The Sun.
London, England, 1846-06-08 00:00:00

aritirtg °'llM

LONDON, •MONDAY, JUNE 8, 1846.

Lord FrrzwiLmam, on Friday evening, brought
forward the resolutions of which he had given notice
previous to the recess, and to which we adverted at
some length at the beginning of last week. His
Lordships proposals were :

Ist. That the House should not pass any railway
Bill, giving power to raiQe capital either by the issue
of shares, or by borrowing money, which had or
might come up from the House of Commons, until all
such Bills should be read a second time.
2d. That the House should appoint a Select Com-
mittee to take all such Bills into consideration,
to classify them according to their public importance,
and to select such as the Committee might deem it
expedient to pass.
3d. That it be an instruction of the Committee not

to select Bills by which it was proposed to raise a
capital exceeding 60,000,0001., whether by issuing
shares or borrowing money.

4th. That a message should be sent to the Com-
mons requesting a conference on the subject
of such railway Bills as had originated in
their Lordships' House, and are now pending in the
Commons.

These resolutions, it will be seen, were, after
some discussion, withdrawn by his Lordship,
and we may congratulate the persons interestedin
the several Bills still unpassed on the honourable
course pursued by the Ministry. Lord D Aenoduste
f
adopted the argument which we put forward on
Tuesday last as to the injustice of casting any new
b severalle
it
might companies.
b eto
oidnfestighreaeneral, and however
limitHmel: estatedd irma ielnwt a tyhi na
et
n thehteo wre
iyai
eye r
ready he might have been at the beginning of the
session to adopt some resolutions similar to those
proposed by the Noble Lord, he could not, under
existing circumstances, and what had taken place
in both Houses, consistently with common justice and
fairness, adopt the recommendation. He showed how
the subject of railway legislation had been brought
before both Houses at the very commencement of the
session, and the appointment of a Committee to con •
sider the best weans of dealing with the question,
and the report of that Committee, in which, after
stating that there were 562 railway Bills standing for
consideration, and adverting to the arrangements
which might be made for their consideration, pro-
ceeded to say, " Under these circumstances, your
Committee have not deemed it advisable to recom-
mend to the House to make any selection from, or to
place any limitation on, the number of the railway
schemes to be submitted to the consideration of Par-
liament during the present session." That opinion
was received and confirmed by the House, and it was
distinctly declared that there should be no selection
or restriction. On the faith of that declaration, the
several companies had proceeded, immense sums of
money had been expended, many of the Bills had
actually received the final sanction of the legislature;
and it would, as we have already stated, have been
a breach of faith on the part of the Legisla-
ture, if in the teeth of that resolution they should
now select and restrict the number. All that could
be done consistently with honour and justice had
been done in the Bill, and in the sessional orders
which had been adopted an opportunity was afforded
to the shareholders of interposing a veto to the fur-
ther progress of the Bill in which they were inte-
rested. A locus penitentia was afforded. An active
step should be taken by them, showing that they
were still desirous that the undertaking should be
proceeded with—that they were not deterred, by the
altered aspect of the times or the depressed state
of the money market, from persevering in their ob-
ject; and we do not see how the Legislature could
fairly interpose any additional check. It would, in-
deed, be a highly dangerous principle to adopt to fix
an amount of capital beyond which the House would
not sanction any enterprise. What might in one state
of the monetary affairs of the country be a
safe and useful investment might in another be a
most dangerous expenditure, and one likely to de-
range the money market, and produce great mischief.
Not that we take the gloomy view of the affair which
has been taken by many intelligent and able men.
As we have already stated, the money is not to be
withdrawn from the circulation, or sent out of the
country. On the contrary, it will be circulated with
increased rapidity, oftener changing hands, and pro-
ducing additional activity in our markets, a new
and improved demand for our manufactures, an in-
creased consumption of our own productions, and a
consequent increase in those very productions. The
season of difficulty and danger, of monetary derange-
ment, and consequent distress, has, as we conceive,
nearly passed away. It was not produced by the
amount of expenditure to be incurred, but by
the large amount withdrawn from circulation,
and locked up in the hands of the ACCOt NTANT-
G217E11.1\3. by the operation of the standing orders.
Had these orders admitted the lodging of Stock, Ex-
chequer Bills, or other sufficient securities in place of
money, we are quite convinced that there would have
been no extraordinary depression, no tightness in the
money market, or want of pecuniary assistance. It
was not the contemplated expenditure of sixty or even
a hundred millions spread over a period of three years,
which term might easily have been extended to five
years, or still more, without injury to any one, that
occasioned the mischief, but the actual locking
up of 15,000,0001. sterling, and the reduction of
the circulating medium of the country by that vast
amount. In consequence thereof, the Bank ceased
to afford the usual accommodation to their customers,
and trade became paralysed to a certain extent from the
want of that credit so essential to its well being. That
money will now shortlybe released either on the final suc-
cess or rejection of the different measures, and as a matter
of course it will speedily be made applicable to the
general purposes of the country, and an increased
confidence will be manifested. Those persons who
have weathered the storm, under the extraordinary
difficulties with which they were encompassed, will
have afforded such evidence of their stability and
solvency as to remove any distrust on the part of the
capitalists. And, without pretending to any extraor-
dinary degree of foresight, we may venture to
prophecy that a geater degree of accommodation
will be afforded in proportion to the want of it so
recently exhibited, and prosperity be restored, and
credit placed on a sounder basis. We trust that no
further attempts will be made to throw difficulties
in the way of the railway companies, but we think
that the time should in every case be extended for
the final completion of the works. If this was th
case, there would not be the neeessity for the directors
either making callsat an unfavourable time,
and thereby depressizig the value of the shares,
which it is their bounden duty to keep up
by every means in their power, or cf abanduning a
promising scheme, in which a heavy expenditure had
already taken place. This might easily be effected by
an act similar to the general acts passed during the
last Session ; it would also be very desirable if it was
provided that no new call should be made without the
assent of the shareholders at a general meeting, similar
to that required by the recent resolutions. Such a
provision would be no violation of faith on the part of
the Legislature, but would be a beneficial extension of
the principle on which the new sessional orders were
founded. Should it be in the contemplation of the
Government to introduce any new measure respecting
railways, it should speedily be brought forward, and
its principle be declared, so that no persons interested
may be taken by surprise, by any additional regula-
tions promulgated for the first time at the commence-
ment of the ensuing session.

