The Sun.
London, England, 1841-01-23 00:00:00

SPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOURNALS

FROM
(TviirEomDAthlL:APlADrrnEißngS OcFIirYESTERDAY.)
We were somewhat startled on Wednesday last by
for their
,thatish
wishes
ande
fessed organ of the working
prsetfeilinegnees as decidedly as any god-
vifa.htliletrthaet tih,oestfopnrto.m;apeady
inaclasses, and was answering
than see thousands of their conentrmyemreen
p thee e p
landl e wouldo
of
England itiltiteiir name. ' The working
more startling, was it to see
forwii
o theirwo rkloaves
gmotwoilliienagpperorftrohmavePinolaa(nied
rather
turned adriftn because corn could be
the singularity of its ungary." Unless the
aheemiroost assump-
tion,uintevtaerdranftablehmueleation to the public,
itself, arc alike remarkaabelell
r
working people, who would rathse
ethatTeh ofe
generalitytide o
t is
o ef communica-
tionetnlhe.it little.atren!re for
their loaves, can never be sufficiently appreciated.
is so kind in them to make this sacriyficaell
hedoseneraernlyts stationary, or
doubled,o r
have
deteriorated.
h
Forreetlhe dsake It
whilewegeos
lhaanvdel orredasi,,,
iwa
It i 3 so self denying to relinquish'a portion of t
food, and that of their wives and children, theart own
proceeds of the bread tax ma) remain intact for the pro-
prietors of the soil. It is so magnanimous to uphold
the restrictions upon those employments from which
their means of subsistence are derived ; and to exclaim,
" Perish commerce, so that the squirearchy thrive ; we
had rather pay a little more for our 'Dates I" But the
" thousands who work upon the land of England
turned adrift ;" there is thapprehension of e
the
opera-
tives of the Post. The fear is • very groundless. In
the first place, so long as th-
ere are millions of acres
of uncultivated but not unfruitful land, which would
yield food for toil, none can be turned adrift but
by inhumanity in the prnprietors. Next, consider-
ing how many thooeands of the surplus rural popu
lation have been Welded for in the manufacturing
towns, there can be no reasonable doubt filet the sti-
mulus given by free trade would provide for many
thotisands more, without so much competition as at the
present moment. And further, the growing wealth and
numbers of the home buyers of corn would surely en-
able its producers to keep pace with the foreigner
and realise fair profits. The wastefulness of the Corn-
law
45tem leases ample room for both classes to be
gainces. The operatives of the Post may therefore
forego their hypothetical sympathy for the hypothetical
drifting of their countrymen, and harden themselves, if
they eae, to the non-necessity of paying a little more for
their loaeee. The Poet frankly tells its new clients that
Toryism is opposed " to such an eettension of the fran-
ohise as will reach them." One reason assigned for this
hostility is that, although the working classes are far
higher " in respect of moral and intellectual qualifica-
tion" than the 101, householders, yet their " knowledge"
is too " limited" for the franchise. Whether the alleged
desire of the working people to pay a little more for
their loaves be intended to prove them superior in wis-
dom to the present constituency, or to prove them not
wise enough for voters, does not clearly appear. Per-
hapt it wet meant for evidence of both propositions. It
would be difficult to say which class is most flattered by
the argument. Our own experience has no where de-
tected the desire of paying a little more for the loaf,
thus authentically recorded by our Contemporary.
Where are the working people who feel it so
strongly ? Arc they amongst the hand loom weavers ?
Or are they farm labourers, sweating for Bs. a week on
the Duke of Buckingham's domains? Shall we meet
with them in Spitalfields ? Is it for this purpose that
wretched and ragged processions are formed ? Or has
our Contempo:ary, by his ingenuity, converted the mil-
lion and half who last year petitioned for the abolition
of the Coro-laws ? We wish the gentle Post would
tell us where these starving aspirants for dearer bread
live and work ? Wee should like to see them, were it
only for the curiosity of the thing. In this same ar-
ticle it is maintained that the working classes ought not
to have the franchise, and )et that they are . wronged"
by the Whig Radicals in not bestoPing it upon them.
According:to such logic, the refusal and the bestowment
must be boa, a rung. The palpable c,,ausiou of right
nod wrong is characteristic of Tory moraiity. As to the
I charge of cheating, by first promising the suffrage to

