The Sun.
London, England, 1823-09-20 00:00:00

`WEST INDIA. DOCKS.

REPLY TO MR. MARRYAT'S OBSERVATIONS
ON THE WEST INDIA DOCK CHARTER, &c. etc.
(CONTINUED.)
(No. V.) •
O.—CLASSIFICATION OF.COMMODITIES.
Under this head Mr. Marryat has again. attaekol thememo-
,
rial of the Company ; he.says, " the meaning lies too deep for
" comprehension, but. it is sometimes useful to puzzle where w e
" cannot convince." The point which lies too deep for Mr.
MistrYat's comprehension is this, that it Is stated to be one effect
of the West India Dock system, that it tends to render the law
more clear and certain in its application. To convince Mr.
Marryat is probably impossible, hut` to explain the passage
which has puzzled hint may not be difficult.
The Law Merchant has of late excited much attention;
custom is the foundation of that law, if that custom be universal
and unvarying, if in the continual transfers and constructive
deliveries of goods, one unto:eat course of business, of well
understood force and effects be strictly adhered to, the law must
be rendered more clear and certain in its application ; that this
is peculiarly the case, as respects the West India Trade, can-
not be denied ; and that it would. be no longer the case if the
trade was distributed throughout the port, is manifest, unless it
can he supposed that all the Docks, and all the Wharfingers
and Warehouse Keepers, were subjected to One code of regula-
tions for the conduct of their business, and'aU adhered to them
with the same exactness. ,
But to-proceed with the .train point,, the classification of
commodities, it will be best to give the passage commented
upon entire ; it is as follows •
" Your Memorialists perceive with the highest satisfaction,
" the enlightened views with which the commerce of the country
" and the;warehousing system are at this moment regarded by his
" Majesty's, Government and by the Legislature ; that it is in
" contemplation to establish a clear and certain code of Commer-
" cial Law and to extend the warehousing system to its utmost
cc practicable limits. While objects of Bue vital importance are
44 in view, the classification, which so essentially characterizes
" the establishment of this company cannot fail to appear as
" Manifestly conducive to their attainment. Your Memorialists,
" therefore, most particularly invite inquiry into the very bene-
" tidal eTects of this classification, and.feel warranted in assert-
" ing that it tends; more than any other circumstance possibly
44 can, to the security of the Revenue, and the facility and con-
" scquent economy with which it is collected ; and that it there:
" fore admits with the greater safety of the Warehousing System
" being so extended. They may also assert, with equal confi-
tkelence, that it has another important tendency :—viz. that of
" rendering the law more clear and certain in its application ;
" all that relates to our West India, Trade thus becoming in-
" sulated in its details. 'When your Lordships enter into the
" examination, you will without doubt perceive the harmonious
" system which has arisen from this classification, and feel the
" danger of destroying it "
It must be obvisus to every person, whose judgment is not
warped by self interest, or preendice, that the classification
here adverted, to is not the Mere arrangement of goods within
the warehouses, which is heneficialto a certain extent, but the
more important classification of the importations of the Port of
London, which arises from separating one great branch of corn-
meree from the general mass, and placing it under a secure and
well regulated system of management.
Mr. Marryat does not question the general advantages
ascribed to the system,. but thinks he has refuted the whole
by adverting to evidence, shewing_ that cc Sugar, Coffee, and
Cotton are landed at, other Doelts " and asserting " that the
" same practical purposes
.of classification are. answered by
" keeping commodities separate in different warehouses, or in
cc di apartments of w,
.rehouse, same wrehouse, as by keeping
" them in .different Docks
This Mr. Marryat conceives he his completely made out in
his Comments upon an opinion given by a most able and in,
telligeet public officer, the late Insp.ectoreGeneral of Imports
and Exports. The question put was this :,:
" Would not that evstem of warehousing be best which
keeps most separate and distinct merchandise of the greatest
value, and subject to the highest duties ?" His reply is,—
" lam of opinion that merchanclizeepf a similar nature and
imported from particular countries Would be best secured in
separate boats, or in apartments in Obese Pocks.”
•"rtits answer (says Mr. illarryat) contains the whole molts
" of the case ,• the plan of having a separate Dock for met-
" chandize of a similar nature imported from EACH parti-
" inetar country is too impracticable to be entertained for a
" moment."
Without noticing; the attempt to pervert the meaning of the
