The Sun.
London, England, 1846-03-30 00:00:00

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LONDON, MONDAY, MARCH 30, 1846.

Our satisfaction at . the Ministerial introduction of
free trade, earnest as it then was, is, if possible, at the
present moment tenfold. Early on Saturday the Corn
Bill passed a second reading, with a majority of eighty-
eight ! A majority which, though actually inferior to
the ninety-seven votes which gave a Parliamentary
accordance to the first reading, is, in fact, positively
greater than the previous majority, when the numbers
of both divisions are respectively submitted to the right
arithmetical test, and brought into immediate juxta-
position. The deduction to be drawn from this is ab-
stractly significant—to us it is an extension of victory.
In addition, however, to this most important and in-
disputable fact, the other proceedings coincident with
last night's discussion cannot but afford the sincerest
pleasure to every lover of liberality, to every one, in
short, interested in the welfare of humanity. As Sir
ROBERT PEEL'S reason is now attached wholly and
emphatically to those principles which have been advo-
cated by men hitherto distinguished as his political
antagonists, we feel assured that the hearts of those
quondam-antagonists are now wholly and emphatically
attached to a statesman so honourably and valorously
a3tuated as himself. His address of Saturday evening,
was eminently worthy of his present position—a posi-
tion which we hesitate not to characterise
as the most dignified, the most exalted, and
the most enviable Prime Minister ever occupied. Ordi-
narily regarded, his arguments here might be aspersed
as mere reduplications of previous inferences. Not so—
his remarks as to the causes and effects of the proposed
measure upon the social system of England, of Ireland,
indeed of the world at large, if not altogether novel,
were at least advanced in a new way, and accompanied
with fresh illustrations. To that speech we commend
the so-called country party, and we do so, we must
confess, with just a trifle of malice prepense—they will
find their personalities upon the Premier so dissected,
and analysed, and torn as it were to ribbons
by the quiet sarcasm and withering corollaries
of Sir ROBERT. Nor was Sir JAMES GRAHAM
less fortunate in the materiel or in the influence of his
very practical and ingenuous address. Assuredly it must
have afforded Lord GEORGE 13ENTINCK anything but
feelings of ;ratification to witness the casualty—(as we
may call it)— by winch the observations of the Home
Secretary were preceded—a casualty most apropos to
the purpose of the Right Honourable Baronet, but most
ill• timed and calamitous for the sprouting statesmanship
and youngling oratory of his Lordship. This casualty
was no other than the presentation by Mr. COBDEN of a
petition from the tenantry of Sir JAMES GRAHAM
himself', expressing their extreme satisfaction at
the course of policy now pursued by her MAJESTY'S
Government, and at the same thaw distinctly
and positively asserting " that the assertion made by
Lord GEORGE BENTINCK, that the whole of the farmers
on the Netherhy estate, with one exception, had signed
the petition from East Cumberland in favour of protec-
tion to agriculture, is erroneous and unfounded in fiat 1'
Be it ob:erved, moreover, that the Right Hon. the
Secretary for the Home Department, denied having any
cognizance whatever of the existence or even the inten-
tion of such a petithn from his tenantry until
the moment before lie rose to address the
House, when the Honourable Member for Stock-
port laid that document before the representatives. It
is not irrelevaw, neither is it superfluous to reiterate a
circumstance to which, if we recollect right, we have
timely on a former occasion referred. We allude to the
fact of Sir JAMES G RAHAM'S revenue being exclusive Iy
derivable fr,',ln his landed possessions, and a great por-
tion of which land proves remarkably unproduc-
tive, even under the most sedulous cultiva
tion. netare crcv y person cannot but
perceive that the Right Honourable Baronet would
be naturally averse to arty measure likely to deteriorate
his property, and ther,fore could scarcely be supposed
to advocate a Bill with one quarter the zeal which he has
testified upon the present occasion, unless he were tither
actuated by a most noble and scarcely piralieled act-
of magnanimity, by sacrificing his own individual interest
for the benefit of his less elevated countrymen, jeopar-
dizing, in short, the very lifeblood of his fortunes,
solely fur the pablic good, or, unless he were