( From the Globe.)
Smuggling and Poaching are, in point of prieciple,
nearly the same. In either case the law is violated—
the revenue is defrauded. There is this difference,
however, in aggravation of the offence of the poacher—
that he steals, in the first instance, what he afterwards
sells illegally ; whereas, in the other ease, the crime
consists only in attempting to evade the duty upon a
commodity of which the proprietor may have become
lawfully possessed. In the characters of the two parties,
assuming them to be proficients in their calling, there
are likewise some shades of difference: The smuggler
usually obtains credit for bravery ,and generosity ;
the poacher is essentially mean, cowardly, and vin-
dictive. We have heard occasionally of a revenue
officer being assassinated wish apparent premedita-
tion, but the event is one of rare occnrrence—and it
is only when assailed and in danger of being captured
that the smuggler displays the real desperation of his cha-
racter. Not so with the other class of offenders. Their
murderous exploits are far more deliberate and more fre-
quent. They seem now rather to invite than to skim the
assault, And being provided with arms, while their adver-
saries are unarmed, they have no difficulty in accomplishing
their purposes, however savage and diabolical they may be.
In some instances, confident in their numerical strength,
they await the approach of their pursuers, and bid
them defiance, or kindly intimate an intention to deal
with them in a summary way, unless they make a
speedy retreat. S 3 far they are entitled to great credit
for lenity and forbearance. But at other times they
are less scrupulous. They commence the work of
plunder with a determination not to be,opposed of taken
alive ; they even anticipate the awful conflict with a spi-
rit of calm and deliberate vengeance ; and the tempta-
tion to shoot a gamekeeper
.is as irresistible to them
as that which is presented by the opportunity of
killing a hare or a pheasant. Now, we beg it
to be clearly understood that we are no apologists
for either of these classes of adventurers. We wish
the law to be respected. We are anxious to see
its penal!ics enforced whenever it is violated. We
lament that it should ever become a dead letter, or be
treated with derision and contempt. Still more do we
grieve when the law is not only abused, but actually
holds cut inducements and facilities to those who are so
dispoeed, to defeat its ends, and to violate its enactments.
Such, we conceive, to be the character and tendency of
the law now in force relative to game ; and we have put
the above case in a strong light, that we may show the
absurdity and inconsistency of this legislative measure.
( From the Standard )
Mr. O'Connell's mission to Ulster has proved a failure,
as all who know the noble spirit of that Protes-
tant part of Ireland must have expected it would
prove ; but this, though it adds to our confidence in the
reconquest of Ireland—indeed we never doubted
the ability of the I:ish Protestants or their determine-
Lion to preserve the British connection—the failure of
Mr. O'Connell in Ulster, though it proves the Irish
Protestants to be still what they have ever shown
themselves, affords no ground of security that the
repeal sedition may not, or rather must not, lead to
a sanguinary civil war, if not checked while there
still exists the opportunity to check it. The Ulster
men are satisfied with the union. There is no doubt
about that, but are they satisfied that war and blood-
shed, and all their attendant miseries shall be brought
to their doors—are they satisfied that the task of
reconquering Ireland shall once more devolve upon
them and their Protestant brethren throughout
the island, with an, expense of the blood of half
their kindred and' of more than half their pro-
perty ? If they are satisfied with this, they are just
the men to speak their minds, and we shall soon hear
from them : meanwhile Lord Melbourne may put the
question. Ulster is, however, only one province
of Ireland, and what does Mr. O'Connell say of the
other three? Why, that they are" thoroughly organised
for repeal." We find that the Ministerial Journals main-
tain still a strict silence as to the probable introduction
of this topic into the Royal Speech ; at present it must
be superfluoui to say more upon the subject, but we
trust that the public will not lose sight of the matter.
(From the Courier.)
_ .

