquies-
cence." He then declared that he would demand
125 Members for Ireland, while at the same time he
should continue to give his support to the English
Reform Bill. After adverting to the Union, he
then proceeded in a strain which seems In a style
calculated to earn for him the epithet of the Dublin
Times, " General O'Connell." " Let but Irish-
men be combined and strong in brotherhood, and
they might bid defiance to the world. He'd give
them all England—he'd give them France—he'd
add paltry Spain and miserable Portugal—he'd put
in Austria and the German States by way of stuff-
ing—aye, he'd give them the Russian Autocrat and
all, and let Irishmen be united, and standing shoulder
to shoulder in the field, they might hurl defiance to
their combined power, and brave the universal
world.—(Loud applause.) There was no country
in the world had such military positions. Every
mountain was a fortification, every field a redoubt,
and every ditch was a defile! I !—(Loud cheers.)
In conclusion, he said, in 1773,when they were seeks
ing the free trade, they painted a cannon with the
words " Free trade, or else—."—(Cheers.) We
will not paint a cannon, but we will paint an Irish-
man standing with his arms folded, and the words
" Reform for Ireland, with the basis of equal repre-
sentarion, and the extension of the democratic prin.
ciple for Ireland—or else--( The entire assembly
rose, and peals of acclamation were reverberated for
successive minutes)—or else—we'll have but one
cry, Repeal of the Union."—( Immense cheering.)
Air. S,itunton, in his address to the meeting, subse-
quently enumerated the following towns in Ireland,
some having 6,000, and all above 4,000, to which,
in justice, he said, the right of returning Members
ought to be conceded :—Killarney, Fermoy, Ne-
nagh, Cove, Tipperary, Thurles, Loughrea, Birr,
Strobane, Tullamore, Castlebar, Roscrea, Skibbe-
reen, Aathkeale, Dingle, Clonakihy, Tuam, Ballina,
Westport, and Mullingar. Several other persona
spoke in support of the resolutions, and many new
members were admitted.

WEBER asserted, that he never saw a beau tifu
landscape that did not produce in his mind a train of col
responding musical association..

•
The mass of the people of Spain, says a recent
traveller, take little heed of the vices of the Government,
and are entirely indifferent about political privileges. The
13 isque provinces, which are the most enlightened, have
I ttle to complain of; for they enjoy a multitude of pri,
vileges and exemptions, which are well defined and jealous y
maintained; and as for the Spaniard of the Southern pr -
vinees—give him his shade in the summer, and his sun-
shine in winter ; his tobacco, his melon, his dates, le:s
bread, and his wine ;—give him a hole to creep into, air!
put him within sound of a convent bell, and he asks ro
more ; or, if you rise a degree or two in society, and
speak of the respectable peasant, then give to him his em-
broidered jacket, his tasselled hat, his guitar, and his rneejo
(sweetheart, in the dialect of Andalusia), and it is a matt,r
of indifference to him whether Spain is ruled by a CALI.
QULA or a Tyres,

The Select Committee appointed to take into consideration
the frequent Calamities by Steam Navigation, and the
best Means of guarding against their Recurrence, and
to report their Observations thereupon to the Howe;
and to whom several Petitions were referred; and who
were empowered to report the Minutes of the Evidence
taken before them, with an Appendix; have, pursuant
to the Order of the House, examined the Matters to
them referred, and agreed to the following Report :
Your Committee, impressed with a deep
sense of the importance of the subject referred
to them, as well from an earnest desire, on the
one hand, not to check, by legislative interfe-
rence, the progress of improvement in the ap-
plication of the vast power of steam to naval
purposes, as, on the other hand, to afford pro-
tection to the lives and property of his Majesty's
subjects, and to ensure a due regard to the se-
curity and protection of all public and private
interests, feel themselves called upon to recom-
mend that all vessels propelled by steam shall be
sub?cted to certain regulations.
our Committee deem it right to remark that,
notwithstanding the recent distressing calamities
which have befallen two steam passage-vessels,
by which many lives have been lost, and which
your Committee, in common with the rest of
the public, deeply deplore, yet that, when the
great number of steam vessels employed in car-
rying passengers, and the period of time they
have been in general use, are considered, the
number of fatal accidents have been compara-
tively few, and less in proportion than accidents
to sailing vessels.
Your Committee having duly weighed the
foregoing considerations, having considered the
several petitions referred to them, and the evi-
dence of numerous witnesses whose character
and professional experience seemed best calcu-
lated to afford the required information, and
having referred, in the first instance, to com-
plaints connected with the navigation by steam
on the river Thames, report as follows :
Firstly—That numerous persons using and
emplo)ed in small boats, and on board loaded
barges (as has heretofore been customary) on
the Thames, and in tile vicinity of London, are
now daily exposed to much serious inconvenience
and personal risk from the manlier in which
steam-vessels are continually passing in that
crowded part of the river called the Pool,"
causing great undulation of the water to a con-
siderable distance, and within that range subject-
ing the small boats and loaded barges to the
foregoing evils.