convinced—fully and thoronghly con vinced—tha:
the proposed measure could inflict no injury
whatever upon agriculture. Under either of which
reasons Sir JAMES GRAHAM stands in a healthy and
solid position. If he believes that evil must result to
agriculture by the passing of this Bill, he claims our
warmest admiration—he claims our reverence for a
noble act of self•forgetfulness. If, on the other hand,
he knows that no evil can result to agriculture from its
acceptance, his Parliamentary proceedings are good
and valid —he acts as an upright and sagacious
statesman. Precisely the same arguments, though
possibly to a different extent, apply to Sir R. PEEL.

On this very account it was that the Premier asked, in

allusion to the agricultural interest, " Why, what pos-
sible interest can I have to injure that interest ?"
Surely every interest, on the contrary, to render its
prosperity permanent, its rights intact, its capabilities
for improvement more numerous. That such would
actually be the consequence of the proposed policy is
maintained by the mo t eminent, the most experienced,
and the most sagacifis of our legislators. It is maintained
by Mr. COBDEN, the most practical mercantile thinker in
the kingdom.- It is maintained by Sir ROBERT PEEL,
a man to whose judgment the destinies of England are
consigned by the bulk of the people. It is maintained
by Lord PALmusurroN in its beneficial relation with
foreign countries, than whom a more competent autho-

city upon this division of its consequences could not be
discovered. It is maintained by Lord JOIN RUSSELL,
Mr. GLADSTONE, Sir JAMES GUAHAM, Mr. HUME (with

whose very name political economy has become identified);
and by a host of ethers whose tales its would alone guaran-
tee the soundness of a principle. besides all this, it
is maintained by the most interested portion of the
agriculturists themselves—the tenant -farmers—a fact
placed beyond dispute by the respecktble petitions pre-
sented in Parliament, as well as by the array of circum-
stantial evidence adduced to that effect by the Right
Hon. the Secretary for the Home Department. A sense
of confidence in the benefit which must accrue to all

parties, without distinction, by the operation of this free-
trade measure, is beginning to extend among the farming

population ; fresh leases are taken, and extreme satisfac-
tion is very generally expressed amongst those classes at

he prospects now held out by the reclamation of waste

land. Of the paltry mis-statements of the Recorder of

lublin, in reference to the maladies which afflict Ire-

land, Sir JAMES GRAHAM made Halle less than miuce-

meat. howbeit, we have now merely to conratulate

;he lovers of liberality on Saturday's division.

Already the predictions to which we gave utterance

in our obsermtions on the the case of WOOLMER v.
Tone are becoming verified. A new life has sprung up
in the offices of many of the defunct railway companies.
Secretaries are now again busily engaged in filling up
letters to the several allottees, calling their attention to
that case, which they are pleased to say has settled the
question of their liability, and infore 'lug them that if the
SUMS thereby demanded (with, in some instances) an
additional snm of ss. for cost of the letter of applica-
tion, be not paid within a certain limi tad time, immediate
steps will be taken to enforce the pa-- Ili ent of the entire
deposit. Now those gentlemen must be perfectly aware
that the very important question to 'which they allude
has not been by any means settled bv- ',that verdict. Our
non-professional readers should be irtfo.Pmed, that where
a point of much importance—particu larlly if it be a bad
one, and that the decision of the fu It court thereon is
desirable—is raised before a judge at nisi prius, it is
casual for him, even though his opil lion should be with
the defendant, to rule it in favor tr of the plaintiff,
rererving to the defendant Jibe) ty to move for
judgment as in case of a or Snit. And it is
just and reasonable that it shoe cid be so, because
if the tlefendant be right he can sus :fain no damage by
such a course having been adopted. :No judgment has
ever been marked against him. The questions raised
are calmly discussed before the fu? L -court ; the argu-
ments are prepared with full-opportv airy for the counsel
on each side to examine every auth :rarity at all bearing
on the point at issue, which it is o Eton (indeed almost
always) impossible for them to do on circuit, not having
books to refer to, even if sufficient tir ie were allowed for
the purpose ; the decision is arrived et rith that delibe-

