The Sun.
London, England, 1841-12-15 00:00:00

114
Iv' 0R IN TNT' c
TT*

COMBINATION OF LANDLORDS
To ARREST THE PROGRESS OF SOCIETY.
(From the Berwick Advertiser.)
(I:: Berwickshire possesses in its water-power, cheap-
! ,411"ne," and abundance of fuel, and facilities of trans-
""ssi°n, very considerable advantages for the establish-
: kraent of manufactures ; and yet with the necessity of
jer),jeg up a continual stream of emigration into other
ortnets, in order to drain off the redundant population
.I,lle county, manufactures are all but totally unknown
Within its bounds.
A stranger may be supposed likely to ascribe the
jatioi?ary character of the population in the Merse to
the e!imate being inhospitable, and the absence of so
„Y industrial pursuits fitted for the district to
indolence or ignorance of the people.
ss tit surmises, we need not say, would be
Bt'a,sllY erroneous—the climate is an excellent one,
411.1.4 the people naturally intelligent and enter-
, .ftll'ing• How then does it happen that emigration
be forced on the inhabitants of the district to
I‘,le" cal extent as to keep its population stationary ; and
""Y have they not rather introduced into the county
some
of those pursuits to gain a livelihood by which they
thave to go elsewhere and leave home and friends ? Dif-
ehr.ent causes will no doubt be assigned for this state of
Nags, but we well know that we speak in concurrence
that
the all but uni% ersal public opinion when we say
'at the industry and energy of the county are curbed
and beaten down by its landed proprietors. These are
11t, few in number, and, from motives the most puerile
short-sigiited, are banded together almost as one
tllarl, to prevent the river sides and valleys of the
ei:44tY producing anything but cattle and corn.
t:(sfing at the immense additional value given
h- land in the counties where manufactures
rave been introduced, it might be supposed that this
eaolation on the part of the Berwickshire lairds pro-
ceededr from the most disinterested motives—from some
romantic and wholly unselfish desire to preserve the
Fellas a rural Paradise, where noise and smoke
(le" be for ever unknown. But they make no secret
It their real motive—an increase of employment, they
cia, wouldcause an increase of population, arid an
toeerear of population (such is lairds' logic) would tend
n
increase of parochial burdens. And therefore it
:othat they rigidly exclude all manufactures from the
kiurn,t3', being enabled, by means of the present " ad-
-1)0 able„ system of Scotch Poor-laws, to drive out their
7 to find employment or charity in other districts.
I: would be easy to adduce abundance of facts in
°f of what has just been stated ; but the truth is so
Ell known in the district that proof is scarcely neces•
Y* For the sake of those at a distance, however, we
01; Rile one or two instances in illustration, and shall
tolisl° with the most recent. The principal exception
he"e absence of manufactures from the county, has
1;',11 the paper manufactory of the Messrs. Trotter at
pk",4nbouse near Dense (the death of the senior
tear of which firm, we regret to record in our obi-
forY of this week). This manufactory has existed
nearly a century, and has Luray afforded
A
rip a --tiou to about a hundred individuals. Many
4 this has lived in comfort, and reared his family,
ocheB Sequestered spot, and the mills have been in
litb r and obvious respects a great benefit to the loca-
Vdtrhere they are situated. But the neighbouring
St I 11
" things in another light—and have succeeded
ha,ait in getting rid of the " nuisance." The wills
41'44 been built on leasehold property, and the lease
toot near its expiry, a renewal was sought, but peremp-
f, h'Y refused, and the laird decreed that the whole 1e449e should be levelled with the ground—that the
tpracturer with his valuable machinery should be ex-
he°. and the workmen and their families sent to seek
potir bread elsewhere. The laird of Broomhouse is
Suit 11 solitary instance. After receiving notice to
thepm: ,t