We have been infinitely diverted at the tone the
Ministerial Journals have assumed with regard to the
approaching Canterbury election. If Mr. Smythe be
not the most modest man upon earth, he must assuredly
feel not a little elated by the unwilling compliments
which his Lid and eloquent speech, and frank,
straightforward, and chivalrous bearing at Canterbury
have exacted from the scribes who it is the custom to
think are in the Downing-street interest. We say,
" the custom to think," because, when we reflect that
the virulent attacks on Lord Strangford—the deep
and recondite allusions to the times of Queen Bess, the
virtues!® indignation lavished on Mr. Smythe's grand-
mother's pension (the reversion of which he has had the
impudence to give up) and the doubting sneers at the
heart-stirring profession of his hereditary loyalty, have
all bet one end—the return of Mr. Henniker Wilson,
and then turn our attention to that gentleman's profes-
sion of political faith, we are in candour compelled to
admit, that to single-minded men Mr. Wilson
anti his newspaper advocates would seem to
have little in common with the dii majores of
Downing-street. The principles of Mr. Wilson are
not the principles of Viscount Melbourne ; they are
not those of Lord John Russell, nor yet of Lord
Palmerston ; but whet of that " The man may
vote atj4lt:q the Corn-laws ; sneer at Finality,' and
&amour for due Ballot, and still be a very honest, and,
what is better, a vet y much-to-be-depended-on sup-
porter of our Administration;." "'Lee it ee lac/I/yew ;"
hence the abuse of Mr. Smythe and his ancestors up
to the days of uecn Bess (by the way, why did not
the worthy gentleman glee Sir Philip Sydney a turn 9)
Mr. Wilson may be " mad" in the opinion of Lord
Melbourne, and 6' go too far " for Lord John Rus-
sell, Lint he will, like all his tribe, vote to keep the
Whigs in, and the Tories out, and so he is to be re-
turned (?)a5 the Ministerial member for the metropolitan
city of Canterbitry ! What I does Canterbury require
no ether qualifications in her representatives than free-
trade crotchets and modern liberalism? h not the
sight of her time-honoured cathedral a pledge that de-
votion to the Church, loyalty to the Monarch, and coat-
passion towards the poor, must be found in him whom
1 she " delighteth to honour ?"

TIIE NEW ROMANCE OF THE " IVANHOE"
ScitooL.--The period of the stirring and effective romance
of " Longbeard," observes the Literaty Gazette, is that
of the captivity of Richard Coeur de Lion after his famous
crusade, and the scene varies from-Lrtiaon to the ssild
woods in Kent. Longbeard is the- London loader, and his
brother, Bryan Fi!zosbert, a-Robin flood of the Kentish
foresters. The anomalous condition of F,,,glish society at
the time offors a tit field fur strange adventures and all
the machinery of,.4uccessful romance. Of these our
author has niadq,srue use, so as to combine a picture of the
" Ivanhoe" and merry Sherwood school. If characters
forcibly and distinctly drawn, and employed in circum-
stances which carry along the interest in them and in the
stary, constitute the promising component a of a good ro-
mance, " Longbeard, Lord of London," is well entitled
to the distinction.

THE NEW HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT.-
About 170 masons arc daily engaged at the new houses of
Parliament, and there are about 100 other workmen in
full occupation. The works are progressing rapidly. The
average height of all the walls is now about fifteen feet,
and they already present a striking appearance when
viewed from the river. Mr. Barry, the architect, pays,
it is said, the closest attention to all the works, which are,
for the most part, executed under his personal superinten-
idence.

