The Sun.
London, England, 1846-12-29 00:00:00

CANALS.

privately for all sorts. White met with a fair sale at al to
9d. Pimento is wanted, but little is to be had, and 4d to
41id is the value. For Nutmegs the market has a quiet ap-
pearance, and former rates are not to be obtained. Mace is not
cheaper, but the demand has fallen off. Cassia Lignea met
with little attention, and is offered upon easier terms.
COCHINEAL. To-day- there was an increased desire
evinced to purchase all descriptions ; a good business was
transacted by private treaty, and the rates paid were Id to
2d above those of the last public sales.
T. —Congou of the low and middling descriptions is
little wanted, and there are sellers even rather under previous
rates ; these sorts are now actually as cheap as they were
prior to the agitation relative to the duty ; for good and fine
former quotations are insisted upon, but they have been
sparingly dealt in by the town and country trade. There is
now no speculative demand for any description.
INDIGO.—Purchases to a fair extent have been made in all

Commission by the Lord Lieutenant of Gloucestershire.
Royal Gloucestershire Regiment of Yeomanry Cavalry—
Frederick Marcus Callaghan, Gent., to be Lieutenant, vice
llaythorne, resigned, Dee. 14.

RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE.
IRISH LINES.
(From the Railway Gazedt6.)

BANKRUPTCY SUPERSEDED.
Thomas William Clark, brewer, Strood, Kent
BANKRUPTS.

At a meeting of direct ors of several of the Irish ra

, way companies, held in Dublin, en Friday, December
I 11, 1846, with a view to considering how the progress
of their works might be made available towarth reliev-
ing the present alarming and increasing destitution of
the poor in this country, it was resolved to lay the fol-
lowing statement before her Majesty's government :
It appears to this meeting that Government aid to
Irish railway companies, by way of loan, would enable
them to assist very materially in relieving the present
distress, and affdrd the same relief for a considerable
period, by providing an immediate and ample field for
unemployed and productive labour, in the acceleration of
their works.
That this employment would not be confined to any lo-
cality, but would be spread over large districts of the
country, from north to south.
To carry out this object the following suggestions are
respectfully submitted :
That, previously to a loan from Government to any
Irish railway company, twenty per cent. of their capital
shall be bona fide paid up, and expended on the under-
taking.

Mary Ann Shenston, scale manufacturer, Brewer-street,
Somers-town, to surrender Jan. 15, at half-past twelve, and
Feb. 9, at one, at the Court of Bankruptcy. Groom, official
assignee, Abchurch-lane, Lombard-street; Kell and Chaffers,
Bedford-row.

William Whitsed Coleman, provision merchant, South-
ampton, Jan. 5, at two, and Feb. 9, at twelve, at the Court
• Bankruptcy. Pennell, official assignee ; Messrs. Free-
man Bothamley, and Benthall, Coleman-street.
Henry Brewer, draper, Great Waltham, Essex, Jan. 9, at
twelve, and 30, at two, at the Court of Bankruptcy. Fol-
lett, fficial assignee, Sambrook-court, Basinhall-street ;
Soles and Turner, Aldermanbury.
John Beddleton Morris, shoemaker, Hull, Jan. 13 and
Feb. 3, at ten, at the Leeds District Court. Kynaston, official
assignee, Hull ; Hicks, Gray's Inn, London ; Bell, or Lovett
and Champney, Hull.
John Percy Moore, chemist, Plymouth, Jan. 14, and Feb.
4, at one, at the Exeter District Court. Hirtzell, official
assignee, Exeter; Cross, Plymouth; Gregory and Co., Bed-
ford-row, London ; Terrell, Exeter.
Thomas Norton, builder, Birmingham, Jan. 9, and Feb. 6,
at eleven, at the Birmingham District Court. Christie,
official assignee, Birmingham ; Chesshire, Birmingham.

X s. d.
40 0 0
50 0 0
100 0 0
100 0 0
100 0 0
50 0 0
25 0 0
100 0 0
10 0 0
50 0 0
100 0 0
20 0 0
2.5 0 0
50 0 0

X i. d.
40 0 0
50 0 0
20 0 0
25 0 0
20 0 0
10 0 0
7 10 0
25 0 0
10 0 0
20 0 0
35 0 0
10 0 0
25 0 0
10 0 0

sorts of East India, and at prices showing. an advance on
those of the last quarterly sales of 2d to 4d per lb ; holders
are sanguine in their expectations as to the future position of
the article, and offer only a trifling quantity for sale. For
Spanish a fair demand exists, and prices are looking up, the
tupply being small.
Rim—There has been a good business transacted is Ben-
gal by private treaty during the last few days ; holders mani-
fest much firmness, and supply the market sparingly; the
rates paid have been 17s to 20s for low to fine white, but com-
mon and middling sorts are still in tke most request. Madras
is wanted at 15s 6d to I7s per cwt, but there is little on offer.
Of Java the market is still without a supply—there are se-
veral buyers, and at stiff rates.