1.,V,.1e firm we have named surveyed the banks of
kb, yvhattadder and Blackadder for some spot !ma-
tt: for the reconstruction of the doomed establish-
tio,") bet were on all hands met with the expres-
" al a determination to have no manufactories in
fro ar district." At last a purchase of a suitable spot
IN? an absent proprietor had partly taken place, when
114 °I the neighbouring lairds took the alarm, and,
withng the ear of the intending seller, inspired him
to re} Portion of their own spirit, and persuaded him
riueste or, within
completion of the purchase. Another
after
a few miles of our own town, was
the wards found disposed to sell a suitable site, and
wit:tansfer of the property was about to take pace,
444... the owner of the bank on the opposite side of the
444.1 refused his assent to the erection of the
to 411,7 " eauld," and the project had again
" abandoned. Thus hunted through the
the ntY, there seemed to be no alternative for
464 rotlemen named but to abandon the es-
' fertiil4 °lent or transfer it to some other district, when
;
• 'o the h ato,, a sale of some property occurred which was
and it ','l'd of trustees bound to accept the best offer,
are nu'r. into the hands of the Messrs. Trotter, who
acnager erecting a large paper-mill on the spot. As a
estdblishment,'however, of the same kind has
44%.4:x13ted at this place, the Lairds have not been
Jeet4-
of
having succeeded in the patriotic oh-
- -40 pi:'l°g one manufactory less in the county. We
flop oi;ea the history of this case merely as an illustra-
Of one the system," and as affording some explanation
kilire' Portion of the " phenomenon" which Berw;ck-
Presents to those at a distance.
of Uathe other and
,?ertainly the more strange portion
the phenomenon, the means, namely, by which the
lairds manage to rid themselves of the redundant popu-
iit4l ,en
,whom they prevent finding employment at home,
obvious we cannot enter at present. This topic
sill afford some instructive illustration of the wisdom
'4l benevolence of the Tory lairds, (tor a Whig laird is
dlI but unknown in Berwickshire), who, while their'
organsl,,, maintain that it would be better for England
ere her manufactories " engulphed in one ruin," and
i:,"13 have such an intense dread of the " demoralize-
-1;1141 which attended them, yet annually send off, to
be
supported by this demoralizing and hated employ-
tti". the overplus of their own population,—aye, and
- aged who have spent their strength in their service.
(From the Morning Chronicle.)
hen —4lease cargoes of destitute human beings have
th'a Conveyed of late from this country to Ireland, and
thl ! 'rah papers are loud in their complaints against
114Ieountry on that account. One shipment of 130
pa u been followed by another of ".three hundred Irish
tin e'ra, man,
t women,
i;:adeek." Th and children, huddled together
e Cork Southern Reporter says that if
freighted with this last cargo, " had not
and discharged her living cargo at so early an
feat In the morning, there would have been a mem-
dile)," of indignant feeling which it would have been,
1/1111..11, indeed, it would have been proper, to repress.'
Alain a tale tlld by the manufacturers at Derby ex-
s'llY these cruel shipments are resorted to.
laad'lla and disease are stalking over the towns of Eng.
%Nitta(' the law of self-preservation absorbs all minor
vhuerations.
liove e'eargoes of human beings sent from England
Nay Itistither house not home in Ireland, and their fate
into f.`4 easily anticipated. Every Irish paper we look
tot4truishes us with accounts of the large multitudes
day lost at to die. Tne Newry Examiner, of Satur-
,?tle 404- contains an account of one hundred and ninety-
k"riren rs, Many of them above eightylpars .of age,
'144 from one estate, the lands of their fathers, after
th,zgrst et • A ofparticle of property,. and
• `.left rippe. every
the efts
wander, penniless, without a home, as exiles
Irish land of their birth. We can easily believe the
Joh
-rnalist, that many of them have already died of
Ti...4101‘ and want.
4JA