(THURSDAY EVENING.)
CHRONICLE.—When Mr. Hume, in the month
of July, 1839. moved for the appointment of a Se-
lect Committee to inquire into the pecuniary trans.
actions of the Bank of England since 1819, and
how far these transactions had been connected
with the crisis in the Money Market of 1825-6 and
1836-7, the Chancellor of the Exchequer opposed the
motion, upon the ground that it was impossible to bring
any such inquiry to a satisfactory issue at that advanced
period of the session, and because it was inexpedient to
enter upon it when the exchanges were unfavourable ; but
he at the tame time observed, that " the time might come
when, previous to making any change in our banking sys-
tem, a searching inquiry ought to be made into the whole
question of the manner in which the Bank of England has
managed the monetary hffairs of the country, and on what
terms It might be proper to renew the engagements
of the • country with the Bank." That time has
come. A Committee of the House of Commons has
made considerable progress in the inquiry. They
have reported a volume of most impoitatit evidence,
showing that the " perpetual ups and downs," as
Mr. Hume expressed it, and the continual fluctuations to
which commerce has been exposed since the year 1839,
have been chiefly produced by a deviation on the part of
the Bank from those principles of management recom-
mended by the Committee of that ;oar, as the rule of con-
duct upon which the monetary system of the country
should be regulated. We can scarcely believe, therefore,
that the Government have compromised themselves by
agreeing on terms with the Bank Directors, so as to stifle
further examination, and to put an end to the proceedings
of the Committee, before they have been able to get
through even one branch of the subject, and before the
conduct of the joint-stork and private banks has been ex-
amined. Such, however, may be the case ; for Lord
Althorp, after appointing the Committee of 1832, came
forward in 1833 to announce that it would be unnecessary
to continue the Committee, as he intended to lay spe-
cific resolutions before the House, but the precedent
would not justify a similar course of procedure.
The dereliction of principle exhibited by the Directors
of the Bank in 1835.6, and in 1839, after the defi-
cient harvest of 1838, have caused a most important
change of circumstances, and given the public a most
unequivocal right to insist for a full and unrestricted inves-
tigation before the charter is again. renewed, to protect
society from a recurrence of such fatal management ; and
much as we should bail the acknowledgment of the prin-
ciple of Crown interference and perfect publicity of ac-
counts being engrafted upon the constitution of the Bank
of England, borrowed from that of the Bank of France,
the country would have just cause of complaint if any
bargain were now patched up of that description between
the Bank and the Government. Mr. Clay, the Honour-
able Member for the Tower Hamlets, now a member of
the Government, observed in the course of his speech
in 1839, that " the public were beginning to feel
that a function so important as that of taking care
of the currency, on the right discharge of which not
only the prosperity of the country at large, but the
fortune of every individual, it might be said, in a great
degree depended, ought not to be left to any body
of men, but ought to be left to the control of the suprime
authorities. Whatever benefit or advantage thereottatht
be accruing from the substitution of paper for gad as a
currency ought to belong to the people." That feeling
has greatly increased since Mr. Clay delivered his speech ;
the publication of the evidence of the Committee has
caused it to take deep rout in the public mind. It is sup-
ported by men of great experience as bankers and mer-
chants, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer may find
himself awkwardly situated if he should have allowed
himself to be cajoled into any premature arrangement by
the friendly accommodation of the Bank parlour. The
prevalent feeling is that the duties of the Directors to their
proprietors is so directly at variance with their obligations
to the public, that it is impossible for them to discharge
with fidelity their great public duty of regulating the cur-
rency of the country. The regulation of currency, as
stated by the Honourable Member for Leicester, " ought
to be entrusted to men who had nothing else to do ;
the managers of the currency ought to have no other
duty to discharge ; they ought to be responsible to
the public, and to the public alone." He wished to
see a clear and faithful publication of the condition of the
Bank. He wished to see every merchant who would take
the puns able to watch the amount of bullion in the Bank
as easily as the time by the clock. Those opinions find
advocates in every quarter of the country, and it would be
an unwise policy to disappoint the expectations of the pub-
lic by telling them that the matter was settled, and that the
Government thought differently. But, nevertheless, if
we could obtain perfectly publicity, if the accounts of the
Bank of England were as free from mystery as those of the
Bank of France, so that the Directors could answer
strangers in the same words as the Governor of that Insti-
tution answered Mc. Home, " Our house is a house of ,
glass ; every man may see our transactions,"—a material
step would Le gained for the public good. At present
the Bank of England is too much a house of paper ; and
its transactions arc nearly as secret from the public
As the decrees of the famous Council of Venice, The
transactions of the Bank of France are printed
every day, and returns made to the Treasury. A
half-yearly account of their actual operations is published
every six months, and a complete balance sheet every year
is exhibited of their whole affairs. The greatest confidence
in the operations of the B ink accordingly exists in France.
Then the Governor and Deputy Governors are appointed
by the Crown, and the offices are of 'a permanent char-
acter. This brings us back to the principle of Crown in-
terference and Parliamentary control, and we arc for the
adoption of that principle to the fullest extent. We ac-
knowledge the difficulties nhich present themselves in
striking the: line ; and that it may be necessary to pro-
ceed at first with caution ; but this only proves the ne-
cessity of full and deliberate inquiry before coming to a
conclusion. An idea has been started of subjecting
the transactions of the Bank to the ordeal of the
Crown Inspectors ; all so far good in its way ; but the
mere right of inspection, without the power of control,
would be little better than nomimal. The principle of
Crown interference must go beyond that point a long
way, otherwise it will be of small benefit to the
people. A system, however, of Crown inspection, if car-
ried out as a principle, so as to include all banks of issue,
might have a very salutary effect. Supposing that the
charter of the Bank of England is to be renewed, under
the modifications to which we have alluded, and that the
lccal and country issues are also allowed to continua on
their existing basis, the appointment of Government in-
spectors would be the means of compelling the whole to
act in harmony, to avoid over issues, and, of consequence,
sudden contractions, and thus obtain greater steadiness of
prices.

