The Sun.
London, England, 1846-02-04 00:00:00

PARLIAMENTARY BUSINESS.
(From the Votes and Proceedings of the House of Commons.)

TUESDAY, FEB. 3.
The following Petitions for Railway Bills were referred to the
Select Committee on Petitions for Private Bills :
Eastern Union and Hadleigh Junction Railway.
Grand Union Railway.
Midland Railway, Syston to Peterborough Railway (Deviation and
Branches).
Great North of England Railway Purchase.
Great North of England and Bedale Branch Railway.
Great North of England and Boroughbridge Branch Railway.
York and North England Railway (East Riding Branches—No. 2).
Leeds and Bradford Railway (Guiseley Branch).
Leeds and Bradford Railway (Junction Line at Bradford).
Launceston and South Devon Railway (No. 1).
Cionmel and Thurles Railway.
Tenby, Saundersfoot, and South Wales Railway.
Great County Down Railway.
Belfast and Holywood Atmospheric Railway.
Direct London and Portsmouth Railway.
Boston, Newark, and 'Sheffield Railway.
Nottingham, Mansfield, and Midland Junction Railway.
Rugby and Huntingdon Railway.
Yorkshire and Glasgow Union Railway.
Wexford, Carlow, and Dublin Junction Railway.
Somersetshire Midland Railway.
Wilsontown. Morningside, and Coltness Railway (Caledonian Rail-

way Junction).
Wilsontown, Morningside, and Colinen Railway (Bathgate Branch).
York and Lancaster Railway.
Great Western and Wycombe Railway.

The following Petitions for Railway Bills were presented, and
ordered to lie on the table :
North Kent Railway. '
Boston, Newark, and Sheffield Railway.

NOTICES GIVEN AT THE PRIVATE BILL-OFFICE.

TETESDAY, FEB, 3.

miwtytmeeonodnhalm'eit,l
, W Amalgama-
tion—Committee ne s e
Swansea Vale Railway—Committee on Petition,Wednesday, Feb. 11.
Mallon and Driflleld Junction Railway—co:
Wednesday, Feb. 11. I
Blackburn and Preston and East Lancashire Railways
on Petition, Wednesday, Feb. 11.
Clitheroe Junction Railway—Committee on Petition
Feb. 11.
Eastern Union and Harwich Railway and Pier--Committee on
Petition, postponed from Thursday 5 till Friday, Feb. 6.
Attleborough Branch)—Committee on Petition, postponed from
Thursday 5 till Friday, Feb. 6. h
• way Extension (Dere am, Wells,
Norfolk Railway Extension (Stowrnarket
Norfolk Rail and Blakeney Rail-
way Branch)—Committee on Petition, postponed from Thursday 5
till Friday, Feb. 6.
ock and Ayr Railway Amendment and
Breaches (NoZ6)—Coramittee on Petition, postponed from Thursda y
5 till Friday, Feb. 6.
IVaveney Valley Railway —Committee on Petition, adjourned till
Thursday, Feb. 5.
Taw Vale Railway Extension—Committee on petition, adjourned
till Thursday, Feb. 5.
Great North of Scotland Railway—Committee on Petition, Friday,
Feb. 13.
) Railway_cem
Great North of Scotland (Eastern Extension..
mittee on Petition, Friday, Feb. 13.
Deeside Railway—Committee on Petition, Friday, Feb. 13.
Alford Valley Railway—Committee on Petition, -- Friday, Feb. 13.

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HOPS, MALT, BREWERS, am
The following returns were moved for by lir. Alderman Ham-
phery, and ordered :
Hors.—Accounts " of the total number of acres of land in Great
Britain under the cultivation of Hops in" the year 1845 ; distinguish-
-1845 ; distin-
guishing the number of acres in each parish :
~ of the quantity of Hops exported from Great Britain to foreign
countries, from the sth day of January, 1845, to
uctlYs tr°gOaPi:d tlife
the sth day of
"0 Of th
teh de
January, 1846 ; distinguishing the countries to which the same have
been exported, and also the quantities to each county ; also, British
from foreign growths, and the dates of the years ill which the British
Hops were grown:"
" Of foreign Slops imported into the United in..
--mgdorn from the sth
day of January, 1845, to the sth day of January, 1846
; distinguishing
the ports where imported, and the countries from whence exported:"
" Of the total number of pounds weight of Hops charged with
duty in each of the several collections of the United
Kingdom from
the year 1840 to the year 1845, both inclusive."
MALT.—Account " of the total number of quarters
of
malt
made
between the 10th day of October, 1844, and the 10th day of October,
1845 ; distinguishing the quantity made In each country, and the
quantity used by brewers, victuallers, and retail brewers."
BREWERS, &a—Account " of the number of persons in each of the
several collections in the United Kingdom licensed a. ' Brewers,'
' Victuallers,'' to to sell beer to be drunk on the prNntses,,
and ' to sell
beer not to be drunk on the premises ; stating the number
of
each
class who brew their own beer, and the quantity of malt consumed
by them ; particularising each class in each collection, from the 10th
day of October, 1844, to the 16th day yf October, 1845."