ration which should ever characterise legal pro-
' ceedings ; and it is that of all the judges
of the court, and not of a single one, and
therefore generally is conclusive on the question.
On the other hand, great hardship would be inflicted on
the plaintiff if a point'was wrongfully decided against
him on the trial. Even, if successful in setting aside the
nonsuit, he should under any circumstances again go to
trial, all the expenses of such a new hearing would be
rendered necessary, and he would be subject to the con-
tingency of his witnesses being absent, and ithe finally
succeeded in getting his judgment it would be at a later
period, and perhaps rendered less valuable, if not totally
inoperative, by reason of new incumbrances affect-
ing the defendant, incurred subsequently to the
time when he would have been entitled to recover
if a proper conclusion had been arrived at in the first
instance. Such was the course in the present instance :
the Learned Baron heard the various objections urged
by the defendant's counsel, and without offering an
opinion on them himself; he reserved them for the
decision of all the' judges ; there has, therefore, as yet,
been no 'valid decision on the question ; it has been
placed in train for solemn argument, and we sincerely
trust that such a result will be arrived at as to settle
speedily this very important question. We cannot
agree in the truth of the proposition, now advo-
cated by many of our Contemporaries, that parties
applying for shares should bear their propor-,
tion of the expenses of an abandoned project.
It might be just, if the parties, on putting down their
names, or writing their letters of application, thereby
insured to themselves the possession of a certain number
of shares in the undertaking ; but their case is very dif-
ferent from that of the provisional committeemen. In
one instance, the party, before putting down his name, is
admitted behind the scenes; he has the fullest opportu-
nity of examining the ground on which the undertaking
is commenced, with its prospects of success, and he owes
it, not only to himself, but to the public, many
of whom may be influenced by the additional
sanction the authority of his name and influence may
confer on the project to join therein. He has also
the certainty of being c cted with it, and having a
large allotment of e undertaking, which may
be a source of considerable profit to himself. Such, how-
ever, was not the case with the applicant for shares ; he
could have no opportunity of knowing in what state the
project was, or whether competent persons wele engaged
in taking all the preliminary steps ; he made his appli-
cation solely on seeing the names of the parties
who came forward as managers. If they were men
of property, of respectability, and of character, he had
fair grounds for supposing that the undertaking was
good in itself; and that it would be carried on with vi-
gour and with every reasonable prospect of success. Ile
had no certainty of having any number of shares what-
ever allotted to him ; on the contrary, if the undertaking
was a prosperous one, if the scrip came out at a premium,
no matter what might be his respectability and sol-
vency, unless he had some interest with the alloting
committee, he had very little chance of receiving
any answer whatever to his application. It is a
well-known fact, that it required considerable canvassing
to get any allotment of shares, even the tenth part of
those applied for in the early part of last year, when
every project good or bad was coming out at a premium;
that the general rule was that a small number of shares
was allotted to persons who might he useful in bringing
the scheme favourably before the public, and that the
great majority of the shares were kept, and from time
to time sparingly distributed to members of the com-
mittee or their personal friends, and in too many in-
stances the deposits actually paid were employed
in letrehasing up the shares issued to members of the corn -
inittee themselves ; but ir, on the other hand, it appeared
likely to end dis istrously, then, indeed, all the shares
were allotted to the persons who would not otherwise
have heard of them. We have ourselves known an in-
st3nce (and we believe it not to be a solitary one)
where a gentleman had applied for shares, and no
answer was given to his application, although the shares
were allotted, and in the market realising a high premium.
After a time the preject shared the fate of many others,
the panic arose, and what had been selling at
two or three pounds premium got below par,
and could not be disposed of save at a
heavy loss, and then a letter of allotment
was sent, giving the full number of shares demanded,
and calling on him to pay the deposit within a few days,
—an application, which of course failed to be complied
with. Would it not be monstrous if that gentleman
could now be called on to bear any part of the expenses
of that undertaking, which (it is almost unnecessary to
say) was shortly afterwards dropped? when, from the
course of proceediner. it is quite manifest that he would
have had no share if the project had been successful—in
other worth, he (and it may be so predicated of appli-
cants in general) was to have a partnership in the losses
to he incurred, if such there should be, but none what-
ever in the profits, if any. We therefore agree in
the justice of the rule, that where persons set a scheme
on foot, and assume to be the managers of it, all the
expenses incurred before the scheme is in actual oper-
ation must be sustained by them, if that scheme should
afterwards be abandoned.

