The Sun.
London, England, 1823-08-29 00:00:00

A Meeting of Nierchants and others took place
yesterday, at the City of London Tavern, for the purpose of
considering the Report. of the Select Committee, Which had
been appointed on the Ist of May, 18211, by a General Meeting
of the Merchants and Bankers; tbe business of *hid' Com-
mittee was, " An application to Parliament to investigate the
state of the English Law on the subject of goods intrusted to a
factor ; and to make such alterationt there:a as would render
the same conformable to just principles.".
In concurrence with the motion of Mr. T. Witelott (which
was carried),
Mr. J. Santa took the Chair. He began by informing the
Meeting, that the Committee were anxious to state, by means
of their Report, a history of the late proceedings in Parliament
relative to' the objects for which they had been constituted.
Anxious as he was not td take up much of their time, he hoped
to be indulged by their patience and attention in iiolllCremarks
which, according to his view of the subject, might be necese
sari, to a right understandingof the Report, The Committee
of the House of Commons, upon Arleen. shoulders the weight
of the business had devolved, had developed circum-
stances Which were not generally known before the inquiry
into the state of the law ,had taken place. Perhaps it
might be said that the promeigstion of the law by means of
the Committee—at least until the achievement Of their entire
' purpose--nmet be held to have rather a disastrous elect than
. otherwise. But then it must be remembered that It was essen.
tial to the welfare of commerce, that the whole subject should
be examined to the bottom. lie could, without flattery, say
that the Committee had conducted their labours with a high
deee of intelligence and ability. 'Upon the view which they
took of the subject, a Bill had been framed. lie might almost
say, that the Bill was framed with the unanimous aunt of the
Committee. He Wan ready to admit that one lion. Friend of
his, whom he had in his eye, did not agree in all the view's
taken •by the Committee. hut, during has experience of Par-
liamentary proceedings, he had hardly ever seen mire una.
nimity displayed. The. Bill which had been brought in, did
embrace, according to hie humble opinioh, and according to the
opinions of many intelligent persons with whom lie then coin.
municated, a complete and adequate reMedy, or nearly so, for
the grievances of which the merchants complained. Unfortu-
nately, however tar the cause which the Committee advocated,
there were strong feelings against them in the minds of several
gentlenich eminent in the profession of the law; and those
gentlemen expressed their opposition in tetnis of such warmth
that the Committee found themselves opposed by the most
powerful of those persons who might be 'said to govern
the proceeding of the Legislature. Perhaps the law which
allowed the pledging of goods by a party in whom
the property of the goods did not rest, might be cons
trary to their received notions, and without considering the
awes of abuse and oppression, they looked only tit the preserVa,
tion of the old principal of law. Under these difficulties, it
appeared surprising to him, that the Committee had been able
to do so much. A meeting had been obtained with some of
the leading persons in the Government, and the result was,
that the Committee had succeeded in convincing Them of the
ptopriety of their eiews. Among those distinguished persons
were Lord Liverpool, Mr. Wallace, and Mr. Huskisson. After
the third conference those Ministers were brought to contem.
plate the subject with the same views and feelings as the Com,
Mittee, and became equally anxious for the relief and the ulti.
mate repeal Of the grievaneei. But the opposition in .Parlia•
ment was still so firmly and reatdu tely founded, that Mr. Fresh.
field (a gentletuan of whose
,nervicea upon the present occasion
lie could not speak with any thing like sufficient praise) had
felt with him, that it was not at that dine to be got over.—
They did, however, bring forward a measure containing, as
they supposed, a PI and eudicient remedy for the grievances.
—Atter repeated 'discuisions in their house, •it became quite
evident that by insisting unconditionally upon the whole,
they could not succeed in regard to any part of their
Metteure. It-was4sot for him at she present moment to go
into the question, et to whether they were right or not in
their concurrence upon this point. It might be urged against
thent, that they injured the expectation of future success as to the
whOle, by accepting only a part. /le begged leave, how.
ever, to coffer from this view. Aee the general principle which
they bad, to comend with had nut only been met, but was com.
pietely overthrown,
he knew not on what grounds their oppo-
nents could continue to strive with them in any remaining con.
test. Re would now state what was the scope of the mensure,
so far as it had been carried in the Ince session or Parliament.