That the Government shall advance to such company a
sum not exceeding thirty per cent. of their capital, in in•
stalments of five per cent., at such times as an equal
amount shall be paid up by the shareholders.
The amount of loan thus required is less than that now
authorised by their acts to be borrowed, but it brings
that power into action sooner.

FRClT.—Prices continue steady; the sales effected have
been limited. Currants remain steady at 54s to 565; further
sales are reported in Cephalonia for Holland at 555. Valencia
Raisins are unaltered, viz. 44s to 46s for good and finest qua-
lities. No further arrivals of Figs, and the quotations re-
main unaltered, although holders are demanding rather
higher rates; other kinds of Turkey fruit are quiet, and we
have not heard of any business worth reporting. Sultana
raisins fully support the recent advanced price of 755.
Ous.—Prices are prevented from improving for Linseed
Oil by the large supply, but the home trade have been in-
duced to operate with more freedom, and on the spot a fair
quantity has been taken by them at 25s 9d per cwt, but the
crushers are desirous to sell thereat as they are getting good
profits. For exportation few buyers are to be met with.
The demand for forward delivery has been limited, although
there are sellers at 26s per cwt. The consumption continues
to be as large as in this country, and on the Continent
it is on the increase—prices vary little from those of this
time last year. Rapeseed Oil met with a brisk demand,
and an advance in the value took place. Olive Oil has been
largely dealt in, and an advance in the value took place.
Cocoa Nut is much in request, and owing to the small sup-
ply buyers are compelled to pay stiffer rates. In Palm large
purchases have been made, and prices have advanced.
The stock of Fish Oil has further decreased, arrivals conti-
nuing small, whereas the deliveries are going on largely, and
a further improvement in the value took place. None has
again been offered at auction, and privately the quantity on
offer is less than it was of all descriptions. Cod met with
ready purchasers, and prices hare improved to 271 lOs to 28/
per tun, but for arrival there are sellers rather under these
rates. In Seal a good business has been done, and a further
improvement in the value occurred.
TALLow.—No further advance has taken place in Russian
on the spot, although the demand has been good. For fine
Petersburgh yellow Candle 51s to 51s 3d per cwt are the
rates accepted. For spring months 51s 6d to Ms 9d are re-
quired, but only a moderate business has been transacted.
Home made met with ready purchasers at 51s to 51s 6d nett
cash. All other sorts of Tallow have been hi excellent re-
quest at the previous currency.

FATAL ACCIDENTS WITH FIRE
ARMS.

We regret to record an accident of a most appalling
nature, which occurred at Milverton on Friday last.
The facts of the case are as follows :—A man, named
Cross, had been on a shooting excursion on the above
day, and on returning home placed his gun, which was
loaded with a full charge, close to the clock. One of his
sons, a mere youth, as soon as his father's back was
turned, took up the gun, and pointing it as his mother,
pulled the trigger, when, shocking to relate, the gun
went off, and the whole contents were lodged in the
forehead of the unfortunate woman's head, whoeimme-
diately fell down dead. The father immediately ran
down stairs when he heard the report, when a frightful
scene presented itself to his view ; the body of his life-
less wife weltering in her blood, and his son standing
over in a frantic condition. The unfortunate woman has
left a large family, to deplore her untimely end.—Seszer-
set County Gazette.
On the 17th inst. Mr. Lovegrove held an inquest at
Bream, •n the body of Thomas Isaacs, a boy about 12
years of age, whose death was occasioned in the follow-
ing most deplorable manner:—Three men, named Thos.
Brown, Wm. Beach, and George Ridler, were in com-
pany together on the previous Sunday morning, the 13th
inst., having two guns with them, with which they
amused themselves shooting at small birds. After a
while they adjourned to the Cross Keys Inn, Bream, and
drank two quarts of beer between them, and then left to
proceed home. The persons who had the guns were
Brown and Ridler, and as they passed along the road a
bird came and alighted within distance for a shot, and
Ridler said, " Shoot the whoop," meaning the bird, upon
which both Brown and Ridler raised their guns to their
shoulders and fired. Only Ridler's gun, however, went
off, that of Brown having hung fire, but this he did not
seem to be aware of ; indeed all three men declare they
believed at th• time that both guns had exploded. While
they were looking for the bird, the boy Isaacs came
up, and as he approached them Brown said to
his companions, " I will have a bit of fun with the boy,"
and then called out to him, "I'll shoot you, my boy."
The poor lad stood still and laughed, and Ridler asked
him, " Where are you going, my little man?" to which
he replied, " Down to Richard Morgan's to have my
dinner." All this time Brown, who was about a yard
from the boy, continued his most unhappy frolic, still
pointing the muzzle of the gun backwards and forwards
in front of the child, when at last the gun went off, and
lodged its contents in the body of the ill-fated boy, who
put his hand to his bleeding breast, and cried out, " Oh
dear, oh dear!" Brown himself seemed horror-stricken
at what he had done, and exclaimed, "Oh Lord, oh
Lord! I have shot the boy—what shall I do ;" and run-
ning to the little fellow, he took him in his arms, and
said, "my dear child, I would not have done it for the
world—l thought my gun was empty." They carried
the wounded victim of this most melancholy and
fatal jesting to a neighbouring cottage, Brown
continuing like a man distracted at what he had
done, and Ridler proceeded with all haste to Coleford
for a surgeon ; but long before his return the deceased
breathed his last sigh, in the cottage to which his man-
gled body had been carried. The above facts were de-
posed to before a very respectable jury, and an ad-
journment took place till Monday next.—Gloucester
Journal.