NAVY AND STEAM VESSELS (NAVY).
On the motion of Sir Charles Napier the under-named returns
were ordered :
as fax as the records will admit, of ths number
Narir.—Returns
o ttireg cleacro cut clown to deckers, siuco the yor 1800 ;

stating the date of launching and the date ;of cutting down, with the
expense of those cut down since 1832 ; the same as to two deckers
cut down to frigates ; the same as to frigates cut down to corvettes ;
stating the number of guns and weight of metal as frigates, distin-
guishing those which have a spar deck over the main deck and
height of bulwarks, the number of ships, and their names, whose
sterns have been changed on the plan of Sir Robert Seppings, and
the expense, and those chgnged on some other plan, and the expense
of those who have had their magazines changed :"
" Of the number of forty-six, forty-four, and forty-two gun frigates
built since the year 1915; the number cut down, and the number that
remain, stating how many have been at sea, and the length of time :'
" The total expense of all the alterations."
SrEAm VESSELS (Navy).—Return " of steam vessels (bearing
commanders), showing their length, breadth, and depth of hold,
tonnage, quantly of coals they stow, and the number of days the
coals will last at full steam, and according to the usual expenditure ;
the depth under water of the upper part of the lower floats ; the
estimated draft of water with everything on board, and the actual
draft :"

" The same Return of steam vessels commanded by lieutenants
and masters, distinguishing the packets."

LEEK, STAFFORDSHIRE.
ANOTHER CONVERT TO THE FREE-TRADE MEA-
SURES OF SIR ROBERT PEEL', IN THE PERSON
OF D. W. RUSSELL, ESQ, M.P. FOR NORTH
STAFFORDSHIRE.

A meeting of the freeholders and electors of the above
division having been called, by placard, to be held at the
Town-hall, Leek, on Tuesday, the 3d inst., at twelve at noon,
at which it was announced that the Members for the division,
C. B. Adderley, Esq., and a W. Russell, Esq., intended to
state their views and intentions on Sir Robert Peel's com-
mercial policy, and also "hoped to hear what might be the
feelings and opinions of the electors;" at the time appointed
the hall was crowded by electors, and in a short time the
adjoining market-place and streets ware densely crowded by
the inhabitants, anxious to hear the opinions of the Mena-
hers on this vital question. After waiting three-quarters of
an hour, the meeting became very impatient, and appointed
a deputation of gentlemen to wait upon the Hon. Members,
who were snugly located at a neighbouring inn, and from
their prolonged absence it was thought were indifferent about
meeting the electors. In a few minutes, however, the depu-
tation returned, accompanied by the two Hon. Members.
The chair having been taken by J. Bateman, Esq., of Kuy-
persley, a motion was made that an adjournment take place
to the Market-square, whereupon D. W. Russell, Esq. (one
of the Members), begged to make a few observations. He
stated that he came down expecting only to meet his friends
(his usual Conservative supporters), and that he was not
prepared to discuss the question of the corn-laws, neither did
he think it would answer any good purpose—(Cries of " Oh,
oh I")—but he would state that since his election his views
on this question had undergone a change, and he should now
support the free-trade measures of Sir R. Peel.—(Cheers.)
C. 11. ADDERLEY, Esq., the other Member, being called upon
to state his viers, said that his opinions on this matter
remained the same as when he had the honour of being re-
turned their representative, and he still considered it his
duty to oppose any further alteration. Here the pressure
near the door became sn great that an adjournment became
inevitable, and the Hon. Members were warmly urged to
address the multitude in the Market-square. This, however,
they declined, whereon Mr. James Alsop, through one of the
windows, announced to the crowd that they would imme-
diately be addressed from the steps of the Red Lion Inn,
whither he and a number of gentlemen adjourned.
In the meantime the Members very quietly retired to the
house of John Cruse, Esq.
No resolution having been come to in the hall, Mr. Alsop,
silk-manufacturer, after an able speech in favour of free.
trade, moved that the Members be requested to give their
hearty support to the free-trade measures of Sir Robert Peel.
Mr. John Russell, another extensive silk-manufacturer, se%
conded and supported the motion in a speech of considerable
length and ability, which, on being put, was carried unani-
mously. Cheers having been proposed for the Queen, the
Duke of Wellington, Sir Robert Peel, and D. W. Russell,
Esq., M.P. (the free- trade Member), were all nobly re-
sponded to, and the meeting quietly dispersed.
A great number of farmers and dependents of :the mono-
polists had come to the meeting from the surrounding dis-
tricts to support, as they supposed, the Members in their old
views of " protection to agriculture ;" but when, instead of a
quiet hole-and-corner meeting, they found it was crowded
and open, and that one of their champions had deserted them,
great was their chagrin, and hasty and chapfallen was their
departure.

