The Sun.
London, England, 1846-01-31 00:00:00

S BT, J ANDO ARY 31, 1846 PRICE SD.

NOTTINGHAMSHIRE AGRICUL-
TURAL PROTECTION SOCIETY.
NEWARK, THURSDAY.—Yesterday (Wednesday) a;
general meeting of the members of this Association was
held at the Hotel, Newark, to receive the annual report
of the committee, and to take into consideration the
propriety of expunging from the 4,11 rule of the Society
the following words :—" And that the Society shall on
no account interfere in any election for a Member to
serve in Parliament," and the further steps to be ren-
dered necessary thereby.
The meeting was called for eleven, but did not com-
mence till nearly one o'clock, owing to an arrangement
to receive by express from Nottingham the London
papers, containing a report of Sir R: Peel's speech in the
House of Commons, on Tuesday night.
W. J. Pickin, Esq., having been appointed Chairman,
lan adjournment took place to the Town-hall. Amongst
the company, which amounted to about 150, were Sir
Robert Bromley, Bart., Rev. J. Storer, W. J. Pickin,
Esq., G. W. Clutton, Esq., 11. Gilbert, Esq., Rev. C.
Clinton, George Storer, Esq., W. Ward, Esq., J. J.
Marfleet, Esq., R. Milward, Esq., Joseph Burgess, Esq ,
E. Hodgkinson, Esq., J. C. Stenton, Esq„ R. Harvey,
Esq., T. S. Godfrey, Esq., Rev. J. J. Myers, &c.
The CHAIRMAN having opened the proceedings, the
annual report was read and adopted.
The following resolution was moved and seconded :
" That the following words be expunged from the fourth
rule of this Society, viz.,_` that this Society shall on no
account interfere in any election for a Member to serve
in Parliament.' "
Sir It. BROMLEY, Bart., moved as an amendment that
the words be not expunged.
No one seconding the amendment, it was lost.
The following resolutions were then unanimously
adopted :
" That the general committee of this society be in-
structed to appointa sub-committee to take into conside-
ration those measures which the.exclusion or the latter
part of the rule may render necessary."
" That the Duke of Newcastle be requested to pre-
sent the petition to the House of Lords, and that Col.
Rolleston do take charge of the petition to the House of
Commons, and that the Mensbers for the county be re-
quested to enforce the same."
"That this meeting views with alarm, though not
with surprise, the contemplated measures of Sir Robert
Peel, leading to an immediate diminution and rapid abo-
lition of all protective duties on foreign corn, and consi-
ders that the arguments advanced by him in support of
his change of opinions arc to the last degree fallacious
and sophistical."
" That this meeting being well assured, from practical
experience, that no sufficient compensation can be given
to the cultivators of the soil for the abolition of protec-
tive duties, pledges itself to resist any alteration in the
existing c mi-laws by all constitutional means."
" That while this meeting recognises the independence
of Members of Parliament, and their right of voting ac-
cording to the dictates of their conscience on any parti-
cular question, it considers it a breach of public faith for
them to retain their seats in order to support general
measures in direct opposition to the opinions of their
constituents, and to the principles they themselves pro-
fessed at their election."
The Secretary then read the fol:owing letters:—
"London, Jan. 26, 1846.
" Sir,—lf I should be retnrned to Clumber, and be
able to atterd, I will gladly attend your meeting at
Newark on the 28th. I shall be anxious to do so, if I
can, if only to assist you in the performance of your
good work, and testify my hearty desire to co-operate
with you in so important a cause in such a perilous
emergency.—l remain, Sir, yours very truly,
" NEWCASTLE.
" Mr. George Gilstrap, Newark."
" Whitehall-place, Jan. 23, 1846.
" Dear Sir,—l have to acknowledge your letter, in-
closing a copy of a resolution passed at a meeting of the
Nottinghamshire Agricultural Protection Society, held
on the 31st of December.
" I can assure the members of the Association, with
all sincerity, that I am not unmindful of the trust which
was reposed in me at my election. I shall endeavour
to execute that trust with fidelity to them and to the
rest of my fellow-countrymen; but I should be faithless,
and deserving of their severest censure, if I acted on any
question in opposition of my own conscientious convic-
tions.
" I do not hesitate to avow that my opinion in refe-
rence to protection has undergone a great change since
the last general election. My constituents know how
completely my interests are identified with agriculture,
and however they may condemn my present views as
erroneous, it is impossible that the) can impugn their
sincerity.
" I feel confident, however, that experience, which has
brought conviction to my mind, will, before long, con-
vince also many of them.
" Nevertheless, it is to me a matter of most painful
regret that the course which I am about to adopt in
Parliament is opposite to the wishes of many who have
hitherto honoured me with their confidence. I must
not, however, and will not, shrink from what I conceive
to be my duty.
"Whenever another election comes I shall be pre-
pared to defend, and I hope to justify, every vote that I
have given, and especially the measures which are about
to be introduced by the Government of which I am a
Member—measures which, if an independent Member
of Parliament, I would have defended at the meeting on
the 31st of December, to which you invited me.
" Personally, I care not how soon the day of account
may come. Confident in the integrity of my own mo-
tives, and in the justice of the el..ctors of South Not-
tinghamshire, I do not doubt a reversal of the implied
censure which is conveyed by the resolution you have
been requested to send to me.—l am, dear Sir, yours
very faithfully, " LINCOLN.
" Mr. George Gilstrap, Newark."
[Loud hissing, which lasted some time, succeeded the
reading the Earl of Lincoln's letter.]
A resolution was then adopted to the following effect:
—" That this meeting, having heard from the Earl of
Lincoln that he is prepared to support the measures of
Sir Robert Peel, instructs the committee immediately to
forward to his Lordship a copy of these resolutions, and
to request him to take the only step consistent with
public honour, by resigning his seat as Member for
South Nottinghamshire."
The motion having been carried, the meeting soon
after broke up.

