The Sun.
London, England, 1841-08-06 00:00:00

THE COAL TRADE.

On Friday noon, a public meeting was held in the
Exchangc-buildings, Sunderland, to receive the report
' - deputation appointed to meet the coal-owners of the
nr -- ' ~r, on the depressed state of the coal trade.
river'W t--,., —as numerously attended by the ship-
The meeting -...' .s of the port. Messrs. 'Wilson,
owners and Ime'lliti.„ - ,Id, the deputation appointed,
Moon, Tanner, arid Pgs'rt... "e particulars of their in-
communicated to the intleflgip "e substance of the
.-
_.
terview with the coal-ownerg: ..14- ~_:vners refused to
.in,-;dequate munication was as follows :—The :.'011,"
lower the price of coals, and when t e
..„entioned,
1.4, risen
re-
muneration received by the ship-owner waz., ...:
it was found that the price of Sunderland coals ~. -,,,,,
to 21s. 6d., 2s. higher than when the meeting was ti."'
The coal-owners objected to freighting vessels, and sug-
gested that so many vessels going up. to London at the
end of each month, and obtaining their clearances at the
beginning, tended to depress the market, and that suffi-
cient pains was not taken by the factors in the sale of ,
the coals. In answer to a question by a .Mr. Wil-
son,
,whether they would watch the • price of coals
in the London market, and when they fell below the
price .at which the ship-owners could afford to
sell them restrict the vends ? the coal. owners re-
plied that they had a strong wish 'to do so, and
begged that the ship-owners would keep up a communi-
cation with them on the subject, A long discussion then
arose as to the propriety of, :further urging on the coal,
owners the adoption of the freightage system, the lower-
ing of the price of coals, or the restrictiou of the vends
when the price of coals was below a certain amount.
Objections were urged to each of these plans. With
respect to the former, it was said that a large number of
vessels, with best coals, going into the market, and hav-
ing only a limited time to discharge,
.would overstock
the market, and either lOwer the price of the coals, or
compel the coal owners to pay a demurrage, which
would, of course, reduce the freights. With respect to
the second proposal, it was urged that every decrease of
price in the North had been followed by a proportionate
diminution in London ; and, with respect to the cost, it
was said that the coal-owners and ship-owners of the.
North combined could not control the price of coal
inte-
rior
London, as coals were now sent from Wales and th.en
inthe
of the country, and the restriction of vend
Ill' had
North, and the 'keening back of sales in London, only
of inferior
the effect of throwing an additional quantity
the sale
coals into the market, and thereby diminishingsde at the
of the Wear coals. Great complaint was made
had forced
conduct of the factors, who, it was alleged, Lo‘vners. under
sales to the injury of the P
shi
I of a resolution
the mistaken impression of the purport
passed on the 17th of July ; and 9 after some observations
.t. _
d " That in the pass-
to this effect, Air. R. Scarfield move '
disapproving of the
ing of the resolution of that d_„ ~
the disadvantage of the
withholding of best coals, to
port of Sunderland, it was not intended that the resole
Lion should interfere with thecoal factors in exercising a
sound discretion for ;,he benefit of their employers : and
hat,
b 3
interpreting the resolution
literally, the factors
the meeting regrets toid
have fallen into the opposite
extreme, and pressed sa
slacies
unnecessarily,
particularly on
~.mr.
H. Tanner seconded the
the preceding Monday.'
oppose.„ by Mr. Wm. Nicholson, who
motion,.which was °l)r)ing back Sunderland coal for a
contended that by
keeping
the ship-owners injured, but also
high price, not only
A sir wives and families. After some
the seamen, and their
motion' was negatived by a majo-
rityfurthtr discussion,
..
" f gentlemen in the room not
number o
of one; a great
voting at all on the
question. A conversation followed
to the rotation system 'would' be
advisable,but - -
on .....
to on
as - to whether a return
no rceolitti was come the subject.
The shipping interest is a
and a greater num-
in very depressed state in
Sunderland, many vessels arelaid up, _
e case
ber of seamen out of employment than has n the
for many years.