Su.ch assistance, by inducing the shareholders in the
respective companies more readily to pay up their calls,
appears fully justified by the recommendation of govern-
ment loans to Irish railway companies by the committee
of the House of Commons, in 1845, as—
" Bringing forward a large amount of private capital
in furtherance of public works of great national utility
as well as emolument, and thus confer benefits on Ire-
land which neither public nor private capital separately
employed could ever accomplish."
Without some such assistance it is muck to be feared
that many of the railways now in course of construction
must be greatly delayed, considerably lessened in extent
or altogether stopped ; thereby adding fearfully to the
amount of destitution already existing.
Among the numerous advantages to the government,
the following are respectfully but particularly sug-
gested:—
Alnstead of advancing an immense amount of money,
unassisted, for carrying out works for the most part of
questionable utility, and in many instances worse than
useless, from the pauperising effect already so apparerq
upon the industrial habits of the labourer by the present
53 stem of baronial relief, and with the prospect of re-
payment at the best but doubtful:
By advancing fire millions during the next three
years to Irish railway companies, an additional sum of
ten millions would be paid by the shareholders, thereby
causing fifteen millions to be expended on Irish railways,
the advantages of which can scarcely be over-rated, as
whatever improvements are in contemplation for
Ireland, these must prove to be the most important

This would not create any unnatural demand for, or
give a false and only temporary stimulus to labour, but
would enable Irish railways to progress steadily, and be
completed in about the average time of construction for
such works.

TIIE LONDON GAZETTE.
(THIS EVENING.)

It appears, from the present weekly expenditure by
the Government for relief of distress, and which has
been rapidly on the increase, that by August next the
amount will probably be above 6,000,0004 thus exceed-
ing the loans required for railway companies for the
next three years.
The security would be ample for the repayment of
the loans, which would only amount to three-eights of
the money actually expended on the works, whilst the
direst profit of Government, by borrowing at 3 per cent.,
and lending at 4 per cent., would be as follows :-
5,000,000/. to be returned by annual instalments, in
twenty years, commencing soon after the advance, would
bear a gross amount of interest, equal to an average of
ten years.

Four per cent per annum on 5,000,000/ £200,000
Three ditto dito

---
Leaving a clear profit of £50,000
to the Government, which, upon an average of ten years,
would amount to 500,000/.
To this may be added the indirect but xot unim-
portant advantage in the greatly increased consumption
of tea, coffee, sugar, and other articles paying duties, as
well as of low priced manufactured commodities.
To elucidate still further the result of the proposed
arrangement, the annexed table is respectfully submitted
to the consideration of her Majesty's Government.
LIST A.
IRISH RAILWAY COMPANIES—INCORPORATED 1845.
Name of Company. Capital.
Belfast and Ballymena
Cork and Bandon .
Dublin and Belfast Junction
Dundalk and Enniskillen
Great Southern and Western Extension 1,200,000
Londonderry and Coleraine
Londonderry and Enniskillen
Midland Great Western
Newry and Enniskillen 900,000
Waterford and Kilkenny
Waterford and Limerick

On Saturday last the following melancholy accident
happened in the island of Portland :—As a preventive
man, of the name of Hancock, stationed in the island,
who had just returned from duty, was cleaning the barrel
of his pistol, the charge of which he had unfortunately
omitted to withdraw, while holding it with the muzzle
pointed towards his person, it unhappily went off, and
the contents were lodged in his body, excepting the ball,
which passed through him, causing immediate death.
We regret to add, he has left a widow and seven children
to lament their bereavement of a good husband and
father. An inquest was held on the body on Monday,
before J. Wallis, Esq., county coroner, when the jury
returned their verdict, " Accidental death." We _hear
that a subscription has been begun, and liberally se-
conded, on behalf of the distressed widow and family.—
Sherbettrne Journal.

X7;425,722

SLAVE AUCTION SCENE IN
AMERICA.