Yesterday we passed some rather severe strictures upon
the avowed principles of the leaders of the country banks
and joint-stock establishments, in respect of their refusal
to regulate their issues by the exchanges and the bullion
in the Bank—a question of deep importance to the future
prosperity of the country, and one which ought to
be provided for by legislative means. All banks of
issue ought to be subjected to the same whole-
some principle of regulating their issues, and the
periodical publication of their assets and liabilities
should also be enforced. By these means, and the
agency of Government inspectors, much good might be
done. 'We have grave doubts whether the leading joint-
stock bankers really believe the doctrines which they
preach. We are persuaded, at least, that they will soon
become sensible of their fallacy, at present they are elated
with success, and finding their power and influence ra-
pidly increasing, they see no bounds to the spread of their
dominion. Thus they are bold enough to grasp at the
monopoly of the entire circulation of the country, under
the guise of " free banking and competing issues."
It is a vain imagination ; they should be wise in time, lest
in trying for too much, and in attempting to catch the sha-
dow they loose the substance. They must recollect that
success is not always a test of merit, and be contented with
the profits of their legitimate position. The country is sen •
Bible of the advantages of their system. They know the
additional security afforded there by a large proprietary
but they are not blind to the imperfections of the,
system. It is faulty in many respects to which we have
alluded on former occasions, and need not now repeat far-
ther than this, that their deeds of settlement ought to be
subjected ti the inspection of a public officer ; that all
establishments issuing paper money ought to have a certain
amount of paid up capital before commencing operations ;
and that lists of their partners should be furnished to the
Stamp-office, and published in the Gazette. We desire
to do even-handed justice to all, preferring, as public jour-
nalists, the rights of the people to those of any class of
dividuals. While, therefore, we have opposed the system
of private issues, we must give the joint- stock and private
banks the benefit afforded by the state of their circulation
compared with the l3ank of England, from 1i.;34 to 1839,
as exhibited by the returns read to the House of Commons
by Mr. Hume.
The circulation and deposits of the Bank of
England on the Ist of July, 1834, were -£33,991,000
On the 18th of December ditto

£3,425,000
A decrease of

On the 2Stit July, 1835 £29,883,000
And on the 15th of I),.xember ditto ...........• 35,05-0,000

An increase of ............... £5,167,000

On the Bth of :\larcl), 1836 £34.705 OGO
On the ljth of November ditto

A decrease of I:4,180,00o

On the Lit of May, 1838
On the 25th of June, 1 e 39 ... 25,663,000

A decrease of £4,422,000
We have taken these figures from the returns in the ap-
pendix to the report. On comparing- them with those
given in the report of Mr. flume's speech, by 'lanyard,
we find some discrepancies. Mr. Hume, for instance,
makes a decrease as at the 16th of December, 1834, of
6000,000/., instead of 3,425,0001., but the Honourable
Member was speaking in round numbers, and the exact
results are as we have stated them. Their fluctuations,
contrasted with the operations of the private and joint-
stock banks during the same period of time, tell very
strongly in favour of the latter, as the greatest variation
in their circulation was from 10,152,1041. to 12,259,4671.,
or 2,107,3631., according to the Gazette returns; but then
the returns of the Bang of kingland, as given by 'lr.