MONEY MARKET and CITY NEWS.
FROM THE MORNING PAFERS OF THURSDAY.
TlMES.—Public opinion in the City is setting more
strongly than yesterday in favour of the new Minyterial
measures. Some parties, so far from thinking them im-
politic, have only the objection to offer that they might
just as well have been brought forward two sessions ago,
and that they have no necessary connexi with a re-
mission of the duties on corn ; but the real majority
believe that they have been wisely defeled- to the pre-
sent time, were it only to-affoid a et-6ff to the other
great national boon. It is hitl o, by the party fa-
vourable to the Minister's poliar l t
that the strong posi-
tion he has now resumed could 'Aver have been attained
but by a combination of favourable circumstances,
and that even the letter of Lord John Russell and his
own resignation will prove ultimately to be important
elements in the final success of his measure. All inci-
dents which tend to increase his power have peculiar
value among the members of the trading and banking
interests. After his avowed pacific policy, short of na-
tional degradation or insult, the merchants feel all the
importance of strengthening his hands in the way that
will be done by the success of these great measures.
They feel that these circumstances will increase the cau-
tion of the Americans in offering any thing like provo-
cation, as they may be certain that it will now be in-
stantly repelled and resented by this country; that the
nation is all the more secure of peace, by showing that
it is quite prepared for immediate action. Another col-
lateral effect which it is hoped among the trading in-
terest these new measures may have, especially if
they should be triumphantly carried out, is that of
inducing foreign countries to follow their example,
and that they will thus lead to a great extension of
our commerce. They highly commend the Minister's
declaration that he placed no reliance on reciprocity
from foreigners in making these sweeping concessions
to them, for they believe that their moral influence will
be stronger, and work out better results than could ever
have been produced under express stipulations, liable
to be broken as soon as entered into. They are confi-
dent that the Minister of any foreign state, disposed
before to the adoption of a liberal policy, will derive
arguments as well as motives from the expose of Tuesday
night. To Spain, above all, they believe that it will
convey a great lesson, and afford critical support to the
Government of that country at a time when all its ten-
dencies lean towards the removal of restrictions and pro-
hibitions. The City is in such a false position, and will
remain so until this bugbear of the railway deposits is
removed, that no estimate is yet to be formed of the
financial bearings of the new measures. The Bank
notice of yesterday has contracted the period of ac-
commodation to 14 days, and all accommodation in
other places is in the most uncertain state. Even in
the course of a few hours a change is experienced, as
was the case this morning, when money, though com-
paratively easy yesterday, became suddenly tight ; and
when dealers asked each other the cause, there was no
explanation to be given. That money placed in deposit
for railway purposes is now coming out again for in-
vestment, is shown by the better condition of Cie -Ex-
chequer-bill market ; and the uneasy feeling, therefore,
perceptible in the course of this morning, accompanying
the tightness of money, must be ascribed to doubts whe-
ther all the parties to whom these deposits have been in-
trusted are prepared to bring them forward when called
for. Nothing transpired during the hours of business to
bear oat this supposition. The Bank Directors, who
held their weekly board to-day, parted without making
any alteration in the rate of discount, which they must
have done had they conceived that any causes, otherwise
than of a temporary nature, were pressing on the mar-
ket. Their limitation of the time is well adapted to the
peculiar situation of the railway deposit -question. The
tightness of money observed in the course of the morn-
ing has no reference to the settlement of the account at
the Stock-Exchange, which is regulated upon different
principles from those of commercial business.
HERALD.—A railway case, involving a principle of
great importance, has been for some time under inves-
tigation by the Committee of the Stock Exchange. The
facts, as stated to us, are as follow:—About the time the
share market began to give way, the provisional com-
mittee of the Brighton and Cheltenham Railway Com-
pany allotted their shares, their prospectus having
been previously a considerable time before the public.
It appears that the Committee had considered it doubt-
ful if their deposits would be paid in the then state of
the market, and in order to promote that very desirable
object the solicitor of the company employed a respect-
able broker on the Stock Exchange to support them by
purchasing them in, at a premium varying from 1 to i
per share. When the period limited for receiving the
depo:its had expired, it however turned out that the
number purchased by the said broker formed the
greatest proportion of the whole number pai I upon,
and as the Provisional Committee would in such an
event be compelled to make good the premiums to the pnr-
chasers, besides having all the shares thrown back upon
their hands, they had recourse to the following expedient
in order to get rid of the responsibility; Instead of
issuing scrip when the allottees applied f©r it to deliver
to the purchasers, to those who signed the deed they
gave a certificate to the effect that the scrip would be
forthcoming at a future time. This, however, appears
only to have been a pretext to turn the edge of the ire
of the disaffected allottees in the firs' instance, for when
the Committee came to be pressed by their importuni-
ties, they answered that they had not obtained a suffi-
cient amount of money to enable them to go to Parlia-
ment ; and that it had, in consequence, become expedient
to dissolve the Company, and refund the money, minus the
expenses incurred. The said expenses were in the first in-
stance taken at 10s. per share, but afterwards the mulct
was increased to 12s. per share, in order to meet the
probable expense of a bill filed in Chancery by one
of the allottees, who did not choose to submit to the
arbitrary decision. The above is the simple history of
the case as we have been informed, but the part of the
case which waits the decision of the Stook Exchange
Committee is, whether the broker is bound to fulfil the
engagements he entered into with the parties in the
house who sold him the shares. The point rests with
him, upon no scrip being delivered, which it is clear is
the subterfuge adopted by the provisional committee to
get rid of the responsibility as above staved; and the
question is, ought they to be permitted to take Advantage
of their own wrong ? The broker admits that be was
employed to purchase the shares by the solicitor of the
company, and this admission once made, the common-
sense view of the case obviously points out that he
should make good his engagements, and seek his
remedy from the parties who employed him. The
employment of brokers in a similar manner by rail-
way companies has, we are informed, been so common
an affair in the Stock Exchange, that it may appear
something like a hardship to throw the onus on the agent
in this instance, who has been made the scapegoat
of the real delinquents. This consideration should,
however, not deter the committee of the Stock Ex-
change from honestly end fearlessly performing their
duty. The broker should clearly be held responsible
for all the purchases made in the house, at the risk of
exposing himself to the usual penalty (expulsion) for
refusal. After the decision of the Court of Exchequer
in the case of " Young al. Smith," there is no question
but the broker can recover from his employers : and,
indeed, if the latter attempt to go into Court, we suspect
that the refusal to issue scrip, upon which they, seem
to rest their safety, will not improbably bring them bet-
ter acquainted with the Attorney-General, under a
clause in a recent Act of Parliament specially made for
the accommodation of such gentlemen. If there is no
fund provided by the members of the Stock Exchange to
prosecute is such cases (which we believe there is not),
a subscription should be set on foot to aid the broker, if
necessary ; but be that as it may, the Stock Exchange
committee should unhesitatingly do their part of the
duty.

