The Sun.
London, England, 1825-10-04 00:00:00

THE SILK TRADE.

A very numerous and respectable meeting of
the principal Silk-manufacturers was held yesterday, at the
London Tavern, Bishopsgatestrect, " pursuant to requisition,
" to take into consideration the present state or the trade—the
great injury it has sustained by the large quantities of foreign
wrought silk which have been clandestinely introduced into
this country—and also to consider 'of an application to his Ma-
yesty's Government, for the postponement of the" intended ad-
mission of foreign wrought silks in July next." JOHN HAM,
Esq., was called to the Chair.
The CHAIRMAN, in opening the business of the meeting,
observed, that be was happy to perceive that the persons con-
nected with this important branch of British trade appeared to
be alive to its interests; and, certainly, upon no former occa-
sion were they more imperiously called on to protect those inte-
rests than on the present, The matter which formed the sub.
jcct of inquiry was of very grave and serious import„and he
trusted that it would be treated with all due consideration.
He would not further trespass on the time of the Meeting
than by reading a copy of the circular letter that had been
sent round , to the trade, and which would best explain the
precise nature of the business now before them. Resolu-
tions had been already prepared by some gentlemen present,
which he should subsequently have the honour of submitting
for adoption.
[The circular referred to was then read, and was to the same
effect as the public requisition quoted above.)
Mr. W. HALE, in rising to propose the first resolution, re-
gretted that the task had not been imposed on some more corn.
petent person. When it was considered how serious an effect
the introduction of foreign silks must have on the English
trade, he conceived that every one would coincide with him,
that some prompt measures should be adopted to put a stop
to the inundation with which they were threatened—threatened
in prospective—and at the present, actually oppressed by clan-
destine means. That the silk trade had already suffered, was
a fact that could not be denied : he would venture to say, that
not one piece in ten, now sold in London under the denomi-
nation of Sidtalfields goods, had been manufactured there;
and this was not to be attributed so much to the superiority of
the foreign article, as to its cheapness ; and the easy facility,
afforded to smuggling must of course press heavily on the in-
terests of the British manufacturer. In the whole course of
his long experience, he could not remember any period in the
history of the trade when things looked so gloomy as they did
at the present moment. Unless, indeed, some measures were
taken to avert the danger, thousands roust necessarily be thrown
out of employment who had hitherto supported themselves by
honest industry. And for what ? Simply this—that the pro-
tection which had hitherto existed was now withdrawn, in effect,
and that foreign manufactures were encouraged in preference to
those of Great Britain. He trusted that the meeting would see
the necessity of doing something that might tend to avert the
impending evil, and to crush the abuses that now exist. Mr.
Hale then read the resolution, which was seconded by Mr.
Boyce.
Mr. A. Moon rose to propose. the second resolution. The
meeting had heard from his friend Mr. Hale a very faithful
statement of the present depressed condition of the trade. In-
deed, so far as he (Mr. Moore) could remember, he never
knew it to have been so much depressed, and the next question
to consider was—what produced that depression ? It was at-
tributable, in the first place, to the prospective removal of the
protecting duty, which, being taken off, would of course bring
into the market an immense quantity of foreign manufactured
goods, and as the foreign manufacturer could, it was well
known, from various reasons, be enabled to undersell the Bri-
tish manufacturer, the larger buyers were slow to purchase. In
the next place, it might be traced to the large quantity of fo-
reign goods which were now clandestinely introduced to the
British market. Perhaps some persons might be disposed to
doubt the extent to which this practice was carried, but he had
reason to know that it was carried .to an alarming. extent. In-
deed, he knew certain parties that did not hesitate to avow that
they carried on and encouraged this illicit traffic; and the rea-
son they assigned for so doing was, that as the restriction was
so speedily to be removed, they did not consider it any direct
violation of the law, inasmuch as the prohibition was so
speedily to be taken off. On this principle smuggling was no
,longer held to be either disreputable or dishonest; and, when
it was recollected how very excessive the quantity must be in-
troduced, not only by these , British dealers, but by FrenCh
houses that had large establishments in England, it would he
quite evident that the sale of British manufactured goods must
suffer a most serious deterioration. Another cause which led
to the present depression, anti that not the least, would be
found to exist in the easy introduction of French silks into
Ireland, where, front some oversight, or omission In the law re-
lating to the protecting duty, they were still admissible, and
from whence they indirectly found their way to this country in
a very considerablelluantity. All these circumstances com-
bined had led to the present depression, and if some measure
were not speedily taken to counteract them, they must have the
effect of completely paralyzing the silk trade in England, and
throwing thousands out of employment.