ilium; included deposits, whi_
joint-stuciebanks include the notes in et_
The last number of the Edinburgh Revicul lone.
, two able
trticles, generally passed over, under the denctriluation of
" Heavies," because they happen to exhibit if startling
array of figures. The first of these is headed " Wrongs
and Claims of Indian Commerce;" the second,
w Cus.
tom Duties—Effect of the Protective System ;" and ,they
contain much valuable information of a financial and fiKs4t
character, interesting to those engaged in trade and corn..
coerce, and instructive to all classes of society. The first
is founded chiefly on the report and evidence taken before
the late Select Committee in the House of Lords;
and the second on the report and evidence on import
duties by the Select Committee in House of Commons.
So much has been said already, and extracted in the news-
papers from both of these important parliamentary papers,,
that it may appear superfluous to make them the subject-
at present of fresh remarks. We find, however, so
much of the essentially useful parts condensed in
these articles of the Review, and placed in such a
practical and popular form, that we cannot refrain
from transferring a portion to our columns. It is stated
that the East India Cempany annually draw a sum of
about 3,400,000/. from the revenues of the:territoriesjwhish
they :administer, applied to the home expenditure, the
whole of which, with the exception of a fraction remitted.
in payment of military stores, is a direct and substantial
transfer from the income of India to that of England. Be-
sides which, the remittances on account of private fortunes
average fully 600,000/ , so that the gross amount of public
and private remittances from India, for which this country
makes no return, is not much, if at all, over estimated a;
4,000,0001. per annum, equal to the purchase of our ma-
nufactures to the value of 20,000,000/. per annum, over
and above :which India took, in the three years ending in
183 S, British manufactures to the value of 3,817,0002
per annum; The high import duties charged on spirits
made from the Indian sugar-cane, in comparison
with those levied on epirits the produce of, and im-
ported from, any British possession in the West Indies,
America, or the Mauritius, are discussed, and are
shown to have shut out Eastjlndia rum entirely from the
home market. We have the following facts as regards
the eff ct of the breaking up of the slavery system on West
India sugar. The sugar imported into this country from
the Wee India colonies in 1839 was less by more than
1,200 oeo cwts. than the average of the five years ending
with 1832; and less by nearly 500,000 ewts. than the im-
ports of 1837, which again were considerably smaller than
those of any year since 1814.
The report of the Select Committee of the House of
Lords laid down, as a general principle, that commercial
regulations affecting the intercourse between the mother
country and the colonial dependencies should be one of
perfect equality, but found that the " state of transition" in
which our colonies were placed by the abolition of slavery,
made it inexpedient to apply the principle of equality.
In that opinion the public, we believe, coincides,
and the high price paid for our colonial sugars to
the exclusion of the slave grown, in addition to the
purchase price of 20,000,000/. compensation money,
affords abundant evidence of the sacrifices which the people
of th's country cheerfully suffer to free the nation from the
stain of slavery. The Reviewer, bowever,:as an advocate
for India, shows very forcibly that British India is also in
a state of transition, by the decay of native manufactures,
and especially of her cotton. The cotton fabrics of E. g-
land are admitted into India at 3} per cent. duty, whi'c
the produc s of the rude industry of India rre charged
in Great Bri'a'n a duty of 10 per cent. The Decca
muslins are also annihilated, and the silk trade is falling
away rapidly. The article on Custom duties reminds us
that seventeen art'eles yield nearly the whole of the Custom
duties. Out of a schedule of 1,150 articles, producing
22 962,6101., seventeen articles produced 21,700,630/. in
the year 1839, demonstrating, as remarked by Sir Henry
Parnell in 1829, that oar Custom duties have been framed
by persons Lut little acquainted with the principles of trade
and finance, without the slightest consideration for the
feelings and convenience of individuals, or for the increase
of foreign commerce. Mr. M'Gregor justly says, that as
a few articles pay nearly the whole revenue, the duties on
all others are nothing but burdens, restrictions, and delays
on the industry and prosperity of the country. He has
accordingly prepared a new table of tariff duties, reducing
the whole to twenty articles, the adoption of which would
lead to great simplification in carrying on the business of
the Customs department, and to a considerable diminution
of charge in the collection. By tracing the effect of the
present protective duties on each and various articles of
consumption, it is shown that no less than a fourth of every
man's expenditure is paid to uphold an unsound and anti-
commercial system, which generates' in every instance a
greater or less degree of indirect taxation of no avail to
the Treasury, and by which the revenue suffers a loss of
nearly 6,000,000/. a year. The taxation imposed upon
the country by the duties on corn provisions and protec-
tions is far greater, in fact, than the amount of taxation
paid to the Treasury.
It is most justly remarked that such a state of things
having been allowed to grow up is to be attributed " to
the ignorance of the community" with respect to all sub-
jects connected with their wants and the circumstances
that affect prices. There is not. probably, one man in ten
thousand who is sufficiently informed to know that a pro-
tecting duty raises price: and that this additional price is
a tax as much as that on houses is a tax. Those who aro
interested in maintaining the present system have induced
all tho rest of the community to believe that in paying
some forty or fifty millions: a year for the commodities they
consume more than they need to have paid, they have
been all the while adding to the wealth, power, and pro-
sperity of the nation. The working classes should be in-
structed by the spread of that really ;useful knowledge
which explains to them the causes by which they are com-
pelled to pay exorbitant prices for the necessaries of life.