MONEY MARKET and CITY NEWS.
CITY, TUESDAY EVENING.

TlMES.—People here are looking with some anxiety to
the proceedings of the House of Commons for the informa-
tion when the report of the Committee on railways may be
expected; and no hint whatever being given respecting it,
they begin to suspect that it is intended to defer it till after
Friday, the last day for receiving deposits, in order that the
parties who have these payments to make may not be stimu-
lated to any undue exertion, or otherwise by finding that
they do, or do not, come within the rule to be laid down by
that Committee, but depend upon their own judgment and
upon their own resources. It is a species of consolation• to
those who, having themselves nothing to do with these
railway speculations, yet are suffering from their injurious
influence upon the transactions of regular trade, that it must
be fully known in the course of this week what money
will be required for the payment of the deposits, and
that the bankers will then be able to tell precisely
how far they can venture to assist their old customers, who
have been kept off by this temporary pressure and un-
certainty. What is paid in up to Friday inclusive may not
all be ultimately required, as there must be many companies,
strong enough for that preliminary step, who will not ulti-
mately obtain their Bills, and must re- distribute the funds
provided as their qualification. The greater portion of those
i
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ithe
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rrfeeossrepne
tntvi
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futures roust
markets
ea
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funds, too, which belong to the successful applicants, will
pft
ophrreteuhmne
ofco whatevernhee
mintoe ae
may be confidently expected. This is so distinctly seen by
a few of the leading and more sagacious capatalists, that
while the rest were under the influence of an alarm which
induces them to keep all their available means in reserve,
they have continued steadily to make purchases in all de-
scriptions of securities, and have proved by these operations
one main cause that the market has been on the whole so
.veil sustained, the extreme depression of Consols never hav-
ing, in point of fact, gone below 1 per cent. on the current
prices of this day.

If the crisis is -safely passed, of which there exists now at
least a reasonable prospect, it will be a proof that monetary
affairs are under prudent management in the City. Many
were of opinion a few days back that it was impossible for
the new system of banking, by which a limitation is placed
upon the issue', to weather this storm. That remains, of
course, to be proved ; but in the mean time those who watch
what is going on will bear their testimony to the greater
degree of caution which this limitation has induced among
the monied interest. All concerned in discount transactions,
from the Bank down to the smallest discount broker, have
had an unusually difficult part to play during the last five
weeks, the main point being, in all cases where accommoda-
tion was asked, to get at the real grounds of it, and on the
least suspicion of its having originated in railway business,
to reject it, such parties being doubly objectionable, as
liable to be embarrassed themselves, and to be the cause of
embarrassment in others. It made no difference what the
character was of the security offered, for if applicable to a
railway purpose the assistance was usually declined. At the
Bank of England, as a uniform rule, this taint was declared
to be fatal.

