The Sun.
London, England, 1840-10-08 00:00:00

grievances of detention at Alexandria, Suez, and
Aden, and of the delay in landing the mail after
the packet reaches Bombay, were fully known to the
public ; and the method proposed as simplest and
shortest to secure redress was to memorialize Parlia-
ment to the effect, that " before more money was voted
from the pockets of the people of England for Ihe con-
veyance of the India mail, it should be asked of the
India Company whether they meant to persist in having
the exertions made and cost incurred betwixt England
and Alexandria to forward the mails with due celerity
neutralized by the inefficiency of the arrangements exist-
ing betwixt Alexandria and the final destination of the
I despatches?"
The third subject was a complaint, that the Supreme
Legislative Council of India had stripped the Magis-
trates, whether English or native, of the functions
which Parliament bad conferred on them by the Act
which permitted native gentlemen equally with British-
born subjects to sit upon the Magisterial Bench. This,
with other acts of aggression upon the statute law of
England and rights of British subjects, not yet suffi-
ciently rife for public discussion, were agitating tl. so-
ciety of Bombay against the increase of power •vith
which the charter of 1834 invested the Council of 1 .dia.
The following information respecting the cotton ide
has been addresszd to the Manchester Chambc. of
Commerce :
• " Gentlemen,—l am directed by the Committe, of
the Chamber of Commerce of this city to state, for
your information, that the system hitherto adopted
here of levying the duty on cotton goods according to
the market value having been found productive of much
trouble and annoyance to all parties, while, from the
great variety of manufactures imported, and the wide
difference in value of many which have the saiae desig-
nation, it has been found impracticable to declare a
fixed value for each whereupon to compute duty, the
Government of Bombay, on the recommendation of a
Committee appointed to revise the tariff, has recently
-decided that the duty shall henceforth be levied on in-
voice value, with the addition of 10 per cent., in order
to bring this mode within the spirit of the Act as to
market value.
" In drawing the attention of shippers to Bombay
to this change, which is to come into operation
about the lit of October next, the Committee of
he Chamber of Commerce would strongly recommend

that invoices of bona fide cost should always accompany
shipments, and that shippers should endeavour to make
the values per invoice correspond with those stated in
the ship's dockets, as the latter are always delivered up
to the Custom-house at Bombay on the arrival of the
vessel.
" The Committee would also bring to the notice of
the shippers that all varieties of shop goods are to pay
duty in the same manner, and consequently similar atten-
tion will be requisite in regard to them.
" It has been deemed advisable to give timely intima-
tion of this change, that shippers may be prepared to
take the necessary care in the preparation of invoices,
in order to avoid the unpleasant consequences (such as
the seizure of the goods) which will undoubtedly follow
neglect in this particular, as well as to prevent unfavour-
able suspicion being ever excited against the agents here
by carelessness or discrepancies in these documents,
which may be construed by the authorities here into an
intentional design of defrauding the revenue.
" I remain, Gentlemen, your obedient servant,
" R. X. MURPHY, Secretary.
" Bombay Chamber of Commerce, Aug. 27."

HERALD.—Two causes are assigned as having
operated on the English funds to-day—namely, the be-
lief the Bank. Directors intend raising the rate of dis-
count to six per cent„ and the report that a declara-
tion of war has been made against England by the
French Government. At the commencement of busi-
ness, prices, after remaining passive for a time, began to
advance, and from 8711 reached 871, buyers for the
account. This improvement was, however, speedily
re-acted upon, by the prevalence of a rumour that M.
Thiers had delivered in person a passport to the Bri-
tish Minister, the consequence of the determination of
the French Cabinet on the Eastern question. This was
followed by the supposed intention of the Bank three
tors to raise their rate of discount to-morrow, and
prices then gave way to the extent of per cent.
Money has been very scarce and in great demand,
and the discount demanded for first-rate bankers' ac-