passage quoted, it is only necessary to say, that the plan was
deemed perfectly practicabk, was cutertained by the Legisla-
ture, and has been carried into the fullest effect for the last 21
years, as respects the W'cst India Trade, and that the arrange-
ment thus effected was precisely that which Mr. Irving intends
ed to recommend in the opinion he gave.
The following passage of the Memorial is an answer to the
assertion that the Classification is imperfect, because certain
commodities are deposited at other Docks :---
" The nature of. the cargoes brought into the West India
" Docks must also be considered incontrast with those deposited
cc in any other warehousing establishment ; the packages and
" their contents, 'With Very few exceptions, requiring great la-
' " hour and great care, and in all instances occasioning con-
' " siderable expence. Muscovado sugar, from the form and
" coarseness of the package in which it is imported, the moist
" nature of the article, and the manner in Winch it is stowed on
1" ship board, requires the most expensive cooperage, and is
" liable more than any other article to be plundered, and
1" ought not to be commipared with Brazil sugars, which are of a
".dry quality, packed in boxes; and still less to dry goods
" generally, which require no cooperage. Your Memorialists
" have felt it right td offer these remarks upon the distinction
" to be taken in regard to the goods the West India Dock
an ,unfavourable impression might be
comparison of articles of the same denotni-
-11
made Coin pabnyyar mere eceive,
I nation, but tittering materially in their nature." ,
I The Honourable Committee, of which Mr. Marryat Was a
member, differ from him so widely, that they speak through-
out of the " extreme perfection" of the institution ; alluding
to the system generally, they " are disposed to give a ready
concurrence to all the claims preferred by the Directors of
" the Dock Company on this head. Both from the evidence
they have received,.andfrom their personal observation,: they
I" can venture to state, that no Establishment, of the kind can,
44 to their opinion, :via:s, be these particulars, the Esta-
" blishment of the west India Docks :"—the following
patsage of their Report, although it seems to.quelify the praise
previously bestowed, lets out an important truth :—" Your
Committee cannot but observe, that whatever degree of per-
cc fection, in regard to dispatch and regularity, may distinguish
ccthe West India Dock, great,lticility towards there objects is
" incident to' he warehousing in that Dock being confined to
" the cargoes of peculiar ships, and the articles of merchandise
" to a comparatively confined number ; and to this circum-
" stance of strict limitation, in respect to goods and ships, it
" must be ascribed, if exactly the same degree of perfection in
" the conductof business, AND see THE cLAsetrICATION
OF
" atxttcliaxruzE, i 9 not to be found, NOR is, INDEED, AT-
" TAINABLE in a Dock of more extensive use, and More gene-
" ral resort:"
" This (Mr.. Marryat might have''said) coutains the whole
merits of the case ;" it confirms all the witnesses on the part
of the West India
,Dock ; it confirms all that the
Company advanced in
Cin their Memorial, shews the soundness of
the principle for which they have contended, and the utter
fallacy of the theory opposed to it.
The sanedegree of perfection IS NOT TO BE FOUND, and
IS NOT ATTAINABLE 471 a Dock of more general ,resort.
Well might the Dock CemPanY' in the prayer of their Me-
modal, adverting to "-the peculiar benefits to die Revenue,
" which result from the Classeficettion of so beeportant a portion
" of the Imposts of the 'Country," entreat the Lord§ of Trade
to consider the danger of putting to hazard all the advan-
tages of the estehlishmeitt by any innovation;" well might they
say, 44 that, if a system, which 'laborious application and long
" subverted, the utmost efforts
" experience have brought as nearly as may be to perfection,
" should; hi deference to speculative or. interested views, be
of the Legislature would, pro-
" bably, be ineffectual to fts restoration, although every party,
" even those who had contributed to its overthrow, Might bit-
" terly regret its loss."
No. 10.—DISPATCH IN LANDING CARGOES.
In commenting upon this head, Mr. Marryat has admitted
the superiority
of the West India Docks, although he endea-
vours to ascribe it to any filing but
sufficient to quote his own words "the true cause ; it will be
But no claim to superior
" dispatch, tinder equal chcunestances, is made out by the West
" India Dock Company, nor any proof eifered, that 117cst India
ca commodities would not be landed with the same dispatch in
" any other Dock." If he will point Otit'how it is possible to
adduce such proof it shall be offered ; Mr. Marryat can pro-
bably prove a negative.
No. 11.—MOUE OF HOUSING AND SAMPLING SHGAIt•
Mr. Marryat commences thus :—" The ancient and esta-
" Welled mode of !musing and sampling sugars, in the Port of