LIST B.
IRISH RAILWAYS—INCORPORATED 1846.
Name of Company. Capita,.
Belfast and County Down 500,000
Clonmel and Thurles
Cork, Blackrock, and Passage 130,000
Cork and Waterford
Dublin, Belfast, and Coleraine Junction
Dublin, Dundrum, and Rathfarnham
Dublin and Kingstown Extension 300,000
Galway and Kilkenny .............
Great Leinster and Munster—Carlow to
Kilkenny
Great Leinster and ,Munster—Kilkenny to
Clonmel
Great Southern and Western—Cork Ezten-

In the winters of 1840 and 1841, having business in
Western Virginia, where this peculiar institution
flourishes in its mildest form (be it remembered I was
at this time opposed to anti-slavery principles), Dec.
28th, I found myself at Martinsburg. the county seat of
Berkley. About ten o'clock of the aforesaid day, I ob-
served a crowd congregated in the public square, in front
of a superior-looking building, which had very much the
appearance of a gaol, as it proved to be. On inquiring
of my landlord the cause of the meeting, he said it was
"a hiring"— in other words, a negro sale, as I after-
wards found that a number were hired for life. I
walked down to the market, and to obtain a better view,
I mounted a large waggon in the street, directly opposite
to the stand of the auctioneer, who had commenced his
work. He was a large man, dressed in aristocratic
style, with a profusion of ruffles, gold finger-
rings, watch-seals, and last, and not least, a large whip,
called by drivers a "loaded whip." The hiring I un-
derstood to be of a number of slaves of a certain
estate, who were hired out from year to year to the
highest bidder, for the benefit of the heirs. These sales
take place between Christmas and new year—the holi-
days—quite a recreation for the slaves who are to change
masters. After a number had been disposed of in this
way, the crier announced that he would offer for sale
six slaves. He then put up two, father and son. The
old man was near sixty years of age, a cripple ; the
son was about twenty-three, a perfect specimen of man.
There were present two Georgia soul-drivers, who bid
eight hundred dollars for both. When the crier re-
marked it was a small bid for both, the Georgian re-
plied, he would gi►e eight hundred - without the old
man, as he was of no account. The young man gave
the bidder a lock that would have shamed the devil ;
the old man wept bitterly. The son sold on the
bid ; and the father was sold for sixty dollars to an
old farmer, who had never kept a slave in his
life. Thus father and son were separated. The next
was that of a girl fifteen years of age. (These slaves had
been hired out to different individuals the past year.)
She was brought crying upon the stand. With an oath,
he bid her stop her "blubbering," and then proceeded
with the sale She was sold for one hundred
and fifty. The next case was that of a young white
woman, sixteen years old, with a young child• I say
white woman, because the auctioneer said she was only
one-eighth black, and I have seen many of the fair girls
of Ohio who could not boast of as fair complexion, or as
good figure or features. She came upon the stand
with her infant in her arms, in the deepest
misery. A gentleman who had taken his seat
beside me, observing that I was much inte-
rested, remarked, he thought I was a stranger in
that country. I answered that I was. " These things
look odd to you." " They do." Said he, "you see that
man in the crowd," pointing to one within a few paces of
the stand ; " that is Dr. G. He hired that girl last year
and that child is his !" The Georgian bid three hun-
dred dollars ; some one bid four ; the Georgian bid four
hundred and fifty. The girl cast a piercing glance at
the crowd—her eyes rested on Dr. G., who instantly
averted his face; she gazed one moment, then burst into
a torrent of tears. She was knocked off to the Georgian.
Thus the fiend saw his child and its mother sold into
southern bondage. My God ! thought I ; is it postiible?
I was cured of my pro-slavery principle.—Cineinnati
Herald.

600,000

300,000

stop lOO,OOO
Killarney Junction 375,000
Limerick, Ennis, and Killaloe
Midland Great Western—Athlone
Midland Great Western—Liffey Branch 33,000
Mountmellick Junction ....
Newry, Warrenpoint, and Rostrevor
Sligo and Shannon
Templemore and Nenagh ..............
Waterford, Wexford, Wicklow, and Dublin 2,000,000
Wexford, Carlow, and Dublin

THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 291 1846.

ground the promoters of the measure take. their stand,
and state that "the construction of the line cannot be
postponed without the most disastrous results both to
city and state—that if three millions of dollars be not
subscribed to the capital stock and 10 per crnt. thereon
paid in, on or before the 13th day of April next, and
unless one million of dollars be paid on the amount sub-
scribed, and thirty miles of road put under contract,
before the 30th of July following, the grant of
the 'right of way' which is now only conditional,
will then become positive, in which event all the
advantages which we now have it in our power to
secure for Philadelphia and Pennsylvania are to be
transferred to the city of Baltimore, and the Baltimore
and Ohio RailroadCompany,to whom have been granted
the privilege of diverting the trade and travel from our
own city as well as the revenue from the state improve-
ments. The Pennsylvania rail will, on the contrary,
greatly increase the revenue derived from the state im-
provements, both from canals and railroads, particularly
from the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad with which
it will be connected. It will furnish in connexion with
the Ohio Railroads, now in progress of construction,
and with which it will be united, the most central, the
shortest, the cheapest, and best route between the At-
lantic seaboard and the great West, and must, therefore,
attract to itself an immense amount of trade and travel,
as the following table will makeimanifest :
Miles. Max'm grade
per mile

From Cleveland to Boston, via But-
falo, Albany, and Massachusetts
R. Roads
From Cleveland to New York via the
New York and Erie Railroad
From Cleveland to New York, via
Pittsburg, Harrisburg, and Phi-
ladelphia ...