ceptances has been six per cent. per annum.
In addition to the evidence by the Overland Mail no-
ticed yesterday, some interesting letters from Ceylon
complain greatly of the little protection affurded to
that colony by the Government, both local and home.
The second unreserved sale of the Marotto Preserved
Cinnamon Gardens took place on the 11th August,
when 297 acres were disposed of at the average price
of 4/. 19s. 4d. per acre, being an advance of 13s. upon
the sale in July. Had the local government declared
their intentions more fully with regard to the reduc-
tion of the export duty, and guaranteed that it
should be gradually aasimiluted to the duty paid
on coffee, oil, and other produce, as speedily
as the revenue would allow, a higher price would
have been obtained. That they will ultimately be
compelled to do so no doubt exists. The competition
of other countries renders this a matter of absolute
necessity ; but, in the meantime, the whole of the pre-
served gardens will have been disposed of at prices,
which, in comparison with the expense of forming plan-
tations, appear quite ruinous, although, under existing
1 circumstances, they may exceed the actual value of the
land as an investment. A calculation made by an ex-
perienced gentleman, shows that if forest land be bought
at ss. per acre, it will, with interest, cost 301. before it
can be brought into full cultivation, and yet the Go-
vernment gardens are sold at about one-sixth of the
above rate. This state of things is a sufficient com-
ment on the existing condition of the cinnamon trade,
and no amendment can be hoped for until the duty be
abolished, and this article be placed on the same footing
as other kinds of produce.
The existing system of transforming South American
and other foreign coffees into British, by landing them
at the Cape of Good Hope, is loudly complained of, as
injurious to this and the West India colonies. The
conduct of the Ministers, in sanctioning this smuggling,
and not openly and fairly avowing the principle they aro
tacitly sanctioning, that henceforward foreign coffee
should be mixed with British, and frecly admitted with
it, is severely commented on. Were this once acknow-
ledged, the planters and merchants of the colonies would
know with what they had to contend, and regulate their
operations accordingly ; but at present they are deluded
by the semblance of a protection, when there is none
in reality, and loss and disappointment are the natural
results. By the last intelligence received at Ceylon
from Cape Town no fewer than 17 merchant ships
were simultaneously engaged in landing coffee on the
wharf for the Cape, and carrying it on board the same
ships, after which purifying process it became eligible
for entry for home consumption in the mother country
at the duty of 9d. per lb., instead of ls. 3d., which
must have been paid had the vessel proceeded direct to
England.
From the opinion generally expressed it may be ga-
thered that many of the merchants connected with the
cast would be much gratified if some alteration were
made in the time of despatching the overland mail to
India. To such a nicety has the regularity of the
packet been brought, that the arrival can be calculated
upon almost to a day, and the three last mails have ar-
rived on the 4th, sth and 6th of the respective months.
The mail from hence is made up on the 4th, so that if
the outward despatch were fixed for, say seven days
later, very many of the letters could be answered by the
trail of the 11th, instead of waiting very nearly a month.
If it has been possible to overcome the immense obsta-
cles which have been surmounted, surely it would not
be very difficult to make such arrangements as to carry
out the above observation.

CHRONICLE.—Owing to the continued unfavour-
able state of the Foreign Exchanges and the unsettled
state of our political relations, it has been currently re-
ported to-day that the Directors of the Bank of Eng-
land will feel themselves compelled to raise the rate of
discount, at their meeting to-morrow, to 6 per cent.
The rise in the price of gold and silver on the Con-
tinent renders such a course of action probable in self-
defence. We hear that the whole of the silver lately
received from South America by the Sparrow-hawk
was bought up by a leading capitalist, and exerted
again, chiefly to St. Petershurgh, where it re:.: i,ed a
profit of two per cent. The Bank Directors :Nast,
therefore, make money scarce, in order to produc a fa-
vourable turn in the exchanges, and to
_stop the e ,iort
of bullion as a matter of trade.
The commercial accounts received by the Ir. ii in
overland mail respecting the indigo crops are not
encouraging. From Terhoot the estimates, however,
show a return of 20,000 or 21,000 maunds, or from
6,000 to 7,000 maunds in excess of last year ; bet
in the district of Benares, with few exceptions, the
returns are unfavourable, and exhibit a deficiency of
'5 per cent. compared with last year. From Malda,
Moorshedabad, and all along the Bhaugauretty,
the advices are of an unsatisfactory character, and
in Jessoro the estimate of the crop is calculated
fully
10,000 maunds under that of last year. The
prices of raw silk and cotton had a tendency to de-
cline. Money continued
plentiful, and the rates of
accommodation easy. S
had been sent to ChinalO3rne shipments
r
storing
in the
of cotton
ships or adjacent
ports, to be in readiness the or Can-
ton market as soon a 3 la "
litiez should cease. 2
Bank of Bengal had
declared Tll a
dividend of 8 per cent.
The shares of the Assam 'ilea
pre-
mium of 6 per cent., but afurthel. Company were at a
contribution of 50
rupees per share had been called for.
a
The following is an extract of private letter from—
" Barnhay' August
We have no intelligence yet of
ftle 28, 1840.
part of the expedition in China, but alli arrival of any
passed
is
Singapore. Insurrectionthe ships had
brewing in the
southern provinces of China, The tea exports of the
current year will be larger by a good deal than was ex-
pected at first ; but it is next years crop that will fail."

SUN.--Things wear rather a gloomy, though
ex-
cited, appearance in the City..
The Funds opened steadily this morning, but with.