Tile bill Brought in had been eubeequently reduced in effect to
in
two ale& And however distant this use appear from the
attainment of
their entire °yet, he could-Resure them it was
much beyond that which he tad hoped, inasmuch as an hour
before the passing of the
bill,
the whole ineaeure toilet be lost. The perties who had most
he had made up his mind thin
veliementlT erred it withdrew, and so much of the measure
Was
carti" . " it) what had been done by the bill, the first
of the clauses to which he had alluded enabled the consignee to
whim "(KW were intrusted, not *l4 the
as
of the connig.
I nor, to hold the same lien upon them as if they were really the
property of the consignor, provided always that no direct notice
were given that the oods were not the property of the con-
signor. The second clause empowered the consignee to whom
the goods were remitted for sale to pledge them as a lien held
by him, to the amount of his own advances, or the chitin which
he might have upon the goods
as agent or factor—whether
the goods should belong to die consignor or to any other person.
M
He believed that the eeting would allow that the Committee
had done well in having done so much. It was his duty, how-
ever, to touch upon those cases in Which they had not sues
mailed. In the test piece, the bill left all property' unprotect-
ed, which had not the specification Of a bill of hiding, the re•
gular transfer of which (as • muxt be obvious to all who heard
him) would be, generally spanking, impassible. The lion,
Gentleman went on to other cases of the same nature, for which
it may be better. to quote from the 'lentils of the report. " But
this Act does not in either casts protect the consignee or the
pledgee in the event of goods being shipped, without having
been intrusted by the true owner for the purpOse of side, al.
though the consignee may not have notice that time consignor is
not the owner, and it therefore continues to such foreign owner
a right against a British consignee,
.which in his own country,
and according to his own law, he could not enforce. Nor does
the Act protect the purchaser of goads either from a consignee
in this country, or from a consignor abroad, if the true owner
has not authorized the sale; btu such purchaser may be
compelled to pay a second time for the satire #(ood4, tildlo4,ol
he was not aware that the seller was an agent. The partial
sernedy provided by the net applies only to consignments by
bill of lading, and leaves all trarpoictions relating to goods by
landing-carnage untouched; nordOetl it meet the numerous cases
of goods represented by other symbols of property. The defeets
already pointed out apply principally to merchants (though not
exclusively), who are not safe in making ad vancex, upon goods
consigned to them from abroad, unless they shall be satisfied
diet the consignor is the owner, or if not the °tenet, that the goo&
were intrusted by the owner to the consignor for sale ; but the
act is particularly deficient in nut: affording protettion to the
ford assistance to consignees and holders el goods, upon whieh
capitaliet, who may be, and ie safrequently, called upon to af.
it is only necessary to say that lie cat. in no case lend his
money with perfect satety upon the credit of the goods or
the symbol of property; but his security is mettle to depend
tittleerultrriento industrY
entirely upon the fact, which he OW possibly ascertain or
the bOrrower having a valid lien ta the extent represented of
him, . the legality of' which lien again depends upon the son,,
which rite' burrower lippenrettiodeb.,e
but
Signor heieg the °alter ;or if not,:then that the goods were in-
trusted to him by the owner for sale; and therefore he must
Make his advance in a great measure upon the credit of that
borrower. The capitalist is also exposed to the rislc of making
advances upon goods of
wirthleich°7llinecrn'taayluhl
condnct of the Ravi
actively
act '
could enable theaP°Yeeastieutstflitlnt°hteocil In. another
,Session of Parliament. there toilet be now loge doubt that the.,
drsuritsoronanyervititetirenivr r
would obtain tile cordial et-operation of 31iideters in the fur./
therance of their views. He eulogis"l the
of Liverpool; Mr. finale-son :inti .:Ir. Wialtteci who, wthnugh
without
tint tploolotypeedr,iuilduittifyettheierSitestitinn: dill
1 v etsltffeiira
_it
gi
Illorieleiagt;V
ittillyietrlit
Ivi
fd ,
zed
il
litishogether.
to the investigation of this subject: Tt
not in the habit of supporting the measures Of Adminietrn.
tion,, it gave him great gutinsorien to do so . much justice to
those particular s. lie could not Jut _thlwn wallow
Ahliirv.eFrfitiesihtedte
wthhcosecapreersesfitioonn
sot
the
eis
mobasullgartoionmutsot
One other topic he had felt jnollned to touch upon i d
although he had felt considerable doubt and difficulty as tote
propriety of introducing it te
their notice, hecould not deny
himself the advantages of the present opportitnity. Ire he&
felt it 'in common with man, men of great ilttolligence, and
considerable inereautile knowledge, the want of a corporation

" effrrird
.or .e.liarnber to waist and protect the inteeets of conieneace.