80 feet.

60 "

560

45 "

From aleveland to Philadelphia, via
Pittsburg and Harrisburg 466 45 "
It will thus be seen that Cleveland, the most importan,
city on the lakes, and the northern terminus of the Ohio
State Canal, more than 300 miles in length, and the Cin-
cinnati, Columbus, and Cleveland Railroad, now in pro-
gress, 260 miles in length, both passing through highly
productive portions of the State, is situated 265 miles
nearer Philadelphia by the Pennsylvania route than to
Boston by the new York and Massachusetts route, and
174 miles nearer Philadelphia by the Pensylvania route
than to the city of New York by the shortest New York
route, whilst the maximum gradients in all cases are
greatly in favour of the Pennsylvania route. Who,
therefore, can reasonably doubt that a railroad possess-
ing such superior advantages will attract to itself an
immense amount of trade and travel, richly remunerating
the stockholders, at the same time adding largely to
the revenues of the commonwealth, and contributing
beyond all present estimates to the growth and comfort,
the business and prosperity of Philadelphia ? What
has been the effect of similar improvements in other
cases ? But for the construction of the main line from
Philadelphia to Pitsburg, imperfect as it is, and im-
peded by frosts and droughts for a considerable
portion of the year, and other internal improve•
ments, the population, business, and real estate of
these two cities, as well as of other portions of the
State, would scarcely have equalled two-thirds
of the present estimates. The construction of the
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, towards which the city of
Baltimore largely contributed, although completed only
half the entire distance, has. as is stated, nearly or quite
doubled the amount of her western trade, and greatly
augmented the value of her real and personal estate,
whilst the nett earnings of the road are already more
than equal to the interests on the investment. The city
of New York, within ten years from the completion of
the New York and Erie Canal, had nearly doubled her
population, and the value of her real and personal
estate had swelled from 100 millions to 218 millions,' and
went on increasing, notwithstanding great pecuniary dif-
ficulties and devastating fires, until the completion of the
railroad from Boston to Albany, which has had a sensible
effect in diminishing the western trade, and thereby the
value of her real and personal estate. The road from
Albany to Boston was completed in 1841, in which year
the value of her real and personal estate in the city of
New York was 252 millions ; in 1842, 238 millions ; in
1843, 228 millions; in 1844, 236 millions; and in 1845,
240 millions ; still 12 millions less than in 1841,
although in the interim several thousand buildings
were erected. New York, partly with the hope of
recovering her lost advantages, had found it expedient
to construct a railroad (running nearly parallel with
the Hudson river) and another to Dunkirk on Lako
Erie, at an aggregate expense of some twenty millions
of dollars. " Upon Boston the effect of this road (from
Boston to Albany) has been most remarkable. In the
four years intervening from 1841 to 1845, her population
has increased from 93,000 to 115,000, and the value of
her real and personal estate within the same period,
from $98,000,000 to $135,000,000. When this growth
is compared with bar former history, as the oldest city
on the Atlantic, we shall be able to appreciate her
astonishing progress under the disadvantages of a soil
ungenial, almost to sterility." Even the city of Albany,
though small in comparison, has aided much more
liberally in proportion to her means than Philadelphia
is now desired to, towards the construction of a rail-
road designed to promote her trade and intercourse.
That city has thereby greatly increased, not only the
business, but the value of her real and personal estate,
and at the sane time is receiving dividends on the
amount of her investment at the rate of 8 per cent. per
annum. Yet none of these improvements held out.
originally, any advantages, either general or special
at all to be compared with those that may reasonably be
expected front the speedy construction of the Pennsyl-
vania Railroad. If satisfactory assurances are given
that this road will be promptly commenced and pushed
forward to completion, we may safely calculate not only
upon a connexion with the, Pittsburg and Cleveland
road, and the road leading from Cincinnati via Colum•
bus to Cleveland, but also with the Sandusky and Mans-
field road, either at Mansfield or Mount Vernon, with
a probable e.xtension westward, through the cen-
tral portions of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, to
the Mississippi river, with branches from the
north and the south, which in less than three
years from its completion will bring to the main stem an
amount of trade and travel far surpassing all present cal-
culation. This is the true, and the only true method of
securing for Pi iiladelphia any considerable portion of the
trade of the lak es. The produce and commodities, which,
in the absence of such railroad facilities as we have above
suggested, are now, at much expense, conveyed chiefly
from the north ern and central portions of Ohio, Indiana,
and Illinois, to ports on the lakes, and give employment
to a vast amonnt of tonnage, if once afloat on those
waters, may be considerectasiost-to Philadelphia. If we
design to secure for Philadelphia "the' trade of the
lakes," we must intercept it before it reaches the lakes.
At Cleveland, Sandusky, and Toledo, and between the
two places last named, a railroad is now contemplated ;
we have the advantage in distance of 174 miles, and at
all points 50 miles south of the lakes, 274 miles over New
York, and a still greater advantage over Boston, and
during the five months of the year, when the lakes are
closed, which is the season when the products of the west
are generally pr epared for market, the cities named can-
not compete witl i us, either for the trade or travel, ex-
cept by our " c entral route." The navigation of the
lakes is usuall7 obstructed by ice from five to six
months in the fear, whilst the railroad during seasons
of frost, as well as at all other seasons, will furnish
a ready, safe, and expeditious conveyance, without
trans-shipment, to a steady and desirable market.
On such a railroad, so extended and connected,
it has been estimated, by good judges, that
the tonnage e annot bo less than 200,000, and
the passengers 3 00,000 per annum! Who shall calcu-
late the effect of i such an increased amount of trade and
travel upon the commerce and navigation, and the
growth and prosperity of Philadelphia? But what if
the Permsylvaniei. ,Railroad be not made, and the Balti-
more and Ohio Company, as they would in that case
have the right to do, should extend their road to Pitts-
burg, and form la connexion -with the Ohio railroads, to
which we have a hove.- alluded. 'All the advantages, we
repeat, which we have it new in. our power to secure for
our own state and city; would then be fransferred to the
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and to the city of Balti-
more. Some, WI) 'are aware, have affected to believL
that Philadelphist; because of her superior capital, and
the deservedly high character of her merchants, would
still retain her pr esent portion of the western trade, al-
though she might not be able to increase it. This we
believe to be a fatal delusion. The position of Baltimore,
so far as regards the foreign and coastwise trade, is at
least equal to that of Philadelphia; and, in the case
above supposed, leer advantages in respect to the wes-
tern trade would bet greatly superior. The distance by
railroad from that city to Philadelphia is 93 miles. The
additional expense, therefore, of transporting 200,000
tons of freight between the two points, at the low rate of
three cents. per ton per mile, and 21 cents. per ton for
charges in Baltimore, would be ............ $600,000
And for conveying :100,000 passengers at the
same rate, and the same allowance for ex-
penses in Baltimore, would be