" London, has been altered sir Tilt AVEST -INDIA &Ai-.
" PANY ;" this, as Mr. Mariyat well knows, is contrary to the
fact ; and it is one among the numerous instances of his man..

ner of stating a case
The answer given to the, grocers, in Sept. 1808, was put in;
and Mr. Hibbert being asked if it contains the reasons which
he would adopt '0 his own,- says, " I thiriliLl could hardly say
" mare In answer'to the petition nresented‘io the Eiouse of
ts„
" Commons two days ago"—(meaning the petition of the gro-
cers).—That letter is, not only an answer to the complaint, but
a marked instance of the particular attention paid to represen,•
tations of inconvenience. It will also be seen that it rested with
the parties themselves, and not with the Company, to procure
the removal of the inconveniences of which they complained.
Mr. Mullet could not omit noticing this document, and
gives his readers a summary of its contents in these words
A summary of it is, that the mode of taking samples of suggu.
" for salt, after previous consicleratieM by the West India
" Merchants, was submitted to and sanctioned by the Legit-
" lature; and that the Dock Company have no power to alter it.
" That the mode of stowing sugars in the warehouses is that
" which is used at the principal out-ports : and that in a great
" and extensive establishment, formed for general purposes,
" it is not practicable to vary and model their business, so as
" to meet the wishes of Individuals, and even of particular
" branches of the . trade with which they may be connected ;
" and that an important body of Importers have refused their
" assent to any variation in the mode of stowing complained of."
This, his own extract, elms with what justice he makes
this a subject of complaint as against the West India Dock
Company ; the following passage of the Letter he did not deem
it prudent to notice, viz.—" If, however, there is any thing
" erroneous in the system, it can only be Varied by the audio-
" rity which first established it; and the Dock Company will
" most readily submit to any variation which the Wes! India
" Merchants, tinder the sanction of the Legislature., may deem
" it prudent and just to adopt."
N 0.12 -WEIGIIINGCOFFEE AFTER BEINOWAREIMUSED.
Under this head; Mi. Marryat casts one of his unfounded
imputations upon the Dock Company, in a matter which he
well knew rested entirely with the Board of Excise • but if he
Novo had not had recourse to this sort of attack, ho could he have
got together the twenty heads, into which his shillbig Pamphlet
attached, to his ten shilling Book is divided ?
No. 13.—Maxmo COTTON MEACItANTABLE.
Under this head, Mr. Marryat has committed himself to
this, " That the system of the West India Dock Company, by
" subjecting this commodity to very. high charges, and the
" buyers of it to very great inconvenience, has contributed to
" drive the consignments of West India cotton so completely
" to the out-ports, that very few are new made to the'port of
" London."
To the mercantile world, who know the real circumstances
which have directed the importations of cotton to the outports,
this must appear an ingenious perversion of facts ; if the charges
of the Port of London had any thing to do with it, they must
have been the charges of that Dock in which Mr. Marryat is so
deeply interested, viz. the London Dock, as it was there that
all the cotton from the United States of America, the bulk of
the importation to the port, was warehoused ; but the real cause
was the contiguity of the manufacturing districts to the ports
of Liverpool and Glasgow.
No. 14.—Niransetoustsra Rum.-
Under this head the Directors are charged with allowing the
rum warehoused in their Docks, to be exposed to loss by eva-
poration for fifteen years, without providing a remedy,: this is
an accusation hardly worth noticing, us every person acquainted
with the Establishment must have observed, that a constant
attention to improved accommodation for rum has been paid ;
the present vaults, both in their extent and construction, must
be admired by every-one who sees them—fifteen years had cer-
tainly elapsed before they were completed, hut, as stated in the
evidence of Mr. Mitchell, the Company had " the same de-
" scription of cellars before, but they were found insufficient
" for the amount of rum sent to this port, and therefore, in
" addition, they built the vaults which are more particularly
" alluded to."
The fact is, that the West India Dock Company laboured un-
der some difficulty in respect to vaults, inasmuch as they could
not venture to introduce lamps; up to 1805 they lodged the rum
iu the cellars of their sugar warehouses ; in 1806 warehouses
specially appropriated to the article were opened, and every
care taken to prevent evaporation; the loss of spirit was cer-
tainly greater than at present, but that was more attributable to
the rum being gauged on the hot quay than to the warehouses;
to remedy this, the shed over the quay was built, and when by
the introduction of the glass lens illuminators, it was found
that lightcould be obtained without the dreadful risk of fire°,
the vaults were immediately constructed.
This does not argue much neglect; the Company were be-
sides responsible for all loss beyond a certain quantity, and
compensated the proprietors for the deficiency ; but supposing
the Directors of the Dock Company unmindftil of their duty,
they surely would have some regard to their own interests ?
Are there not among them many much more considerable im-
porters of rum than the complainant? But Mr. Marryat hates
the whole concern, because it has been more prosperous than
that in which he is largely interested, and therefore, right or
wrong, fault must be found with every thing.