Secondly—That the usually rapid rate at
which steam-vessels move, and the undulation
of water they occasion, render it highly im-
portant that those in charge of them, whilst
navigating even the less frequented parts of the
Thames and other rivers, should adopt every
reasonable precaution to avoid injury to small
boats or deeply-laden vessels, by approaching
nearer to them than necessary.
Thirdly—That it appears that steam vessels
employed to convey passengers from one port to
another by sea, as well as between different
places in the same river, have not always been
built with adequate strength of scantling ; by
which means their passengers have been exposed
to immediate danger, in the event of such vessels
experiencing the violent shocks that are occa-
sioned by striking on shoals, encountering heavy
seas, or other sea risks.

Fourthly—That there is not at present ally ge-
neral fixed signal to distinguish steam vessels
when .moving by night and that it would be
advantageous, on account of their rapid rate,
and other circumstances before alluded to, that
they should be so distinguished, in order to
afford timely notice to boats and other craft to
get out of the way.
Fifthly—That considerable inconvenience has
been experienced by the practice of several steam
vessels starting from one point at the same mo-
ment, and keeping together, whereby the danger
arising from the undulation of the water is
greatly increased.
To remedy these evils, so far as appears prac-
ticable and just, your Committee deem it right
to submit to the House the following sugges-
tions, viz.:—

,
Firstly—That it is expedient to regulate the
speed of steam vessels between London-bridge
and the stairs of his Majesty's Victualling-yard
at Deptford, and that the basis of the regulations
be arranged upon the revolutions of the wheels.
Secondly—That by legislative enactment
steam vessels be required, whilst navigating be-
tween London-bridge and the stairs of his
Majesty's Victualling-yard at Deptford, if going
with the tide, or in slack water, to have the
number of the revolutions of their wheels re-
duced one-half from their average performance at
full power of their engines ; and if going against
the tide, to have the revolutions reduced one-
third from their performance at full power. The
average performance at full power of the wheels
to be ascertained and certified to the Cominis-
sioners of Customs of the port to which the
vessel belongs, and to be notified in some con-
' spicuous part of the vessel ; and that there be in
all vessels navigating the Thames an index on
the deck, connected with the machinery, to show
the number of revolutions per minute the wheels
are making.

Thirdly—That every steam vessel employed
in the conveyance of passengers for hire shall be
duly licensed by the collector or other chief
officer of the Customs of the port to which she
belongs ; and that such officer, previous to
granting a license, shall require such proof as he
shall deem reasonable and proper (taking into
consideration the circumstances of the case) that
the vessel has been sufficiently surveyed and ex-
amined, and is deemed to be perfectly sea-
worthy, of sufficiently strong scantling, and pro-
perly fitted in all respects to undertake the service
or voyage for which ;;he is intended.
Fourthly—That such license shall only be
valid for one year ; it being understood that, if
any vessel be out of the kingdom at the expira-
tion of the year, her license shall be valid until
her return to Great Britain ; and further, that in
the event of its being proved to the satisfaction of
such officer that any vessel has sustained any ac-
cident, it shall be in his power to order an inter-
mediate survey; and further, that it shall not be
lawful for any such officer to allow any sea-going
vessel to be more than three years, or any river-
going vessel to be more than five years, without
undergoing a regular survey.
Fifthly—That no vessel shall be licensed to
carry more than two passengers for every ton of
her registered burden, if to proceed to sea, or
more than three if her voyage is to be confined
talrii(vieerduncatviinggatibiounr, after deducting the number of
tons of cargo the vessel may have taken on board,
passengers for every horse or
head of horned cattle.
Sixthly—That the commander or other per-
son in charge of any steam vessel, when navi-
gating within rivers or along shore by night, be
obliged to show two lights horizontally, at least

eight feet apart, and at least twelve feet above the
deck (though higher if convenient), on a mast
in the fore part of the vessel, and one light
under the bowsprit (if the vessel carry one),
otherwise at the stein under the gunwale.
Seventhly—That every steam vessel proceed-
ing to sea shall be required to carry a gun or
swivel, and bell, for the purpose of making signals.
Eighthly—That every steam-boat carrying
passengers, destined to proceed to sea, be pro-
vided with two boats at the least, of sufficient
size, according to her tonnage and the voyage
she has to perform, to be judged of by the
chief officer of Customs of the port from which
she sails ; and if the vessel be destined for a
greater length of voyage than 100 miles at sea,
that she must have three such boats at the least ;
and all vessels for river navigation one such boat.
Ninthly—That in all steam-vessels the name
of the captain, the number of engineers and crew
on board, the number of passengers she is
licensed to carry, and the number of her boats
shall be placed in some conspicuous part of the
deck.