HAMBURGH AND THE GERMAN
0- ..1.0:315' UNION, JCLY 30.
The question of the accession of this city to the Prue-
sian Customs' Union continuestiituxupy the Atention oa
those whose minds are at work to prepare for coMing-
events. In a former letter, in which I detailed the '
cir-
cumstances of the separation of Brunswick from the
. north-western union, I adverted to the. improbability of
' Hanover continuing for any long period detaehed from
the Prussian system. It has 'since transpired, that nego-
tiations between Prussia and Mecklenburg have coma
' menced, which may possibly result in the addition of the
latter to the number of the united States. The time,.
therefore, seems to approach, when the junction of the
Hans Towns mint force itself upon the consideration of
Germany; and it may not be premature to offer some ob-
servations with respect to the probability.of that event.
Three works bearing on the subject, and of which not
more than one is likely to be yet known in Enzland, are
now before me. The first, entitled "Der Handel Ham-
' burgs, durcledessen anschluss an den Deutsche: Zolive-
rein gefordert " [the commerce:of Hamburgh augmented
by means of its accession to the 'custome-union], is attri-
buted to M. Klefeiker, a merchant of this city,and argues
stronzly in favour of a junction with the Prussian union.
M. Kleieiker recommends the introduction of the bonding
system, by which he considers that Hamburgh molar pre-
serve its present advantages of free transit under the new
regime, paying duty only on goods retained for home
consumption. He endeavours to show, by reference to
the actual state of trade, that Hamburgh would lose
neither financially nor commercially by the adoption of
the new order of things, in which he includes a systenx
of navigation laays to be established for protection of the
shipping of the custom; union. By means of such arti-
ficial encouragement, the author anticipates that Ilam-
burgh would secure to herself the greater part of the
carrying trade now in the hands of Great Britain alai
other powers ; and for . such a privilege she must -
obviously. look to the aid of Prussia and the other States,
of which Hamburgh would remain .the principal shipping
port.
The next work is a pamphlet of 1:r.- C. F: Wurrn, who
haS collected, under the title " Zur Geschichte, des
i _
Deuteches Loll-eereins," a series 'c.f ,
essays, orianally
contributed by him to the Leipsic ..111ganeitie Z4ofun Y•
Dr. Wurin criticises, judiciously the ainasnrd theories -of
Mr. Cargill, andether writers, wa„ark, ute the exist-
' ence of the Zoll-ferein to the inachinatitha.. of Russia.
' Whereas, those who know any thing of Geamtaly• know
also that the customs' union is popular, because it I.`nlize3
the idea a German nationality, which is. not done by the
-Confederation, or in any other way. It is the moral
force of German • feeling which carries Prussia fora aid
with this masterpiece. of her policy. Dr. IViirna has ex-
plained this very well ; and, although lie does not say so
expressly, he leaves the impression of being favourably
inclined to an extension of the union, in which Hamburg-1r
would be included.
The third of the publications under notice is a prixo
essay, which has lately appeared in Paris, entitled,
" L'Association des . Douanss Allemandes," be MM. de
la Nourais et Beres. This work, though containing little
new information, is a lucid and useful sketch of the his-
tory and principles of the Zoll-verein, and advocates its,:
merits so decidedly, as to propose the formation of other
unions on a similar plan. Austria, •with Moldavia,
Wallachia, a large portion of Turkey, and even Greece,
would, it is supposed, form a fitting combination to this
end, and, in the same way, the Italian States, &c. &c.
With respect to the Hans Towns, the :authors are in
favour of their aucession, under a ayStem of nnvigati.au.