900,000

0
Making an sainual tax of •••
ie1,500,00
against Philadolphi a and in favour of Baltimore, or n that
ratio according to t he greater or less amount of business
and travel passing by that route between Philadelphia
aid the West. So monstrous a tax as this the business
men of Philadelphia cannot afford to pay, and the
Western dealer will not pay. By the construction of
the Pennsylvania railroad, Philadelphia will be placed
even nearer to Pitt aburgh, and to the main channels of
the western trade, than Baltimore can possibly be by
way of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, whilst the
maximum gradients on the latter nearly double those
on the former. Nature has afforded us advantages and
facilities with respect to railroad improvements enjoyed
by no other Atlar ttic city, and if we avail ourselves of
these advantages I Ind facilities, while it is yet time, the
growth and prospi mity of Philadelphia will at least equal,
if it do not surpass;, that of any other city in the union.
Some have entertained the opinion that if the Baltimore
and Ohio Railroad Company should ultimately extend
their road through -Virginia to the Ohio river at Wheel-
ing, or Fishing Creek, a large portion of the trade and
travel ascending that stream would be diverted
by that road, notwithstanding its short curvatures and
gradients, varying from eighty-two to a hundred feet
per mile, and cone equent high charges. This we believe
to be a groundlesis apprehension. The average period
in each year, for a number of years past, during which
the Ohio river could not be navigated to advantage by
steam-boats, is less than six weeks, say thirty-nine
days—previously to the arrival of which period, western
produce is usu ally sent to market—and it is
during this short space of time only that
this road could 'enjoy any of these supposed advan-
tages. The Pennsylvania route, by its connexion
with Cincinnati, above referred to, will strike the
river many miles below, at one of our most important
cities. To and from this point the passenger desirous of
avoiding the river would assuredly take the railroad.
Where expedition is of more importance than low freight,
or in low stages of water, the same would be the case
with merchandize. Where low freight is as object, as is