t It is with peculiar satisfaction we direct attention
to
the reply given by the Right Hon. the Secretary
for the
Home Department
E.o an inquiry from the
Hon. GRANTLEY
Bataxy in reference to post-
age delivery upon sunEd:
y final
declaration
satisfaction upon
this point arises from thee
was
thethere
country.
of Sir J.
GRAHAM to the effect that he Was not aware
any intention to change either the law or
practice
of Sunday delivery of letters throughout the
Now we conceive that such an announcement is one
likely to dissipate a cloud of anxiety from the minds
of those who
have feared lest the mis-
judged piety of certain religious innovators
might interfere with the whole social and mercantile
arrangements of the nation. It would be idle and
futile to attempt any estimate of the pernicious con-
sequences which would inevitably result from the
suppression of all correspondence throughout the
length and breadth of the land upon a par-
ticular day of every successive week—the
monetary involvements, the domestic miseries,
the personal liabilities which would ensue, baffle all
calculation. There is, nevertheless, a certainty that
these consequences would be most baneful to society,
while they would produce no compensative advantage
whatever. It is our intention to avoid entering into
anything that may be distorted into the dogmatism
of theology; and with the premise that the sanctity
of the Sabbath and the delivery of letters in the pro-
vinces are two subjects altogether distinct from
each other, we shall altogether abandon the po-
lemical part of the question. And this we must
acl*iowledge ourselves the more inclined to do from
two considerations ; first, because we consider such a
discussion as scarcely fitted for the columns of a
newspaper; and, secondly, because as we have just
insinuated, the religious problem has nothing in the ,