laws, to the same effect as suggested by M. Klefeiker.
I will not now . enter upon the policy of navigation
laws, further than to remark that, the agitation of such
a system for German shipping is a sign of the times,
which Great Britain ought by no • means to disregard.
It is in vain to tell the Germans that England ham
grown great, not by means but in spite of those laws..
They reply, then why not repeal them, and let us. have
a share an the trade nith the British possessions on an
equal footing ? They see a prospect of immediate gain
by conferring a monopoly upon ships of the Zoll-verein,
and they offer to Hamburgh a bounty in this respect
which she cannot otherwise obtain. But, coming more
directly to the question of the accession of Hamburgh tar
the Union, the case appears to stand briefly as_follows:—
Let us suppose Hanover, Mecklenburg, and Holstein,
included in the Zell-vereina Hamburgh becomes a little
isolated spot, surrounded on all sides by toll-barricades,
and retaining its free intercourse with the sea and the
interior only by means of the right of free navigation of
the Elbe. Its poptlation are deprived Of the benefits of
unrestricted intercourse with the whole cif Northern and
Central Germany, and ' the manufacturing interests—
such as • the slier refiners, the tobacco works,
&c.—would suffer seriously, if not be entirely ruined,
by foreign competition. The • experience ,of other
countries, it vabigcl be said, has shown that a
high tariff is not incompatible with the pro-
sperity of sea-ports- (witness London, Liverpool, Havre,
Bordeaux, &c.) ; "id, at all events, the tariff of the
League must affect 'the commerce Of Eamburgh exactly
in the same way, whether the last-mentioned place be
excluded, or included within the limits of the union.
Any pressure of duties upon the inhabitants of llamburgh
might .be obviated by a system of bonded warehouses ;
and, at all events, no injury could be anticipated that
would counterbalante the benefits resulting to Hamburgh
from the navigation laws which the States of the union
would establish, anti from the increase generally of the
commerce of Northern and. Central Germany, of which
.i-tapAirg.ii would ,be:tlie_principul at4Sgyoure4 shiDpine-
ilamb -1..tv.-...,cusvre woiiin-ne advocated; and it must
be admitted, that, if it were practicable to introduce the
bonding system with that of navigation laws, Hamburgh
might possibly be rather a gainer than loser by the
change. But, in the first place, bonding warehonses mutt
be built at a heavy expense, for the present warehouses
are wholly unfitted to receive goods under the Govern-
ment locks. Then comes the loss that would be sustained
by the owners of warehouses now used }Hider the transit
sys • tem— loss which alone would raise up powfrful a
ene-
mies to any change; and add to this, the difficulty of in-
ducing merchants to turn their commercial practice into
any new channeL
Supposing bonding •impracticable, the revenue of the
State of Hamburgh would be positively diminished ; for
the proportion which this State would receive of the
tolls of the whole Customs' Union, would not-merely be
equal to its actual revenue derived from its very mode-
rate transit and import duty. Further, the 'citizens of
Hamburgh would be subjected to heavy taxation on all
foreign articles, not produced within the Union, and im-
ported into Hamburgh—such as French wines, fruits,
rice, sugar, coffee, and many other articles of consump-
tion, now cheaper in Haniburgh than in Prussia, or any
State of the Union. And as regards the sugar-refiners
and. other manufacturers, their 'interests are very unim-
portant, as compared with those of the foreign commerce
of Hamburgh in
.gereral and they would themselves ba
sufferers by the tact eased price of the raw material.--,
Morning Chronicle.