within the City of London. The merchants Loads, were
a molt important body, if not the most importeut body of the
State. Upon their suet's end prosperity depeuded, in a great
measure, the sucteiis, prosperity, and happiness of the empire
at large. In the Oovernment !hate was a Board of.Tratle.eof
Which lie might say, under he edema arrangement, that it wee
well disposed to advance the mercantile interests of the
country. lie would saggeat the consideration, whether it
would not ba silvisable to bare a permanent- Board of Mere
chants established to correspond with the Merchants on'the
one hand, and the Ooverintiefit or Board of Trade on the
other, to which Beard of Merchante or Commercial Chamber
all the grievances and difficulties might be tounnun leaded, whe-
ther fur advice or representetion. Theta might be some diffie
culty in constituting such a Road, because of the reetuieite teal
and talent; and yet, when he considered what great numbers
of eminent and intelligent merchants the City of Landon eon-
Weed, he
.could not admit that there would be any difficulty
in forming the Board. Other countries, and many consider..
able places in our own country, had derived great *detentes**
from similar institutions; yet the first commereed city in the
world was without one. It would give hlatoteet satishiction to
see it formed. The report would now be reed to them, and he
et-lived their particular and undivided attention to the contents
of it. His Hon.• Friend on the left of hint (31r. John Ilan),
besides being a ,sufficient master of the subject, posseesed
sound voice, and was well qualified to do them that kindness.
He would conclude by inviting their firm, cordial, and united
effbrts towards the attainment of the whole of the object of which
they had already acquired so mania, a part.
• Mr. Hart. then read the report, which coincided with the
various statements made respecting it by the Hon. Chairman.
Mr. C. liberal proposed the Resolution for printing and eir-
culuting the Report. He conceived that there could be but one
opinion upon the conduct of the Committee—chat they Mkt
prosecuted the important interests intrusted to them with great
zeal and ability.
Mr. Sheriff"fgoareeosr seconded the Resolution, which, as
well as those which succeeded, were unatiintously carried,
Mr. Snaw agreed entirely with the views of the gentlemen
who had proposed the preceeding Resolution, and at there were
but 12 hours in each day, as time must be precious with those
who had business to mind, and as he could easily conceire how
the allitirs of each gentleman present would be likely to press
upon his attention, lie would waste none of their valuable
time by melting any observations on the Resolution which
it was his privilege now to propose. He hoped, however,
he might be excused in adverting to one topic touched upon by
the Chair. He felt the sentiment cif gratitude which prevailed
with all present as to the past proceedings of the committee.—
felt that the meastire had been brought on at a late period of
the Session, and he remembered that it was a subject of appre-
hension and fear that nothing could be done with it during that
Session. That wldch had been effected must be rather a matter
of surprise. The committee had succeeded in bringing over
to their views several of the leading persons in Adniinistration.
In the midst of all these proceedings, It could not but be very
striking that so considerable a body as the London merchant',
havinginterests of the first importance to support, should be
without some ordinary and easy means 'of intercourse be-
tween themselves as a body, and the Government of the
country. To use a grammatical figure, they were perfectly
a diejunteive conjunction. They were united upon mat.
ters of a common but general interest; but upon separate
points, they were severally divided, and not unfrequently
opposed. The opposition was of the most friendly kind, and
it was one which would easily give way, upon the bringing
forward of any proposithin for the atlYantage of the whole
body. He hoped that the observations of the Chairman
would attract the consideration of all present ; and that at nu
great distance of time, they might meet to consider what men,.
sum would be necessary to the establishment of a permanent
Chamber of Commerce. He was confident that Government
would esteem such an institution highly. Government would
feel and allow, as they always did, the weight of representations
made by a combined body of merchants, where character and
talent were in the choicest union; and those representations
would be considered to comprise security, on account of the
teethe and effectual, deliberution which they must IiSYtJ under..
gone. He might cite, as instances of the advantages to be de-
rived from institutions of that nature, the benefits which had
accrued to the shipping interest, to the society of Lloyd's Cof.
fee-house.' to the West India merchants, and to the merchants
interested in the Last lathe trade. The merchants of Man-
ehester and Liverpool bad full the advantages of' established
Chamber of Commerce. (lover:intent would apptove of it, if
intelligible method
one were to be established in London. And that there was
i
nnoveii)itioiefritaregouullldlebiet,porr
deigilefrsotititult intoe m
some Intelere necessitr, if there were
and order, that vast heap of mercantile regulations, the furor-
mationun which was now contained in multiplied statutes and'
rules of lew. Ile concluded' by moving the second resolution,
which went to encourage the Committee (after a vote of thanks)
to proceed in the same course Which they had hitherto-pursued.
