The Sun.
London, England, 1856-12-13 00:00:00

RE:.YETVED SEA.ReII FOR THE FRANKLLV

PRICE OF WHEAT.

EXPEDITION.

(From the DerVshire Courier.) On Wec'nesday evening a meting of Arctic navigators
The price of wheat has suffered a heavy rlecli ne was hell at the Russell Institution, Great Coram-atreet,
during the last few months. The average for t he for the purpose of considering the propriety of undertaking
first week
a new search for Sir J. Franklin and the missing expedi-
that in August was 77s 10c1 a quarter, wh ifs
for the week ending Nov. 22 last WAS 63e :31 tion tinder his command, information recently received in
a quarter, being a fall of 143. 7d. a varier :n fc .ur this country having been deemed sufficient to warrant such
months. Good wheat was bought on Saturday 1 ast an undertaking. There was a very numerous attendance.
at Bs. a bushel (645. a qr.) and inferior at -Rs. o aid
1 Amorasee those present were, Capt. Sherard Osborn, Lieut.
58s. - `Pim,, -Professor Creasy, Dr. M‘Cormick, Capt. Inglefield,
The paiments of the agriculturists at this tit ne Dr. Hodgkin, Mr. Barrow, Dr. King, Mr. Findley, Mr.
of the year have a tendency to promote freer sae.ell Sey,anour, Dr. Seaman. &c.
and lower the price, but this cause has on 17 Mr. Bishop, member of the council of the College of Star-
a temporary, and not -very powerful, influem :0. geons, occupied the chair, in the absence of Sir R. I. Mur-
Thus, last year, the price of wheat, which w -as chison, and in opening the proceedings briefly adverted to
763. 6d. at the beginning of October, had risen to the strong desire manifested, even at this remote period of
82s. by the last week in November. More acti .yetime, to ascertain whet,her any further traces of the unfor-
and extensive causes must operate to effect a c sn-
tunate expedition under the command of Sir J. Franklin
siderable decline. Among the causes at prey eat '
could be discovered.. Information had been recently re-
operative in the direction of lower prices of gr.om .nin ceived in this cor.ntry, from which it was believed that the
must be reckoned the large importations "
from
exact spot had oot been ascertained where the Erebus and
America. These importations are, adout,tiessa
Terror had b een blocked in the ice. Upon that point the
meeting wasuld be addressed by Dr. King, who had visited
greatly facilitated by the opening of the Gran
the Grea.t Fish River; after which some of the eminent
Trunk Railroad of Canada. This gigantic under- 1
taking, which is now completed, connects the great Arctic. navigators present would doubtless, state their opi-
corn-growina regions of the North-Western States nicres. (Hear.) .
Dr KING observed that up to the present moment four
of America, Wisconsin, and Michigan, with the St.
Lawrence and the Atlantic, exteedingfrom Torontoe 1
expeditions had been despatched in search of the missing
nearly to Quebec, a distance of 850 miles.
j "
sae i ships—two by sea and two by land, namely, by land through
whole expenditure of the company up to use ats
1 Russia in the first case, and over the territories of the
was, we are told, no less than 8,693,0801.
Hudson's Bay Company in the other • and by sea by wa
of Behring's Straits, and subsequently' through ,Barrow'ys
Thera can be no doubt that this great under,
Straits. In coming to any. determination with respect to
taking has been and will be productive of a,. poola,,vte,ta:e_
ful influence on the cheap supply of grain trm
the course of future operations, it was worthy of remark
north-west of America, and therefore on k: gilish
that in the one case navigators Would have the current with
prices. them, and against them in the other. He deeply regretted
As little doubt can exist that the prospedrity of
that, Lieutenant Pim had been refused. permission by the
the Canadian provinces will be extensively pro-
Emperor of Russia to continue his researches by way of
moted. by this great national highway ; and that
Kamschatka, and though that refusal was alleged to be
increase in the quantity of wheat consumed in the from a desire to avoid risk, there was reason to believe
Canaclas. that it had arisen from political motives solely. In speaking
The facii of a whole nation being placed in a con-
of the Behring's Straits expedition he could not eulogise
dition to consume better food, and more of it, is too highly the names of Sir R. M'Clure, Dr. Armstrong,
Dr. M'Cormick, Sir E. Belcher, and Captain Sherard
sometimes not sufficiently taken into calculation
in estimating the probable effects on prices of an I Osborn. The next expedition, namely, that of Sir John C.
Ross, in conjunction with a land journey by Sir J. Rich-
improved system of locomotion.
At this time there is perhaps no British colony ardson, was conducted upon an excellent principle, but it