' world to do with the conveyance of letters—not
an atom more to do with it, in fact, than with our ap-
plying an aromatic dentifrice to our teeth on Sunday
morning, or our masticating a lobster salad on Sun-
day noon, or with our nibbling a sally lunn upon
Sunday evening. The matter is one of sheer common
sense. Let us put it in the form of an interrogation
addressed to one of the most zealous advocates for
She abolition of Sunday postage delivery. Supposing
now (which is not impossible) that this same zealous
Christian were to receive intelligence late on Saturday
night of the instability of some speculation (say a
railway), or of the insecurity of some re-
sponsible commercial agent (say his banker),
would he not rejoice, and rejoice ardently,
at the means of communication on the following
morning, whereby he might sell out of the former
(possibly at a premium) and draw out of the latter
(possibly to the last sixpence) before the "crash"
occurred in either instance. Our existence on
it, he would ! But may be he exclaims, Mon-
day will be early enough for the correspondence.
This argument, however, has rottenness at the
core. " Monday will be early enough" has been a
cry that has proved ruinous to thousands of sanguine
or dilatory men. " To-morrow, and to-morrow, and
to-morrow," is their favourite quotation, and to-
morrow they find themselves beggared. The matter,
in short, is not one of pounds, shillings and pence,
versus the commandment about the Sabbath, no more
than the killing of a sucking pig for supper is in vio-
lation of the other commandment against shedding
blood. These prudish religionists, however, assert
that such a delivery of letters is a desecration—is sin-
ful. Sinful, forsooth ! Surely the useless involve-
ment of hundreds would be much more likely to pro-
pagate sinfulness—dishonesty, repining, lying, and so
forth—than having a double-knock at the house-door
and breaking an attenuated blotch of sealing-wax.
We thank Mr. BERKELEY for the earnest-
ness with which he has combatted, what
he here styles " a puritanical attempt," but
which we would more willingly look upon as the
over-zealousness of pious but short-sighted men ; and
we congratulate ourselves upon the signal discom-
fiture which their endeavour has encountered.

We learn from Posen that the Russian Poles, who
took refuge there during the period between the
expiration and renewal of the treaty between Russia
and Prussia for the extradition of deserters, have
received notice to quit the Grand Duchy : they are
permitted, however, to choose for their residence any
other Prussian province.

Madrid papers of the 30th have been received.
The Portuguese news which they bring has been an-
ticipated by the arrival of the Pacha. The Spanish
Government has given orders for the formation of a
corps d'arrnee on the frontiers of Portugal. The
troops of which it is intended it should be composed are
already on their march.
MADRID BoLsa, MAY 30.—The Three and Five
per Cents. are not quoted in the official bulletin.
Exchange on London, 37.

We have received the Paris papers of Thursday.
The trial of LECOMTE commenced on that day before
the Court of Peers. A report of the proceedings up
_ _

,o the hour of post will be found in another column

In the Chamber of Deputies, on Wednesday, the
Minister of Commerce, during the discussion of
the Budget of Commerce and Agriculture, on the
vote being proposed for the sanatory and quarantine
establishments, made the important announcement
that the Government had determined materially to
modify the quarantine laws. The speech of the Mi-
nister, which we give below, shows the opposition
which the Government has had to overcome, and the
ameliorations which it proposes to introduce :

" The Minister of Commerce alluded to the intended
changes in the quarantine system, and stated that the ordon-
nance of May, 1845, though deemed not to go far enough by
the Chamber, had met with the sharpest opposition at Mar-
seilles. The council of sanatory superintendence, composed
of eminent and devoted men, had given in their resignation
en masse. Negotiations had been entered into to induce them
to resume their functions, but without success. This resist-
ance had prevented the Government from introducing the
ameliorations which it intended. It was found necessary to
appoint a new council of superintendence, and the Govern-
ment at the same time caused the subject to be studied in
Egypt by its consular agents, and applied to the Academy of
Medicine for its opinion. That body had sent in a report,
the conclusions of which the Government should accept in
the principal parts. In consequence, the Government pro-
posed to the Chamber to decide that the mail-steamers from
Constantinople, on board which there should be a sanatory
medical man, should be declared to have a clean bill of
health the ninth day after their departure; merchant vessels
being similarly provided with a medical man, should be
placed on the same footing; whilst those who had not a
medical Mali on board should be subject to a quarantine of
five days. Vessels from Alexandria, with a medical man on
board, should have a satisfactory bill of health at the expi-
ration of twelve days ; and, in the event of such not carrying
a medical man, it should undergo a quarantine of seven
days. Goods are to be treated in the same way as passen-
gers. In this way vessels would be detained a shorter time

than at Trieste,and travellers would find it to their advantage
to pass by France. He need scarcely say that these regula-
tions applied simply to vessels which were above suspicion ;
for all others the necessary precautions should be taken. The
new regulations would, he hoped, be in force by the end of
the year. He trusted that after these explanations the
amendment of the Committee would be withdrawn."

The Ministerial proposition, although opposed by
M. BERRYER and M. THIERS, was carried by a large
majority.
This discussion is the subject of comment in the
Journal des Dibats, and the National, and both of
these journals approve of the Ministerial proposition,
the latter journal declaring that the fears, of which
AI. BERRYER and M. THIERS have made themselves
the echoes, are totally without foundation.
In the Chamber of Peers the !Bordeaux and Cette
Railway Bill was adopted by a majority of 99 to 76.
The Minister of War received on Wednesday a
report from Marshal I3L`GRAUD, dated the 22d ult.,
but it contains only a confirmation of the accounts of
his success in the Ouarensenis, already given in the
Algiers journals. He states that, in consequence of
the news that had reached him of the massacre at the
Beira, he had resolved to return to Algiers, until he
could get better information as to what was passing
on the frontier of Morocco.

