The Sun.
London, England, 1841-03-24 00:00:00

SPIRIT of th PUBLIC JOURNALS

FROM THE MORNING PAPERS OF TillS DAY.
(Frotu the Advcrtiset.)
A great question comes before the House of Commons this
evening, for what we expect to be a final adjudication of its
principle—we mean the Copyright Designs 13111, respecting
which Mr. Emerson Tennent has taken so much trouble and
Mr. Thomson given so much attention. If Mr. Emerson
Tennent had stood alone in the matter—had he failed to ac-
quire a due knowledge of the subject to which his Bill refers—
had he not been backed and accompanied in his researches by
a gentleman of such knowledge and experience as Mr. Thom-
son—the objection might have been plausibly enough urged
that he knew nothing about the matter, and that his Bill was
not founded upon a substantial basis. But this objection can-
not now avail ; for, on the one hand, he has made himself
master of all the necessary information, and, on the other,
every statement in his work is confirmed by Mr. Thomson,
who is practically acquainted with the whole matter—who
is interested to a, large extent in the amendment of
the ;present law, and who cannot therefore be supposed
to advocate a measure which would be injurious to
himself or to the trade at large The two main points in the
Bill this evening are—first, the extension of protection to ori-
heaeinlnetatse,
ginal designs in carpets, shawls, paperhangings, calicoes, and
a great variety of other products. of British industry ; and, se-
condly, whether the registration of such designs ought to be
open to the inspection of the public, or closed against it, as it
is in France and other countries. The first is not worth a
moment's consideration. What the manufacturers of the dif-
ferent articles may desire, ought to be conceded to them, upon
the fair principle that they, must know their own busines better
than their opponents, and are irt. likely to advocate anything
tending to their disadvantage. With. regard to the second, there
are doubts to be entertained. Articles manufactured for the
foreign market ought unquestionably not to be open to in-
spection, inasmuch as foreigners and. domestic pirates might
thereby acquire a knowledge of designs prejudicial to the ori-
ginal inventor, and thereby, by slight and legally intangible
variations, rob him of the fair remuneration. which he would
after the ex-
otherwise obtain; but with regard to articles purely for home
consumption, there does not appear to us for the moment to be
be an open
inspection ander proper conditions.. Sir R. Peel has given
notice of a nine months' protection for the calico-printers in-
stead of the three which they now enjoy, and the six Aponths
raniryatsitoxnbstoafntthiale objection
registration wh
grantedy thee should i
that are proposed for them. rile question is not a Govern-
ment question, and we doubt not that its merits will be amply,
impartially, and satisfactorily discussed.
(From the Times. )
If the New Poor-law, has reduced the poor rate 40 per cent.
in some unions of the south, it has raised them 70 per cent.
in the north. It has produced no uniformity ; For the Corn-
mitsioners have not yet issued, one general rule applicable to all
unions. It has lowered instead of raising wages. It is as-
serted to htve improved the morals of the dissolute poor ; but
the
calendars
of
crime
furnish no traces of such an improve-
ment, and a paid rural police has been found necessary since
it was enacted. It has exasperated the. feelings of the lower
classes towards the rich and the noble ; it has been the ta.ent
of Chartism. But, says Mr. Hawes, it has been the cause
of the " attention now given to the education of the
people," and t, to the dwellings and the sanatory
state of the poor I" These, it seems, are the " practical be-
nefits," these the marvellous results, of the great experiment.
Is it 'possible that Sir Robert Peel, calmly considering these
things—remembering also that the so-much-talked-of evils of
the old law (partial as they were) were the gradual accumu-
lation of 250 years, while the growth of evil under the mea-
sure of 1834 has been as rapid as it is monstrous, a six-years'
prodigy—is it possible that so, wise a statesman can compro-
miss his own character, and endanger the great interests com-
mitted to his oversight, by lending his sanction to the continu-
ance of such a system ? Golden opportunities are not so fre-
quent as to be thrown away with impunity. It is now in his
power, by one and the same act, to relieve the United King-