manifesting a more rapid development of its mag- failed in consequence of the expeditions being too distant
nificent capabilities than Canada. It will soon from each other. If the Great Fish River had been fol-
open a very wide mouth for the consumption of its lowed instead of the Copper Mine River, the results would
own food. have been certain, as has been proved by the subsequent
A letter headed " Corn Averages and Gold," discovery of traces at the Fieh River. But between the
from Mr. C. M.Willich,whosc statistical researches discovery of the first wintering quarters of Sir J. Franklin
are so well known and appreciated, has just ap- on Beechey Island and the discovery of the cache on the
peared in the London papers. It contains much banks of the Great Fish River, four years had elapsed, and
useful information on the subject to which it what had Franklin been doing during those four year?
relates, and opens out other causes which operate He was either starved to death, or had been attacked by
powerfully on the present and future price of the Esquimaux and carried into slavery with his compa-
wheat in this country. It appears, he says, that nions. In either case some traces must have been left,
the average importation of wheat (including flour) and he firmly believed that by following up the Great Fish
into England, during the last ten years, has been River traces would be found. So convinced of this wore
LA millions of quarters annually. In 1854 we both Lieutenant Pim and himself, that on the preceding
imported 5,586,218 quarters. Yet the average of day they had forwarded a memorial to the Board of Ad-
wheat that year was 725. ld. a quarter ! We paid miralty offering to organise a new expedition, which he
no less than 20,133,660/. for our supply of foreign felt satisfied would succeed in settling the question for
food. ever. The memorial to which ho referred was as follows :
This letter supplies a clue to the reason of this "17, Saville-row Dec. 8, 1856.
high price with enormous importation. Mr. Willich "My Lords,—That season of the yea'r is rapidly ap-
appends a table of the supply of gold obtained in preaching when the icy fetters of the Arctic regions are
California and Australia since 1848, by which it
loosened, and the Polar Sea is open to a further search for
eeonf
already
eeaFdrankaldine expedition.. Gigantic exer-
tions that 105,950,7051. has been added in the
,m butprehien.
stl
etnheessae vwashticeilifoli3atss
thetoa s remains
have
eight years ending with 1855 to the quantity of gold there has been a want 3,:)' co
previously existing in the world. " Forthe present since been proved could only result in utter failure. It is
year," he adds, " there is every probability that the needless to call your lordships' attention to facts in support
produce will much exceed any former year." The of this view of the case, inasmuch as they are indelibly
plc,eitotntrraeecoersdi;
supply of wheat may be large. Its price depends avnedbyourflordships are cognisant of them.
found—death it is to be
in a great measure on the supply of money also. deplored—of theagallaenetu
The continued drain of silver to the East will, band—traces that point to the whereabouts of therm issoino.
Mr. Willich observes, render the adoption of a ships which sailed with so much glory to carry out the sci-
gold standard in France necessary. Of this there entitle survey propounded by your lordships. Since these
can be no doubt. Unless France reduces the weight traceshaavefilieleleanufdound your lordships have taken no steps
rteh-eesnes i v
tracese
to search, and untilmos
t yourw we
of her silver coinage, the foreign drain, exports- towards,
lorusnips shall follow up theutter
tion being profitable, must continue. Were the venture respectfully to state our opinion that a stain is
drain of silver to the East put a stop to, and the stamped on our national honour. We, therefore, implore
consequent drain of gold from this country checked, your lordships to take into your consideration a compre-
we should see but one reason why the price of hensive plan, which we now lay before you, and which we
wheat should not speedily recover, nor why wages
ransatatvaeinnoctotaeinnsb
efwithinore
brought
elements of success, such
combined iiadreyffoourrt
b
and
' d nboy-
shotld not rise in full proportion, as they ought to tice. We propose to makea
do. That reason is, that the arbitrary restriction laud—by sea, through Barrow's Strait and by sea
Peel's
of the circulating medium by making the Bank Sound ;by land, across the continent of America and
down Great Fish River—meeting at the magnetic pole.
Note convertible into gold at a fixed rate instead
screw
wn
steamer,
oenxr
udiotinontheitl isd.