Mr. Jeueeer acquiesced in the praises bestowed on the
Committee, and thought that the mercantile interests could not
be intrusted to better management, -He seconded the restate-
don, which was timber supported by Mr. Bainbridge.
Mr. IVoereesTok wished to add something to the resolution
respecting the expediency of establishing a LontioreChaniber
of Connuerce. They saw the advantages of those inetitutions
abroad. Their own country might convince them hula
greatly Liverpeol,and Mancheater were benefited by having
chambers. Two had been erected by Royal Charter-=those
of Dublin and Glasgow. He could see no difficulty In the
way of attaining this object. Ile had been engaged some
years ago in bringing it about, and they had very nearly.
succeeded. Ile had iii his potket the resolutions which it
was then intended to propose, mid which might now be
found useful. Doubtless they would need revision, but there
would be found something in them suited to the purpose..—
.He would propose an addition to the resolution, fbr the pur-
pose of referring to the Committee the conmideration of the mea-
sures necessary to the establishment of a permanent Chamber
of Commerce. Ile was confident, from the assurances of Air.
F. Robinson, that Government would approve of the establish-
ment, though they would not be bound to support it, as that
must depend upon the measures to be proposed or Wontedly
it. Where the shoe pinched, it must be pelt. They mese all
have dikotrered the want of a focus of information upon mere
candle law to which ready application might be had, and front
whence ready infornuition might be drawn. Ile moved time
atnendment.

The taut nmAy4 Knggested that it would better preserve the
order of their proceedings to carry the resolutions as they were
proposed, and then to move the substance of the amendment
in another resolution.

The amendment was accordingly withdrawn.
Mr. T. %VlLaws rose to propose the resolution of thanks to
the Chairman. He regretted teat the subject had not falleb
into abler hands ; but he was consoled in the reflection that the
merits of the Hon. Gentleman were sufficiently known: lie
congratulated the Meeting on the ticeomplishment of a part of
their object. He eulogized the energy and intelligence dis-
played by the Chairman in seeking for a refotnitition of the
bankrupt laws,. which had caused him to be loOked up to re-
peatedly by Ooverninint, when particular information was re.
qUitetj.

Alderman littibutit seconded the Resolution, and begged
leave to add his testimony to the intelligence anti zeal, and ac-
curate intbrtuation of the.eltairotan ; anti also to the respect
which these talents had acquired tbr his opinions in the House
of Commons. He highly approved of the establishment of a
permanent Chamber of Commerce, to which government
would giVe cordial concurrence, as he was convinced that go.
vernme»t would zealously stipport any measure fur the benefit
of commerce.

TneCHAIRMAN declined a considerable portion of the praise
thus awarded him in favour of others, who had been equally
active, and more useful—not that his gratitude could be abated ;
and he assured the meeting that his utmost effort, should be
exerted on all occasion% for the benefit of his fellow-subjects.
Arr. Fattst moved a resolution of thanks to Mr. T. Wil-
son and the city members for their support of the Bill which
had passed, and the previous proceedings of the. Cominittee.—
He did riot wish to take up the time tif the Meeting; but he
couldnot help adverting to the subject of a Commercial Cham-
ber. He was happy to seethe eXer'tions which had been niacte to do away with partial oppressions arising from obsolete
lawcand illrfoundeti regulations. lie hoped that those exer-
tions would Dot be confined merely to such subjects. It wait re-
mark:tide that the same argument which mainly applied to
the objects of the Bill was equally applicable to the establish,
merit of h Chamber. It had been tread that the merchants did
nut seek for a new and unheard of rule of law, but to get rid of
a principle ()flaw, odious, rinonialtius, oppressive, and such RR
no other country had to contend with. So with respect to 4
Chanibtr of Connnerce. Had they not good reasons for trita-
blishing an institution,. especially; now, when the trade of Lou.