The Sun.
London, England, 1848-12-07 00:00:00

THE SUN,

a piece of tarpaulin ! This was at about the noon of
j the night between Friday and Saturday. The result
I proved to be only such as common sense would tell
every one was inevitable. The dizziness and qualms
of sea• sickness were very soon forgotten in the un-
endurable sensations of suffocation. Efforts were
made to force a way out of the confinement—they
were found to be unavailing. Shouts were raised to
attract attention—they were drowned in the roaring
noise of the storm. And then, according to the de-
scription of the few survivors, ensued a spectacle such
as sets the imagination of even the most morbid at
defiance. The steamer drove bravely through the
tempest, while those who directed her remained
wholly unconscious of the frightful conflict for life
and death which was then raging in her very entrails.
The trampling and beating sounds within the cabin
were rendered inaudible by the throbbing of the
pistons, and the shrieks and groans of the sufferers
only died away with the gale towards morning. Not
until then were the seamen aware of the tragedy
which had been enacted under their very
feet. Out of the one hundred passengers
who had been driven down the companion-ladder a
few hours before-72 were found to have perished !
Men, and women, and little children, husbands
and wives, sons and mothers, were heaped
about the floor of the cabin in disorder,
some with their clothes torn from their
backs in tatters, some with their hands and
faces lacerated, some with their features trodden into
a "mummy" by the iron-shod "brogues" of their
fellow-sufferers—here a father locked in the arms of
his daughter—there a sister clinging to the corpse of
her brother—their countenances black and distorted
with the convulsions produced by suffocation. At
ten o'clock on Sunday morning the Londonderry
put into Derry, and then the crew and the captain
(JOHNSTON) were taken into custody by order of the
authorities.

While the examination is still proceeding, and while
our judgment is agitated with the emotions caused by
a misfortune so remarkable, it would, to say the
least of it, be injudicious to decide upon the extent of
the culpability of the persons who are charged with
negligence. That there is culpability somewhere,
and that that culpability is most grievous, no one
will for one instant deny. It remains, there-
fore, for the Coroner's jury, now sitting at
Derry, to pronounce an accurate and equitable
decision. In doing so they must discover whether
the space and other conveniences afforded by the
saloon cabin were overlooked by the captain and his
subordinates, and whether in any single particular
due attention was paid to the comforts or to the con-
dition of the passengers.

The Bank of England has made its appearance in
a new character. Henceforward it may be regarded
as a vast trading, as well as a banking corporation.
The Act of 1844 stripped its directors of many of the
discretionary powers formerly entrusted to them.
They were no longer permitted to regulate the cur•
rency of the country by an unrestricted issue of
paper, they were compelled to have bullion stored in
their cellars for every note in circulation beyond the
14,000,0001., which might be based upon securities.
There was, therefore, some plausibility at least in the
assertion, that they were justified, :subsequently
to the passing of that Act, in entering
into competition with other joint-stock and private
banks, and released from every obligation save that
of consulting the pecuniary interests of the pro-
prietors, so far as the conduct of their banking de-
partment was concerned.
It has never however, we believe, been put forward
up to this time, that the Bank should enter into any
of the many branches of trade carried on throughout
the country, that it should be permitted to embark
any portion of its capital in manufactures, trade, or
commerce, or to mingle new and very different
functions with those which came legitimately
within the sphere of its operations. We had supposed
that the Bank of England traded in money alone,
that its sole business was to lead the notes it was em-
powered to issue to parties engaged in the various
branches of trade—to yield a general support to the
commercial interests, but that it should not enter
into competition in any respect in their dealings ;
that it should not bring its enormous resources into
operation to crush and overwhelm those with whom
it might choose to enter into rivalry. 'We must now,
however, acknowledge our mistake. It appears that
this gigantic corporation deals in iron as well as in
notes, and that, from the peculiar facilities it pos-
sesses, it is enabled to undersell all competitors, and to
dispose of its wares in the market at a cheaper rate
than similar articles can be produced by others of
less power and influence.
A letter from Mr. CRAWSIII; the eminent iron-
master, which will be found in another part of our
Impression this day, casts new light upon the pro-
ceedings of the Bank. That gentleman states
that he is an ironmaster, carrying on va-
rious iron works, under the superintendence of
his sons, and that he is also an iron merchant, and
the extensive nature of his dealings may be estimated
from the fact, that the wages which he pays to his men
amount to the large sum of 25,0001. per month, or
300,000/. per annum. It might be supposed that,
with such resources, Mr. CRAWSHAY need not fear
any competition to which he might be subjected, that
he could produce the article, in the manufactur e
of which he is engaged, at as cheap a
rate as any other person or body of per-
sons in the empire. Such, however, proves to be
contrary to the fact. Although, owing to the falling
off in the demand for rails, the iron trade is in a state
of depression, and bar iron and rails may be purchased
at prices below the actual cost of production, there
are parties who contrive to sell at a lower rate than
any of the ordinary traders, so cheaply as to make it
worth while even for the manufacturers themselves
to purchase from their new rival. Mr. C&AWSHAY
thus details their proceedings. He says,—" I have
met with the most cutting competition from a com-
pany of ironmasters entitled in the iron trade the
Bank of England ;' and in Liverpool and London
almost every quotation which I make to inquirers of
the price of iron for export is met with the reply, the
Bank of England will sell considerably lower
To a quotation which I made to a metal-broker,
for only fifty tons of sheet-iron for shipment
to India of 91. per ton, free on board in the docks
here, I received the answer, I can buy it from
the Bank of England at 71. 10s., free on board

here;' and I have since been informed, by the

same party, that he so bought the . said

60 tons of sheet iron, the total price being 3751,
_ _ _ _

n consequence of this low and to the makers ruinous

sale of sheet-iron, I deputed the same broker to

purchase of the Bank of England for me 100 tons

of the same description. But, after a delay in the
acceptance of my order of three days, I was in-
formed that the Bank of England had been deceived

,n the quantity of sheet-iron which they could
- -

manufacture, and having already sold several other

parcels, could not enter into further engagements at
present."

Ilere then we have this fact of the dealing at
ruinously low prices on the most unquestionable au-
thority, And it remains to be seen what justification
will
be put forward by the directors for this most
which
hnktable departure from the objects for which
out hfnew:B,
itw asobttisntietautesod,
tnanadnyfovraltuhaeblefuretxhcelruasnivcee
privileges.

If the Bank had, indeed
advancE sto an comp , maialtedlarge and indiscreet
y y or
and that they had
been compelled to take a mortgagey ,
wonoulyldb tan-
its
security that could be obtainas
Bible
ts:lit. e
duty to bring the trade
a
into the market for sale with all o g°"w:iiii
ipeed. If any loss were sustained in conseqounevoelrli,
e --
such a course, it should be regarded as one of thof
consequences to which the institution must neces-
sarily be liable, and should be written off as a bad
debt, but nothing whatsoever can warrant so palpable
a violation of the charter as the carrying ou any trade

or manufacture for any period however brief, or to
avert any losses however weighty.
If the principle could for a moment be sanctioned
it would be impossible to define any limit, or to say to
what extent it might not be carried. 'What branch of

„ --
trade could be safe from the intrusion of the "Levia-

than ?" Cotton or woollengoodsMight surely be man u-
ractured as well as iron, corn or wine might be dealt
in with equal propriety. It is the general interest to
resist so flagrant an usurpation—all parties are equally
interested in resisting the encroachments.
The corporation may be possessed of enormous