• We have heard that even wine has taken fire in the London
Dock lit'tilts, but will not vouch for the truth of the story.
[To be continued.]

CORONERS' INQUESTS.

An Inquest was.held on ThUrsday at the Nag's
Head, in Wandsworth-road, before Wit. FRANI4, Esq.,
Deputy Coroner for the Duchy of Lancaster, on view of the
body of Henry Long, a boy seven years of age.
This case excited great sensation in the parish of Clapham,
and rumours had been spread that the boy's death had been
caused by a young man immersing him in a tub of water. In
consequence of such a report, the parish officers directed that
an inquiry should be instituted, they having previously ascer-
tained that the matter was attempted to be hushed up. The
deceased was labouring under a malady that made him almost
an idiot, and he was in consequence the ridicule of other boys
in the neighbourhood. The inquiry lasted seven hours, during
which the following evidence was adduced :
Mary Hayman, aged thirteen, residing in Matrimony-place,
Clapham, deposed, that on Monday, the Bth inst., about three
o'clock in the afternoon, the deceased came into her father's
house, and asked her how she did; after she had answered him,
he went into the yard, and sat on a little stool. Joseph Stacey,
aged about 20, and 2 other boys, named Terry (aged 14), and
Crockford (aged 15), came along the alley ; Stacey asked the
deceased to sing a song, but herefused ; he pressed him still to
sing, and added that if he woulci not, he, Stacey, would dip hint
into the tub of water. The deceased still refused ; upon which
Stacey laid hold of-the deceased, and dipped him into the tub ;
Stacey then took him out again, and the boys all ran off, .ex-
cept the deceased, who was very wet about the shoulders and
all over his head. 'Witness told the deceased to hasten home
and get his clothes changed, and he went away. All the boys
had desired the deceased to sing. The tub wag a large one,
with a little 'water in it. Witness could not say whether
'Terry or Crockford held the deceased in the tub as well as
Stacey. The deceased looked very pale when he went away.
This evidence was corroborated by another resident of Ma-
tehnony.place. The mother of the deceased deposed, that on
Monday night he complained of his head and stomach, and
that on the following.day he died in convulsions.
TwO surgeons proved that the deceased had a tendency to
hydrocephalus, and was subject to epilepsy. They were of
opinion that thei putting. his head in the tub was the exciting
cause of his death liSr bringing on convulsions.
After the Coroner had summed up the evidence, the Jury
deliberated for a considerable time whether they should return
a verdict against Stacey for manslaughter : they were unani-
mous in their reprobation of Stacey's con dtict,and expressed :some
surprise that the deceased's mother did not betray much greater
anxiety for her son than she had done. The Jury requested to
know whether it was necessary that they should be unanimous
in their verdict, as they could not agree.
The Coroner said it was not necessary, and as they seemed
divided he would take their opinions separately, when the fol.
lowing verdict was recorded, there being rune Jurymen in
favour of it, and six for manslaughter:.—" That the deceased
died by a convulsive fit, which fit was occasioned by the wanton
and improper conduct of Joseph Stacey."
SuicinE.—An Inquisition was taken yesterday before Joule
WRIGHT UNWIN, Esq., Coroner, at the tired). (late, Hack-
ney-road, on view of the body of Fanny Ilerring, a fine young
woman, aged 23, who committed self-murder, in consequence
of finding herself in a state of pregnancy.—The Jury were una-
nimously of opinion " That the deceased's death was produced
:by her having administered to herself poison while in a state of
temporary mental derangement," which verdict was recorded.

Mr. SADLER made two attempts, on Friday
and Saturday last, to ascend with is magnificent balloon from
Sheffield ; but on both occasions, from the density of the coal
gas with which it was to be inflated, and from the humidity of
the atmosphere, the balloon was unable to rise.