Mr. A-MES seconded the reeolution.
Other resolutions were moved and carried (for which see
advertisement). -
Mr. A. MOORE suggested the revival.of a society that had
formerly been .productive of much benefit to the interests of
trade in general—he alluded to 'the Society for the Preven-
tion of Smuggling. He could scarcely repress his indignation
at the preference thus shown to the house named in the re-
solution. He did not mean to go so far as to say that Mi-
nisters actually countenanced this species of smuggling as a
general principle, but he was 4t a loss to know what was to
be understood by the term of " a privileged house ;" or why
Messrs. Dupuis, Paullei, and Cas, should have an exclusive
prerogative, calculated in so great a degree to damp the spirit
of British industry. If their system of manufacture was so
superior to our own, that alone was enough to give them a
superiority without any other of the decidedly adventitious
circumstances that they enjoyed, because it was well known
that labour was performed at a much cheaper rate than it was
performed in England. But the priiilege 'was not merely
confined to the house—there was another circumstance which
ought to be known, and that was a seizure had been made
very recently of French goods, in the care of a courier to one
of the Foreign Ambassadors, and the seizing officers, for in-
terfering with this privileged personage, were discharged from
their situations.— (Hear, hear !)—These were facts that could
not be disputed, and were every way entitled to the most serious
investigation.
A Gentleman here rose,• and after reprobating in pointed
terms any countenance to smuggling, as calculated to weaken
thenrdent spirit of British industry, concluding by calling on
the per,;on who said that the charge was " false" to dome for-
ward in a fair and manly manner, 'and disprove it.
A Yoting Man then stood up, and said, that he could under-
take to say it was perfectly so.
(Cries of " Name, name," from every part of the room.)
The Speaker replied, that he was employed by the house of
Messrs. £elyard and Co.
Mr. A morty intimated that their house was not mentioned
in the resolution. _ .

The young man said, that it was all the same concern. It
could not be proved that the seizure was French silk.,
Mr. MoonE thought that the meeting was deviating from
the proper course in entering on any discussion with regard to
that point, and in truth they were not competent' to come to
any decision respecting it. He should say, however, that if
37 pieces of silk had been seized in his warehouse, he would
not advance any other privilege than the production of the man
who wove. them. But the only, object that the •oeeting should
hold in view was to protect the fair trader, and not quarrel with
this house or with that. If there was a country in the world
that had more liberality than another, he believed it' was Eng-
land, where the native of every nation may find encouragement
and protection.--(Hea'r; hear !)—He trusted that this sentiment
would not now be forgotten.
Mr. Mir.Es proposed the Bth resolution; which was seconded
by Mr. Ball. He referred to two memorials, which were read
by Mr. Amory. •
A Gentleman wished to know whether it was intended to
move for the: revival of the' Society fbr the Protection of
Smuggling? It would, he thought, be produCtive of the very
best effects.
Mr. INGLEBY said he imagined it were better to defer it to
a future time, when more extensive information might be ob-
tained as to the means of carrying it into full effect.
Some other routine resolutions were then carried, and the
meeting dissolved.