LORD FRANCIS EGERTON'S
YEOMANRY.

Our Contemporary, the Manchester Times, Made on
Saturday the following awful announcement :
" We are told that Lord Francis Egerton is about tc.
raise a yeomanry corps from amongst his numerous
tenants. Should this be true, and we have no reason to
doubt the truth of our informant, 'it will show that his
Lordship is resolved to be prepared against any mettle in
his own neighbourhood. The example will probably be
followed by all the Tory aristocracy, and thus a new
military force will be created, auxiliary to the Tory Go-
vernment, and for the suppression of any'disturbances
that may arise from the continuance of the corn mo-
nopoly.'
The fact is true, but with all deference to our fright-
ened friend, it 'does not show any apprehension of six
emeute, or any preparation against such an event.' ~We*
beg our Contemporary to be tranquil—to collect hicgsell
and to hear the very simple solution of the hairrillo,s
circumstance which has thrown him into such a :14-
roxysraof terror. Lord Francis Egerton—who, so;:fer
from the Hotspur the Times imagines, is the most 14tao/
tatidhe
~.rcific of noblemen—has recently been CzeL,,tlend'es,_
kivf command, under the Crown,_
shire YeOs,s‘cti2rY is 11°,ensetedrin the Crown.
regi-
ment goes 1,.La,,,t11...e andDuch,Lan
Cavalry. The Co
There is now no .4."4:0 of , , is little h .),
the Duchess (God talcs: - 'tr., military privileges of -lies
ter, aindofloietfrtMlie'ajCs
Coloneling, or to exercise 1.....iz ,
creiore, recently gw-
zsteatttieodn.maLioorr.dcoFmraninacnisdEnnrgeloti,,rtcsv,ltu- 31-77, the chief officer
y his Royal mistress, kis Lord-
thus conferred on
of the corps, and in ackb
h act is merely one of respectful se-
own of n;.'il high honour
ralways customary from every nobleman
hiertO raise a troop exclusively from his
or gentlemal: o _
;„ any connection with the state of th©
as to its ha`,•-••?' in the nature of a " new military,
Whom similar honour is conferred ; and
~afeguard against any apprt
intended as( a :
force,”- or .
would be iust as rational to.eliarge
sko 1 Iwn l'
!I
li,ficeenlc:a it
rii
nit t rbey: °.
t n
4! ' •of raisin`; iiintion , a
hen
Egerton with the
Lord Francis 4 4
'''- ---• or to invade"
overthrow the British Monarchy, ,
iiiietsuteelint g
coodnetrdve•
force to .
4, .
the Celestial Empire.--Manchester Chronicle.

THE CORN-LAWS AND THE FACTOIrg
BI L.—We understand that Lord Ashley, whose labours
in reference to the Ten-hours' Bill, are tolurably well
known to most of our readers, is now in this neighbour-
hood, ostensibly with the view of acquiring infortnatikin.
as to the actual condition of the labouring popula6on ;
but, if we are not mistaken, his real object is to try to.
draw the attention of the working-classei from.* repeal •
of the Corn-laws, by a revival of the agitatiOn in favocr
of his.old scheme, the Ten-hours' Bill. His Lordship; wo
understand, has had conferences, in this town, with
Doherty, and other parties, formerly engaged in pro-:
moting his views ; he has also visited Bolton (1-here he-
was yesterday), and the neighbourhood of Ashton-under- .
Lyne. •On leaving Lancashire, he intends, we .believe, to •
proceed to Huddersfield, and other Places in the manufac-
turing districts of Yorkshire. No doubt, Lord Ashley,
and those engaged with him in this scheme, consider it
a tolerably skilful move, at the present moment ; but wo
shall be surprised if it is found to answer their expecta-
tions. 'rho working.. classes of Lancashire and York-
shire are, we fear, likely to have their hours of labour.
shortened per force, to an extent far beyond the opera-
tion of a Ten-hours' Bill ; and likely, at the same ume,
to have the price of bread too high to make it easy fur
Lord Ashley, or any other mall, to divert their attention
from the Corn-laws—the great cause of both the evils
to which they are likely to be subjected. If we are, not
misinformed, Lord Ashley has already met with indi- •
iiduals annuigst the. working clams who have told him
their minds very freely on these points.-21fancitestcr
Guardidn. - • ,T,, •
, .
LEITH: CENSUe..--111C returns nave not yet
been fully completed, but we understand that the popu-
lation of the district does not uiPh exceed 26,000, au in-
crease of only about 1,000 since laSt census. The slow
and almost imperceptible increase in the shipping and
commerce of the town sufficiently accounte for this,-
,F,dinburyit Weekly Gimmick.

TO CORRESPONDENTS.
We have already noticed the subject mentioned by a
Chartist and Corn-law Repealer. The American
shilling is very little more than an English sixpence.