POST.—It turns out that the failure noticed by us yes-
terday, namely, that of Messrs. Garry and Curtis, is but a
very inconsiderable one. The friends of Mr. Garry, who
is the inmate of a lunatic asylum, are understood to have
been prcsing upon Mr. Curtis the settlement of a claim
on behalf of that gentleman, which the circumstances of
the house would not fairly admit of. Proceedings have
been taken in the Court of Chancery for the accomplish-
ment of the olject, and the immediate cause of the stop-
page is said to be the determination of the other partner
that no undue preference should be given. Ia the absence
of an adequate amount of funds to meet the claims of the
creditors of the firm, the representatives of Mr. Garry can
of course have no right to 'appropriate a farthing of the
assets. Whatever excitement was produced by the an-
nouncement of the failure in the first instance has already
died comiletely away.
Another case of suspension was talked of yesterday, but
it was so petty an affair that we purposely refrained front
makieg any mention of it ourselves. The party arc in the
wine trade, and their liabilities may, it is considered, reach
some sir. thousand pounds. There would Le no necessity
for noticing the matter at all but that it hts found its way
into the columns of some of our Contemporaries, and that
without explanation its importance might be magnified,
The tea market has assumed, since the news was re-
ceived in England of the probable adjustment of out dis-
pute with China, an appearance that attracts the serious at-
tentiou of the general merchant, as well as those immedi-
ately engeged in the trade. It will be recollected that in
the spring of 1830, immediately preceding the quarrel at
Canton, the prices of common congou teas were Is, to ls.
2d. per lb. From this they advanced somewhat rapidly to
3e. 2d., the highest point in February or March, 1840;
and it is almost needless to state that during the ad-
vance large and numerous speculators were constantly
in the market, the opinion entertained being, that
no supplies, or, at least, supplies to a very limited extent
only, would come forward from China in the year 1840
But as the year proceeded cargoes were received, an
prices declined to 2s. per lb., subsequently advancing to
2s. 6d., as the warlike expedition made progress, and the
expectation was prevalent that the blockade would effec-
tually stop supplies for the year 1841. The rates, how-
ever, from various causes relapsed to 2s. Id. per lb. ; and
when the last overland mail, the intelligence brought by
which proved so ruinous to the speculator, arrived, they
were about 2s. 2d. per lb. A sudden light burst upon the
trade. Prices went down on the day to Is. Gad. ; they then
rose to Is. Bid., and are now nominally about Is. 6d. per lb.
A fall of nearly 33 per cent. on the stock on hand, some
48,000,0001.1a5., is appalling. The effect of such a fall is, it is
true, widely spread, though all suffer pro rota, from the
needy retailer to the wealthy importer or the equally weal-
thy speculator ; but an aggregate loss of 1,250,0001. ster-
ling has to be borne by the parties collectively. During
the fir,A week of the decline, it was hoped that the im-
porting houses would be firm in withholding their stocks
from public sale, end that the reduction in value would
irduce purchases by the trade, as speculators. This hope
has not been realised. At the public sales which
took
place a day or two ago low prices were accepted, but
about
one-third only of the quantity offered found buyers.ee Since
, and it
hl
co this
hfarc
e
then large sales have been notified f
is now difficult to quote actual priceso.r nest
speculation may probably
° and
occasionally entered into. From the
and with
precipitancylower than the po.
"
un-
steadiness of the sellers, prices may
now stand, at all warrant,e
litical aspect of affairs, as they f others te
rwe
result
k
be like that
although it may be contended, reason, that
prices arc still higher than
this doubtful state of things,
n they were previous to the rup-
ture with China.
commercial anxieties of a painful nature must necessarily
exist in the breasts of those who happen to bweaastlaullotdeedeply
to-
dayper lb.
interested
as
low
ain s the issue. The commodity .