The Moniteur Algerien, of the 30th, publishes the
account of the massacre of the deira given by the
soldier who escaped, but has no further details. It
states that General YUSUF received on the 22d posi-

tive news of the movements of ABD-EL-KADER.
Some persons who were sent out to obtain information
on the subject had arrived at Yusur's camp, and re-
ported that they had followed the Emir as far as
El-llaoud-Seida, on the frontier of Morocco, south
of Lalla Maghrnia. He had left several exhausted
horses and dismounted men on the road. The Emir
was proceeding to form a junction with MUSTATEIIo,
BEN-TAMI.

The following from Mexico appears in the Cour-
rier Francais :
" We find in a letter from Vera Cruz, anterior by several
days to the declaration of war of the United States, details,
which prove how critical is the position of our countrymen in
Mexico, particularly in the midst of the events which are in
preparation. The manufactory of a Frenchman, M. Hardouin,
situated within two leagues of Vera Cruz, was attacked by
the inhabitants of the country. All the native workmen
being absent, our courageous countryman defended himself all
night with the aid of twenty-five Frenchmen, who slept on
the premises, and he at last succeeded in putting the be-
siegers to flight. A new attack, however, was expected every
day. Two days after the shop of a French apothecary, M.
Linon, was pillaged at Vera Cruz in open day. Scenes of
this kind take place each moment, and the authority of our
Consul is without effect, since we have no longer any repre-
sentative at Mexico, and as our diplomatic reports with the
republic have entirely ceased. To add to the difficulty, the
French station in the Gulf of Mexico, is only composed at
present of two brigs, the Griffon and the La Perouse, which
being obliged to cruise along the whole coast, only appear be-
fore Vera Cruz at distant intervals."
some 113;duellsraEblejUNsalEes
closing quotations of yesterday, market opened firm at the
a slight improvement took
das
whichth e
caused dey
place ; towards the close, however,
advancedprices to
slightly recede, and both Threes '
and Fives closed only a shade
higher than on the previous day,
at 84f. 30c., and the latter the former being last called
at 119 f. 90c. The market closed as
follows :—Three per Cent for cash,
h 84f. 15c., for account,
84f. 30c.; Five per Cents.,"fororca
119 f. 90c. ; Bank of France Shares, 3,460 f.;
65c., for account,
„ f.; Neapolitan, 102 E
25c, ; Spanish and New Loan not quoted.
RAILWAYS.—The Share Market has been scarcely so firm
as yesterday, but the variation in prices has not been consi-
derable ; the change, however, in favourof
4.toknyPelaeane
buyers. For
cash Paris
and Orleans left off at 1,235 f. ; Paris and Rouen,
I,OIOE. ; Rouen and Havre, 737 f. 50c.; Avignon, 870 f. ,
Vierzon, 616 f. 25c. ; Strasburg and Bale, 216 f. 25c. ; Bou-
logne, 480 f.; Northern,
and Lyons,
75c. ; Bordeaux, 693 f. 75c. ;
Montereau, 355 f.; Pariss2f. 50 535f. ; Paris and Stras-
burg,c.; Dieppe, 420 f •
505 f. ; Nantes, ~ Fampoux
not quoted.
BUSINESS DONE IN FOREIGN RAILWAYS AT TEE
LONDON
STUCK E XCIIANGE, JUNE 5.
LONDON
Boulogne and Amiens, 11—Central of Spain, 2—Dutch Rhenish,
7% —East Indian,
sz Great Western Canada, 33,—Louvain and
A.
, 1— Or and Bordeaux, 9.3 i
Jemappe, 11,4—Madrid and Valentia# d —Toursleans and Nantes COMM-
-Paris and Lyons Constitu.e , VA
tuted, 51i.
~..m.................•

WAKEFIELD CORN MARKET, JUNE s.—We have
again a most limited arrival of all grain. Thera was a steady
inquiry for immediate consumption for fresh wheats, and
such were taken off at last week's prices. Barley nominal.
Beans sold slowly at previous rates. Oats in tolerable re-
quest, and fully as high. Shelling steady. In Batt no
alteration.