almost always the case with produce and heavy articles,
Pittsburg, the head of navigation, would of ceure be
preferrsd as the point of transhipment to any point lower
down. Whether, therefore, we consider the expedition
and adlantligeit of railroad commituication alone, or
these combined with the f
den, the Perlllaylvattia route rtil:,/ -CV, r,t.cf,•l,
views of the oppii,ition are ern., diell In what is
entitled an anti•sui,seription addr.sg, it on-
tended that the expected cost or the line of from seven
to ten millions of dollars is a perfect probability, seeing
that the cost of railways hitherto has only been imper-
fectly estimated among them. It asset is that the progress
of private subscription has proved to be inconsiderable,
when compared with the demands of the charter; and
this was the natural cons,Aitence of what had taken
place. The commissioners adjourned their last meeting
in September to a day beyond the coming election, be-
, cause, it may be presumed, private subscription had
ceased to come in. The interference of the new coun-
cils has become the principal, if not the final, hope of
the railroad ; and after merchants, traders, manufac-
turers, mechanics, householders, lot-owners, and pro-
prietors of every kind in the city, in the districts, and
in the state at large, have preyed either so blind or so
true to their own interests as not to have subscribed to
secure the charter, the Whig list or candidates for the
councils has been formed by the conferees precisely in
that manner that will compels every owner of
real estate in the city to submit to the road,
whatever may be his view either of his own
interests or of the interest of the corporation.
A voluntary subscription has failed. It never
was resorted to in the temper, spirit, and manner
through which alone it could be obtained, From the
very outset, all the calculations of profit and all the sug-
gestions of personal interest put forth by the friends and
patrons of the road were completely and fatally dis-
credited by their own course in resorting to the city ;
and it has now come to be the nearly universal feeling,
that if the city does not make it, the road will not be
made ; and that if the city does make it, it will only
be made by her because the sacrifice of private capita' to
make it will be so much beyond the value to the sub-
scribers, that men acting with the instincts which govern
all trades and the investments of all property for their
own account, will have nothing to do with it. The
railroad itself is no object of aversion to any of us—far
from it. We should be glad to see it made by those who
see their interest in it, for then we should- be morally
sure that it would be worth the expenditure ; but we
confess our doubts, in consequence of the doubts which
are practically manifested by those who say the road is
indispensable to the city. We confess our doubts,
arising from this cause, whether the road is so importnt
to any interest as it has been declared to be ; and we
entertain a perfect conviction that if by the interest
of the city is meant the interest of the cot.•
poration of the city, or the interest of the owners
of property in the city, that so far is the declara-
tion from being true, that it is directly opposed to the
truth. On this point we ask your attention to the fol-
lowing suggestions. There is one proposition connected
with this subject, the truth of which has, we believe
never been questioned ; that is to say, that if the city
shall subscribe for the number of shares proposed, pri-
vate subscriptions will cease altogether, and the city
must take the burden of the whole railroad upon her-
self. There is another, which we think equally clear,
that she must raise the money by loans, if she can, and
mast pay the interest by taxes, if she can. She has no
other disposable resources. No financiering will relieve
the property of the inhabitants from this burden. There
is a third, that all experience in Pennsylvania shows to
be as true as either of the others ; that for years and
years to come, and for a period which we are unable to
measure, this burden of taxes must continue. There is
not an extensive work of this kind in the state, whether
public or private, that brings any dividend to its stock-
holders. You may look around this city in every direc-
tion. Railroads and canals have been projected and car-
ried on in the same spirit which now rules, and the end
at this time is that the stocks of most of the private com-
panies have disappeared from the brokers' exchange as of
no commercial value ; that even their loans are far,
very far, below par, except ,in some solitary instances,
and that we pay a tax to meet the interest on the loans
contracted by the state to make such of these works as
are public, and shall continue to pay it, as long as the
public faith shall endure. Can any person tell when the
dawn is to break upon the long night which has settled
upon most of these companies and works ? There have
always been arguments, very good arguments, against
any such occurrences as have happened ; but the occur-
rences are before our eyes, and unless we shut them, and
keep them shut, it is impossible to avoid seeing them in
every direction ; and unless men are willing to be
cheated, and even desirous of being cheated, they will
take no argument whatever against such experience.
There is another proposition which has great probability
on its side, though it may not be so evident as the other,
namely, that in proportion as any dividends from a
successful railroad shall meet a part of the interest on
the city loans, we may look for a diminution of re-
ceipts upon a long line of the public works, and
increased taxation to meet it. What we may cease
paying in part to the city, we shall pay to the state.
These taxes, fellow-citizens, are to fall upon what ?
Upon any new property within the city which the
railroad is to create. Upon an increased capital of the
trader, manufacturer, and mechanic within her limits ?
Upon an increased value of her houses and lots ? Not
at all ; or if at all, only in a most inconsiderable de-
gree. When the advocates of this subscription say that
the railroad will produce an increase of taxable capital
in the city of Philadelphia corresponding to the interest
on the increased debt, they use an ambiguous name,
which must be reduced to certainty before we can rea-
son with them. If they mean an increase of capital, or
a profit to the whole commercial eity, including all the
districts, their allegation does not meet our objection.
Our concern is in the corporate city, and the corporate
city can derive no profit and no taxes from anything
beyond its limits. The increase, to be of any value in
the argument, must be within its limits. Now what is
the probable increase of houses and stores, or in their va-
lue, within those limits which the railroad is to set off in
aid of the tax paid ? In which direction, let us ask, is
the progress of buildings and improvements at the pre-
sent time under the influence of existing public im-
provements ? Let any man take a walk round our
city, and his eyes will see progress in the north, the
north-east, and north-west, and very little else-
where. This is the destiny of things not to be arrested,
and the railroad is to accelerate it. The great future
growth is to be in those directions, and not within the
limits of the city. For purposes of transportation to the
west the whole river front may be employed, as well as
that within the city, and' that to receive the trade from
the west it must happen, in this case as it universally
happens, that buildings of every kind will stretch out
towards the country- to meet the productions which are
coming in. The true interest- and the necessary policy
of the city is to reduce -her taxes as low as she can, to
make them; if possible, lower than those in the northern
districts, to counteract the advantage of position which
these districts enjoy over her western front, for ever lost
to the pnrposes of trede, as much as Moyamensing, and
destined to be the residence, not of tradery, but of per-
sons of easy fortune and of moderate income, and pos-
sibly of some manufactories, if the weight of taxes does
not drive them away. We say with confidence that every
dollar of tax which the railroad debt shall bring upon
the city, is a premium upon residence and improvement
in these districts, and therefore an injury to the city. It
is a premium for deserting the city west of Broad-street,
the only material space now remaining to be built upon.
The tax will be avoided, and equal or greater conve-
nience in residence obtained by going north. A rail-
road tax upon the city_ must have the double effect to
discourage investments in the city, and to increase them
in the districts; to increase the value of property else_
where, and to diminish it at home. It is felt, and justly
felt, to be hard that the western trade, which is the
golden fleece this railroad is to obtain for our traders,
even if every dollar of it comes into the city, will not
pay one dollar of taxation towards the expenses of the
road. The trade is not expected to be taxed; it cannot
be taxed; it eludes state taxation at this present time,
when there is a clear and positive law to tax it, and the
state does not get a dollar from it. The taxes must
fall on that on which the present taxes fall, and if any
one thinks they are not heavy enough at present, we
cannot object to his voting for those who will vote to
increase them. The taxes, then, fellow•citiaens, which
this railroad is to necessitate, are not to fall upon the
new houses and stores within the city, which are to be
built up in consequence of it, not upon the increased
capital of the trader, nor upon the increased value of
existing houses and stores. They are to fall upon the
property now existing, and in our judgment to depre•
ciate the value of the great mass of that property,
and to raise the value of like property in
the districts. It is this general proposition
that we ask you to consider. There may he, and if
the road should prove successful, there probably will be,
exceptions in favour of certain descriptions of property
in the city. But the proposition we hold to be generally
true; and we had vastly rather, as citizens of this city,
take the hazard of losing the western trade, if it is to
be lost, of which we have little fear, than to incur the mo