.ANA

THE ACTION ON THE PAR.
The account of the brilliant attack of the combined
English and French squadrons on the positions of
General Rosas, on the right bank of the Parana, for the
purpose of opening the navigation of that river, will
have been purused with pride and admiration both in
France and England ; for the annals of modern warfare
scarcely supply a more herioc achievement. The inso-
lent audacity of Roses in endeavouring to close one of
the noblest rivers in the world against foreign vessels of
every description, has long called for the most vigorous
measures on the part of the French and English forces
stationed in his neighbourhood ; and, notwithstanding
their immense disparity of force, they have not been slow
to obey the call. The smallness of the se les
ofs
em-
ployed on this service—none of the
shipsv thecombined fleet being larger than brigs or corvettes
—offered a serious obstable to the
success of the enter-
prise. The allied force consisted of ten vessels, for tke
most part of the smallest description, comprising less
than 1,000 men. The position of Itosas was defended by
four batteries at nearly equal distances from each other,
mounting from 24 to 30 24-pounders. Between the
second and third of these batteries, 24 small vessels were
strongly moored across tke river by large iron cables,
whilst immediately above this barricade, on the left bank,
Rosas's brig, the Republicano, was so placed as to enfilade
the opposing ships. Besides this force, four fire-ships were
stationed in the neighbourhood of the bridge of boats.
The position of Rosas was moreover defended by
upwards of 4,000 cavalry, who were driven from
their posts on the landing of the combined force like
chaff before the wind by a handful of French and Eng-
lish seamen and marines. Not the least gratifying part
of tho affair was the cordiality with which French and
English fought under a common leader, and the frank
and generous spirit in which they acknowledged and
commended each other's gallantry in the affair. This
achievement, so honourable to the arms of the two na-
tions, will, we trust, increase, and cement the good
understanding and generous rivalry which appears to
subsist at the present moment between the naval forces
of the two countries. No official accounts have been
received of this gallant affair, but ample details are ex-
pected by the Express packet-brig. The last letters
from Admiral Inglefield, the Commander-in-Chief of
I the station, off Monte Video, and from Capt. Hotham,
up the Parana, anticipated severe measures against
Roses, ho had proposed further negotiation, with the
intention only of gaining time to strengthen his means
1 of defence, or to consummate some act of treachery.

The official journal of Cologne publishes a proclama-
tion of the President of the province, announcing that from
the 21st instant corn of every description will be admitted
into it duty free.