The question is one of very general interest, and we
think we are only discharging our duty in putting the
public on their guard, that they may not be induced,
through misapprehension of the real state of facts, to
lend too ready a credence to the statements made to
them from interested quarters ; and to satisfy demands,
the very urgency of which may fairly raise the presump-
tion that the demandants know the weak foundation on
which their claims rest, and are anxious to extort from
fear that which they could not hope to obtain from reason
or justice.

We have accounts from Madrid to the 20th instant,
but they add little to the.previous intelligence. The
capital remained quiet. On the 20th General Mizza-
REDO held a review of the troops in the garrison,
amounting to upwards of 7,000 men under arms, to
make an impression on the inhabitants. The editors of
all the Opposition journals, with the exception of the
Tiempo, had announced their intention to suspend pub-
lication so long as the present state of things lasted.
The Espectador, published on the 20th, consisted of only
a half sheet, printed on one side, and the whole of the
contents were the manifesto of the Government, and the
decrees against the press, headed by the following two
articles of the Constitution in large type:—
" Art. 2d. All Spaniards are at liberty to publish
their ideas without previous censorship, and subject only
to the laws.

" Art. 12th. The power of making laws resides in the
Cortes, with the concurrence of the Monarch."

Several Carlists had been appointed to important
offices, and a considerable number of Deputies bad left
Madrid for the provinces. The funds continued to rise.
On the 20th the Three per Cents. closed at 32 3-16 for
cash, and 32i at 30 days; and the five per Cents. at 22
for cash; the shares of the Bank of San Fernando at
255; and those of Isabel at 136.

The Paris papers' are chiefly occupied with the affairs
of Spain. The Journal des Debats contains an article
vindicating the French Government against the charge
in the Constitutionnel, that it abetted this new coup d'etat
of NARVAEZ. It thus concludes:—" What we know,
and what the Constitutionnel knows as well as us,
is, that our Government will always support in Spain,
by its counsels, the cause which it defends in France,
that of moderation and temperate liberty," According
to the Courrier Francais, several of the Moderado
leaders had precipitately left Madrid and taken refuge

in Bayonne.
On Wednesday evening the Dukes of NEMOURS and
MONTPENSIER left Paris for Tours, to be present at the
opening of the Orleans and Tours Railway.
The Universal German Gazette contains the following
from Cracow, March 18 ;
" Five companies of Austrian troops set out to-day for Si-
lesia. Letters from Gallicia still speak of commotions among
the peasantry, which are renewed without ceasing, but which
are attended with little danger. The circle of Saildaz is in
particular exceedingly agitated. Several of the National
Guards of Cracow have passed over to the insurgents.
Count de Potulicki, who was made prisoner, has returned to
his estate at Bobrek, on the Cracow territory. Arrests are
multiplied beyond measure, for all kinds of denunciations are
listened to."

Paris was visited on Wednesday afternoon By a vio
lent thunder-storm, accompanied with a heavy fall of
hail, which was followed by torrents of rain.
The Funds were less firm on Thursday. The Three per
Cents. closed at 831. 95c.; the Five per Cents., 120 f. 30c. ;
the Orleans Railroad shares, 1,305 f. ; Rouen, 1,055 f. ; Havre,
7571. 50c.; Great Northern, 7851. ; Avignon, 955 f. ; Vierzon,
707 f. 50c. ; Bordeaux, 6681. 75c.; Boulogne, 520 f. ' • Basle,,
240 f.; Dieppe, 458 f. 75c ; Paris and Strasbutgh, 5401.; Tours
and Nantes, 563 f. 75c. ; Paris and Lyons Detinitives, 601 f.
25c ; Spanish Three per Cents., 37.