mentous responsibility of burdening the city with a tax to
make the road, with the probable consequences which
are before us. We wash our hands of it, as we hope you
will do. There are many other objections to this scheme
of compelling the corporation to build the railroad,
which we can only name, without explaining and enforc-
ing them :—the extreme rashness of embarking the city
in such a project upon mere credit, for she has no dis-
posable property to pay her subscription without borrow-
ing; the jealousy which is certain to be entertained of
her by the country and by the legislature, if she success-
fully controls such a work, where there exists quite
enough of that feeling already; the fierce contentious of
party within her limits for the control of all the contracts,

appointments and emoluments that are to grow out
of the road; the defects of the railroad charter,
which give the company no security whatever for the
enjoyment of the Columbia railroad upon equal terms
with those who use the state works, nor for consulting
the interest or convenience of the company in the use of
it, and which contains no authority to the company to
make a road between Harrisburg and Philadelphia, for
its own use, while, in a certain event, it is careful to
Ore that right from Harrisburg to Lancaster ; the de-
.•

fective management that must arise under the'directors
and agents of a municipal legislature, of annual elec-
tion, of occasional attendance, of imperfect experience,
distant from the scene, and expending from the city
purse, and not from their own; these and other objec-
tions fill us with the deepest apprehensions.

SHIPWRECK FROM FAIR WEATHER.—There has
recently been an instance of shipwreck caused by fair
weather. When the sea is agitated, it always breaks on
the rocks lying at the mouth of the Charente, and sailors
can thus avoid them. But one night lately the sea was
so calm that, by the light of the moon, no symptom of
peril could be perceived, and the English brig the Ann,
proceeding from England to Charente, came right on
the rocks and was wrecked. Fortunately the crew
escaped.