TIMES.—The late. steady advance in the price of
, n ,of andgit
v. hases
The
rise
toexplanation reached
number. 4 o r
1113e5sa
spn
ccroSnctienecktt.u,, r which .ss.
tho
utstot
al
nl
ych
aan
cuutsejeos
s
e
more generally adopted is, that the Directors have some
secret understanding with Ministers, from which they
gather that the ordeal of the pending inquiry will be passed
through safely, and that their charter and their sources
of profit will not be interfered with. Along with this
secret arrangement certain cheeks are devised and
pointed out by which the circulation is to be placed
under better management. All this may be safely taken
as nicre ecrjecture and nothing else, as Ministers,
whatever other faults they may have, are incapable
of committing such an absurdity as that described, with
the nitre important part of the inquiry still before
.
them. 'there seems to be no mystery, however, the
affair. Bank Stuck is a security by no means extensively
dealt in at any time, therefore easily
.depressed or raised
b iTs andiensqpueicriyall
3, i then tbenotoriousaffair
Id)yi ul el
tsi eosr ofpu rtch. hea seesst
the loan from the Bank of France, had shaken the confi-
dence of the proprietors, many of whom withdrew conse-
quently from the concern, which they did not accomplish
without a considerable sacrifice. This alarm having now
in part subsided, and the stock yielding a higher interest in
proportion than others, has again been selected for invest-
ments, which have produced a rise altogether out of pro-
portion to their amount. The opinion of the most experi-
enced members of the Stock Exchange is, that no other
cause for the advance need be looked for, and that the
Bank question remains just as it was before it took place.
The markets for the public securities were ",passive
throughout the day, and the only bargains were the in-
vestments made on private account. As accounting for
this, may be mentioned the absence of the French mail,
which did net arrive till 'Aaiun was on the eye of

C

MORNING EDITION.

•and as the news by it was not of any special moment,
th'ngs were not particularly affected.
It is noticed among mercantile men, as an omission in
the treaty about to be concluded with China, that no ar-
rangement is hinted at of a nature to place our trade with
thlt country on a better footing in future. What they ap-
pear to desire is—
I. An admission of the right of British subjects (with
due protection by
the Chinese Government of their per-
sons and property) to reside at and trade with Amoy,
Niugpoo, and other leading commercial ports of China,
as well as at Canton, to which they are at present confined.
2. The abolition of all Hongs or Corporations, or otbei
monopolists, endowed with the exclusive right of transact-
ing with foreigners; and a free option on the part of the
British merchants to sell their goods to and to purchase
Chinese produce from such parties as they may think fit.
3. The abolition of the Consoo Fund, and all other
arbitrary and exorbitant imposts on British! ships and
commodities, and in lieu of these the establishment of such
fair and defined import duties as shall enable the British
merchant to calculate precisely what he is to pay, and as
shall protect him from the extortion of Nlaudarins and other
Chinese authorities.

4. The recognition of the British Consuls, or other su-
perintendents of British interests, at the various ports to
which ourcommerc.r may be admitted, and the privilege
of those, as well as all the other British subjects, of di-
rectly petitioning the general Government at Pekin for
redress of grievances.
5. That a British Ambassador or other representative
0" the British Government, permanently resident at Pekin,
should be recognized by the Chinese Government, as such
a representative would constitute the best medium of corn-
rnunica!ion between the British Government and subjects
and the Government at Pekin, and form the most effectual
preventive of that system of fraud and deceit on the part
of the local authorities, under which occurrences at the
uutports have been utterly falsified, and the truth excluded.
'these suggestions are highly important, and will no
doubt receive the attention of Governnvnt, as it is under.
stood that they have been submitted to Lord Palmerston
by Mr. Alexander Graham, a manufacturer near Glasgow,
who may be said to describe in that respect the feeling of
the mercantile interest of London also. All are perhaps
too sanguine, however, in supposing that any rapid pro-
gress can be made in such matters with the Chinese.