SHOREDITCII ALMS.HOUSES.-Yesterday was
performed the ceremony of laying the foundation stone of
eight Alms-houses in the parish of St. Leonard's, Shoreditch.
The estimated expence of- the buildings is 18601., towards de-
fraying which, Thomas Porter, Esq. has generously contri-
buted one-fourth, and the Drapers' Company one-eighth, and
the remainder has been raised by the voluntary contributions
of the parishioners. About 100 persons, including' the two
Members for the County, the Clergyman of the Parish, and
some of the'most opulent and respectable of its inhabitants, sat
down to dinner, consisting of every delicacy of the season, and
Mr. Rouse, of the Eagle Tavern, in the City-road, was pub-
licly complimented by the company on the excellent quality of
the wines furnished for the occasion. On the removal of the
cloth, a collection was made in furtherance of the benevolent
object which had called them together, and upwards of one
hundred guineas were subscribed. The company were enter-
tained during the evening. by the voc.al exertions • of several
professional gentlemen who had, been invited, and by a mili-
tary band, and separated after an evening spent in the most
convivial manner.

LETTER from BOLIVAR to the BISHOP of CUZCO.

LIMA, MAY 28.

Illustrious Senor—lt is with particular satisfaction that I ac-
knowledge the receipt of your excellent communication of the
31st of December last, which is equally conformable with the
spirit of the Gospel and with the sentiments of a true prelate of
the American Church, indicating, his desire for the indepen-
dence of his ccuutry.

. Your Excellency, in congratulating me upon the present glo-
rious period, recognizes with justice that it is the work of heaven,
which, in order to remove from this innocent earth the oppres-
sion of foreign tyrants., hasfortified our arms, so that we may
replace it under the shield of its own laws for its own prosperity
and the welfare of the religion of the Lord.
Your Excellency is pleased to consider me as an instrument
of the will of the Supreme Being, in following up that grand
plan which he had traced from eternity. In acknowledging
with thanks this testimony, I will confess frankly that in acting
for the true glory and welfare of Peru, I have been a soldier
not to be discouraged by the evils which so furiously opposed
themselves to the successes of the past year, which the people
now celebrate in triumph.
I am determined to sustain the sacred fires of the Gospel,
and my heart will never separate itself from the soil of the
Incas, in whose favour I trust your Excellency will use all
the power of your high station to confirm peace,, promote the
spirit of union, and diffuse everywhere fraternity and concord,
eVen that those who have been insensible to the voice of na-
ture may admire with enthusiasm the institutions of the
country. You know that patriotism is a sacred fire which can_
'not be concealed, which acts alike for the purity of sentiment
and the happiness of the country, whose moral state demands
in an extraordinary manner all the paternal care of the suc-
cessors of the Apostles.
Among the particular advantages which Divine Providence
has conferred upon me in this Republic, I reckon that of your
' apostolic benediction, and the honour of visiting a soil as dear
to me as it is illustrious from the memory of Alamo Capac,
who, with equal skill, and humanity, founded an empire upon
the basis of moral knowledge among the people, and the senti-
ments of a pure religion.
Accept, illustrious Senor, the a,surance of the distinguished
consideration with which I remain your obedient servant,
BOLIVAR.

CROYDON FAIR commenced yesterday, and,
notwithstanding the weather was unfavourable for travelling,
the road from Kennington Common to the scene of action was
thronged by those vehicles which are always ready to accom-
modate the town visitors. The goods, wares, and merchandize
generally sold 'the first day of the fair, did not go off in the
morning, but several fine horses were purchased. There was a
good show of cattle. This day Croydon is expected to be more
numerously attended.

In the York festival week a gentleman lost a
parcel of bills and notes, to the amount of 7001. and upwards.
On Monday last, as the groom of a gentleman of this city
was coming up the passage with leads from Coney-street to the
river-side, opposite New-itreet, he found, thrust into a cavity
in the wall, a bundle of papers, rolled up and enclosed in brown
paper. These, upon inspection, proved to be a portion of the
identical notes lost by the gentleman ; and the next day, upon
a more close examination of the place, several more were found,
amounting in their whole value, to 2731. How they came int)
this situation is of course a mystery.—( York Herald.)