Your Committee submit that legislative enact-
ments to the foregoing extent cannot prove one-
rous or detrimental to the proprietors of steam-
vessels, in any degree to counterbalance the se-
curity and satisfaction they are like to afford the
public ; but that, on the contrary, it is probable
they will eventually prove advantageous to the
steam-boat proprietors themselves, from the in-
creased confidence which will thereby be created
in this mode of conveyance.
Your Committee, although not prepared to
recommend any legislative enactments on the
following points, deem it nevertheless proper to
draw attention to some parts of the evidence
brought before them, from which it would appear,
Firstly—That steam vessels built with timbers
placed and secured according to the plan of Sir
Robert Seppings, and without inside lining
planks, at the same time that they possess greater
strength, afford a ready means of frequent exa-
mination of the timbers, without expense or
inconvenience.
Secondly—That steam vessels fitted with
paddles upon Mr. Nlorgan's, Mr. Perkins's, or
any other effective principle of feathering, would
be considered less likely to do injury to small
boats, or deeply-laden craft, by passing near them.
Thirdly—That it has been suggested, as likely
to prove advantageous in preventing accidents,
that steam vessels should be fitted with a plat-
form and steering wheel, to be placed in the fore
part of the vessel when navigating within rivers,
so that the man steering shall be enabled to see
over the bow any objects floating or passing near ;
a plan stated to be now adopted in all the river
steam vessels in America.
Fourthly—That it should be generally
understood that, whenever two steam-vessels
find themselves unexpectedly near each other
" stem on," both vessels are to put their helms
a-starboard, unless there be some evident cause
to prevent it ; and if the vessel be not directly
" stem on" to each other, their helms should be
only altered so as to make them sheer from each
other.
Fifthly—Although not perhaps strictly within
the subject of the special inquiry with which
they have been charged, your Committee deem
it right, in closing this report, to add that
wherries appear to be now in use for carrying
passengers on the Thames, below as well as above
London-bridge, built much shallower and
slighter than formerly, in so much that some of
the smaller ones are scarcely safe, without re-
ference to their meeting with steam-boats or
• other extra trial. Also that it appears that the
regulations and directions for keeping a proper
extent of passage-way on the Thames near
London, for vessels and boats to pass up and
down, are not duly attended to or enforced by
the Harbour Masters, from which mischief• and
inconvenience result. Your Committee are there-
fore of opinion that it is necessary that the au-
thorities in the City, who possess jurisdiction in
these matters, should forthwith have their atten-
tion called to them, with a view to their applying
such early remedies on those two points as they
may be found to require.
Your Committee cannot refrain from drawing
particular attention to the evidence of a gentle.
man, one of the survivors of the Rothsay Castle
steam-boat, whose collected state of mind
throughout that melancholy catastrophe has
enabled him to give such testimony as abun-
dantly to confirm the necessity of some of the
above recommendations.
Your Committee, in conclusion, would direct
the attention of the House to the practical infor-
mation contained in the evidence which they
present with it ; and express their satisfaction at
the great improvement a few years have made in
this most valuable species of navigation, and at
the strenuous efforts hourly making in all parts
of the kingdom to advance it to a yet greater
degree of perfection, enlarge its application, and
render it of the utmost utility of which it is
capable.—October 14, 1831.

THE LOWTHER ARCADE.—ThiS is a
covered way, similar in its use to the Burlington Arcade,
and, although wider and more lofty, including three
stories in height, it is not so long. The principal en-
trance is in the Strand, near the centre of a triangular
island of building divided into shops. The passage forms
an acute angle with the Strand, running to the back of St.
Martin's Church, and is divided by large pilaster, into a
succession of compartments ; the pilasters are joined by an
arch ; and the compartments are domed over, and lighted
in the centre by large domical lights, which illuminate the
whole passage in a perfect manner. The shop•fronts are
all decorated in a similar manner, and the whole has been
designed and executed with great care by the builder, Mr.
HERBERT. The shops on the exterior are designed to have
the appearance of one great whole. The style of architec-
ture is Grecian, and the order employed Corinthian ; the
alleles are finished in a novel manner, with double circu
far buildings, having the roof domed in brick, with an or-
nament as finish to the top of the dome, The effect of
the whole would be agreeable if it had the appearance of a
solid basement to stand upon ; but as tradesmen find it
necessary to have as much open space u possible to exhibit
their goods, the mass of architecture above must appear to
he supported by the window-frames of the shops, although
in reality they are based upon small iron columns of four
and six inches diameter, which are scarcely seen, and
which offer the slightest
possible impediment to the exhi-
bition of goods.—Companion to the Ailtnanark.
No article of provision hag fallen in price equal
to fish, which is full fifty per cent. cheaper than it was ten
years ago.
TREASON OF TILE CORRUPTIONISTS.—
The faction are raving mad in sedition ! The Mail of
last night contains the following threat of defiance and
declaration of contempt against the Government :—" We
shall not condescend to tell the Government or its organ
what are the plans or intentions of the Orange party. Of
this, however, they may rely, that they are not to be di-
verted from their course by the impudent conduct of the
one, or the silly blustering. of the other, If we are to
judge by an article now before us, Lord ANGt.E6EA seeks
to put himself and his Government at issue with the Pro-
testants. Be it so. lie are even prepared for this.
The result will be frightful to the country ; but we en-
tertain no fears as to the issue, and the Evening Post may
rely upon this, that for all its contemptuous sneering, we
shall no more lack officers than we do soldiers, and the
crisis' is fast approaching." This needs no comment.
We shall merely remark that an entire people were pro-
claimed without ever breathing a sentiment either of sedi-
i;.m, much less treason.--Dublin Freeman's Journal.