Besides the mere amount of the deposits, other disclo-
sures of an interesting kind must be made after Friday, and
the public may expect to find in the instances of new com-
panies of the most undoubted character—companies in which
subscriptions for many times the amount from responsible
parties were tendered—that they are unprepared with the
funds for their deposits. For this the various boards and
provisional committees will have to thank their own grasp-
ing and sordid spirit, which induced them to hold back the
issue of shares for their own private advantage, until they
were caught in the storm, and were unable to place them at
all. Had they allotted their shares freely, and sought no
advantage over the other holders for themselves, which
honour and common honesty alike counselled, they would
have kept on their course safely, whatever the result, and
have escaped the reproach, which now awaits them, of hav-
ing ruined themselves by their own avarice and folly, and at
the same time actually marred the prospects of many under-
takings of acknowledged public utility.
The New York Democratic Review contains, in its usual
spirit, a contrast between the commercial policy of Great
Britain and the United States to the disadvantage of the
latter,designed to show that the high duties in America tend
to produce the mischievous results that might arise from a
natural calamity. As such a calamity the failure of the
English crop is regarded, as its effect is to diminish the con-
sumption of cotton, and to reduce the price of the raw ma-
terial. Now, the consumption of cotton by Great Britain,
as can be proved by official tables, does not exceed that by
the United States, and yet the consumption of the latter is
kept down by the artificially high prices occasioned by the
tariff. The markets present the singular contradiction of an
universal lament on the effect of the English harvest on
cotton, while an equally potent cause of reducing the value of
the great staple exists in the United States.
The Government broker resumed his purchases to-day on
account of the National Debt Commissioners, and laid out
194,0001. in Reduced, and 2,0001. in Three per Cent. South
Sea Annuities, 1751. This stock very seldom makes its ap-
pearance in the market. The original capital was only
2,100,0001., and it is now nearly extinguished. The usual
purchase of 5,0001. for the savings banks was also made.
The Exchequer-bill market has received strength by a pur-
chase by the Chancery broker to the extent of 200,0001.
The premium on gold at Paris is 11 per mille, which,
at the English Mint price of 3/. 17s, 10id. per ounce for
standard gold, gives an exchange of 25 42, and the ex..
change at Paris on London, at short being 25 62k, it
follows that gold is 0.80 per cent. dearer in London than in
Paris.

By advices from Hamburgh the price of gold is 434 per
mark, which, at the English Mint price of 31. 17s. 10id. per
ounce for standard gold, gives an exchange of 13 9%; and
the exchange at Hamburgh on London, at short date,
being 13 11, it results that gold is 0.68 per cent. dearer
in London than in Hamburgh.
The course of exchange at New York on London is
1081 per cent. ; and the par of exchange between England
and America being 109 23-40 per cent., it follows that the
exchange is 0.83 per cent. against England. But the
quoted exchange at New York being for bills at sixty
days' sight, the interest must be deducted from the above
difference.
There was no great alteration in the foreign exchanges to-
day, but, if anything, the rates were a little higher than
last post.

DRTJRY-LANE THEATRE.—MR. WALLACE'S BENEFIT,
—On Thursday (to-morrow) night, the opera of.ll/arstana will
be represented for the 50th time, for the benefit of its talented
composer, Mr. Wallace, who is, we trust and believe, to bs
henceforth one of the foremost among the founders of a
National English Opera. Certainly no first work of any
new English composer has exhibited half the promise of
Maritana, and we have no doubt but that the English
dilettanti will do honour to the merits of one, who will at
no distant period confer on English music a world-wide
reputation.
FORTY SHILLING FREEHOLDS.—The 30th of Jan. is
now pest, and no freeholds, hereafter purchased, will be
available for the register of 1846. Now, therefore, is a fit-
ting time to report the issue of the effort that has been made
in Newcastle and Gateshead, since the great free-trade meet-
ing of the sth inst., to strengthen the anti-corn-law cause in
North Durham and North and South Northumberland.
North Northumberland was not thought of in the first in-
stance; but an application from Edinburgh, indicating the
anxiety of Scottish free-traders to " come over and help
them," induced the committee on the Tyne to extend their
operations farther than they had originally intended. The
result is that seventy-three freeholds have been conveyed to
free-traders residing in Edinburgh, Dundee, and other places,
at an expense to the purchasers of 2,4571., exclusive of the
cost of conveyance, which also falls on the newly-made
Northumberland freeholders. In South Northumberland 123
freeholds have been purchased, and 118 in Durham. The
total number in the three divisions is 314, North, and the
total cost nearly.lo,9ool- herd Brougham's , spiteful speech
of the'22d inst., Justifies us in repeating (although the repe-
tition is, pefhaps, superfluous), that not a penny of the ex-
penses has been borne bY the League. The new freeholders
have themselves provided the purchase money, and, at the
next registration, will become electors as legal and constitu-
ticnial asany Liz the laid..—Gateshead Observer.

1846,