'LAGER OF (CARRYING FOWL-
ING PIECES UNCOCKED.

7i411°.. illustrate the danger of the usual practice of car-t
e _
16,ea,_gan uncocked from a supposition of the safety of
It!: Yer: "hat: in that state, I will mention a few cases out
attt4 Many in which this unfortunate habit has been
ed with fatal consequences or severe injury. Se-f
'47.''llliae,Years ago a young man, the intimate of a friend of
qter having enjoyed a day's shooting, was
arn; good
ill' 'est 'rig home with a friend who drove him in gig.
J'btlvall accident might happen to his gun, he earr!leadmi-t
ker,e,,ell his legs, and fur safety had let down the _
°ff then the nipples. Unfortunately he had not taken
0)„ each 0 copper-caps, and one
e ecq) of his feet,
back, and the
happening to
charge ne of the hammers, drew it slightly
%It I!,eadgetiwas driven like a bullet literally through his
4e4ttel;'',; top of his skull being blown off and his brains
' A e't about the road. llis death was instantaneous.
1).1 NicerY short time back some inconsiderate or ignorant
_
the `4l took a loaded fowling-piece with him on one 1.
14.--,:dai!waYs. Of course it was taken from. him,.
gamnd.
411,5......111 the boot under the seat. Here again the _
Perhaps fur security, as may have been imagined
re left upon the nipples, which were armed with
PPer.
„ „caps, in order to be ready for action. On arriv-
' ,C the station, where the owner of the gun intended
the %lit, one of the porters drew it towards him by
441. 11zzle, which was the only part that presented it-
fi of ti;:eTle of the hammers caught against some portion
SeL,-,,,4l,ggage in the boot, the piece went off, and the
;41:','ctiled one than, and seriously wounded another.
46tt, iriend of mine last season lost one of his fingers
has ii,;aiding one barrel of his gun while the hammer
qi11.,,,,`","0wn upon the cap of the barrel that was already
tl er(1:, While ramming down the wadding, one of his
lintl,l_,„- °lied upon the hammer, drew it back, and the
ji-i,lng off carricawith it one of my friend's fingers,
great inflicted inflicted so serious a wound that be suffered
at'alcaßgun3' for four months, and the stump was not
hi° " and his health re-established for nearly a twelve-
jrr
nth.
e ramping a hedge or ditch gun in hand, if you
will'ason to expect that game is on the other side and
' e 4 t„ -nt sprung by the noise you are likely to make, do
,that account be induced to carry your gun. on
!It -I,t)eK• A. slip a stumble, or a mistake of any kind,
' 'avi; 7 fatalf to 370 u or to some one else, or perhaps to a
:rite
-°g• Al( u!over, people who are in such a hurry
!teeor.,toot well, and if you have accustomed yourself,
Jikt cord
with my directions, to cock your gun only
Piktiteef''''e you are going to tire, you may jump in com-
•,,
"tead ave safety with your piece at half-cock, and be as
11: to blaze away us at any other time.
first, , three great points for avoiding accidents are—
ciny 07;°,; i`eeP your gun clean ; secondly, laver to point it at
ra
three ; and thirdly, to carry it at half-cock : and these
leetkile3 cannot be too deeply engraves on the rccob
rettson ,of all those who handle fire-arms, for which
have recapitulated them.—Oil Sporting Mag.

REDUCTION OF THE
FRENCH ARM 1.

The Moniteur of Monday, received by Ex-
press, contains a long and most important
Report, addressed by Marshal &MILT to King
Louis PHILIPPE, recommending a reduction
in the Army to the extent of one company
in every battalion. Annexed to the Report
is a Royal Ordinance approving of the pro-
posed reduction of the troops, and ordering
15,000 horses to be disposed of, The number
of the reduced force is 89,000 men—being some-
thing more than one-fifth of the present stand-
ing army of France. This will effect a saving
to the country of thirty millions of francs, or
nearly a million and a quarter sterling. This
great saving is at present of the utmost import-
ance to France, whose- pecuniary resources
have been exhausted by the fortifications of the
capital. To Europe, too, this measure is
of considerable moment, as it serves for
a guarantee that no attempt will be made on the
part of France to disturb the repose of Europe.
Moreover, should M. THIERS wriggle himself
into office it will be impossible for him again to
menace the peace of the world without making
such a stir in the recruiting service as to put
Europe upon its guard.
The French Three per Cents., the 13th De-
cember, at the Cafe de Paris, 78f. 40c.

CORN-LAW COMPENSATION.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

Stn,—The leader in the Times of this morning
on the subject of the claims for compensation ad-
vanced at the Conference at Derby, induces me
to endeavour to. point out the experimental
proof furnished by the leader aforesaid, that a
bounty on foreign corn, in duration and magni-
tude equal, to, the past duty, is the form in
which the demand for compensation is most ef-
fective, and least easily opposed.
A tax of 'twenty millions a-year upon the
land may be easily repreSented (as it is the ten-
dency of the Times' article to do), as a mere
effort to take beeause there is the power. But
a bounty carries with kits own explanation. If
a landowner exclaims against the horror of so
depressing the value of his land, the reply is
ready, " Why is it more horrible, than your in-
flicting a similar depression on the value of our
manufacturing capital by a duty?" If the bounty
is represented as amounting to " the overthrow
of the whole:landed proprietary of England," this
is promptly met by the question, why it should
be any worse than " hallooing upon the premises
of Mr. Strutt and Mr. Evans, and half a hundred
other millocrat millionaires" with a duty.
On one point the landowners are very dense,
and they can hardly be blamed for it. They will
not see, that the demand for a bounty rests on
the ground of a judicial punishment; the
same ground, in fact, which justifies the
judge in decreeing the deprivation of property
against the vulgar depredator on the property of
his neighbours. If they plead the suffering—the
very thing intended is that they should suffer.
The object, whether they comprehend it or not,
is to leave an example which shall deter future
parties from acquiring legislative power, to turn
it to the pecuniary robbery of their country.
Yours very sincerely,
T. PERRONET T.HOMPSON.
Blackheath, Dec. 14, 1841.