of at the market price of the commodity, must ever proposed to use a small
bank canoes.
exert a pernicious influence ou the productive in- ‘. In the first effortp made forj otuhreneryecovery of Sir J.
dustry of the nation. Franklin your lordships adopted the principle we are now
One hundred millions of gold have counteracted advocating of a combined effort by sea and land, but the
the evil tendency of Peel's Bill. But they have scheme unhappily failed in the details. The route selected
not corrected, and cannot correct, a bad financial forth a that the
of i journeyt of the ldantdoparfty; wasl far too distant from
oeffort to
in
effectt!:osesr z
'
principle. Sooner or la ter the country will, in junction - an:l'etaheeuxipihalpplynband of'tamdavn eff
adventurers
spite of Australia and California, suffer for the ob- of whom these expeditions were despatched, met their
stinate perversity with which it clings to its absurd death with succour on either side of them. Oar land party
and dishonest Money Lawn. on the contrary would in the Great Fish River be compa-
ratively near to the sea expedition, and more certain of
effecting a junction.
" \lre contend that it is essential that the plan of search
should embrace a land as well as a sea party, seeing that
previous land parties by themselves, and previous sea par-
ties by tnernselves, have invariably failed. Tho desirable-
ness of such a combination of search as we propose must at
oece be apparent to your lordships, for it may be conveni-
ent for the land party to take passage home with the sea
party, and vice versa, and with this end we consider that
the two parties should comprise the fewest possible men.
We would merely allude, in support of our proposal, to
the successful surveys made by our forefathers—Davis,
Baffin, Behring, and Hudson.
" We are not surprised that the First Lord of the Trea-
sury should ignore the plan of search suggested by the
Royal Geographical Society. inasmuch as that plan merely
conteniplates another search in precisely the same man-
ner as a host of sea searches have been already made, un-
supported by land journeys, and affords no better pros-
pect of success than was attained by the plans which im-
mediately preceded it, and which resulted in the total loss
of five of her Majesty's ships, one of which (the Resolute),
has since been recovered by a miracle, and is now upon its
return to this country.
"The precise time of starting upon the land journey will
be towards the end of February; that of the sea expedition
will be the cud of Jane. By these means your lordships
will not be hurried; and it is for that reason we have thus
early addressed you. Most of the expeditions that have
been despatched have been hurried at the last moment,and
to this, we apprehend, is to be attributed in great measure
their feiluro.
" The precise time when both the sea and land parties
will reach their respective wintering grounds, the precise
fittings which each service will require, and the precise sum
which each will cost, are well known to your lordships,
and therefore need not be repeated. For these services we
place ourselves at the disposal of your lordships. We are
tried servants intimately acquainted with the services wo
undertake to conduct. We are friends bound together in
zeal and honesty of purpose ; and we are confident in each
other, and earnest in our endeavour to press forward in
all prudence to our rendezvous. In conclusion, we would
state to your lordships that we are convinced that, in order
to be successful, the united service, both by sea and by
land, should be under the conduct of government. It was
on a government errand, propounded by government, that
Sir John Franklin sailed ; and to the care of the Govern-
ment his honoured remains should be committed.—We
have the honour to be, my Lords, your lordship's most
faithful servants,

FIRE AT FARN WORTH PAPER MILLS.

AP-

About 20 minutes to four o'clock on Thursday morn •
ing a fire was discovered by the watchman on duty in
the extensive paper works of Mesers. John and Thomas
Bonsor Crompton, Farnwerth, near Holton. it origi-
nated in the centre of the top room, in a four-storey
building in front of the works. The building was 18
windows in length, and from sii to seven yards wide.
The first floor was cecapied as a finishing room, and
contained five hydraulic presses, and a considerable
quantity of paper. The second and third storeys were
used as rag stores ; and the fourth, where, the fire broke
out was a place where females were employed cutting the
rags into small pieces. As might he supposed, these
rags burned with great fury, and, from the first, there
was little hope of saving the buileing in which the fire
originated. The works not being insured, Mesere. Cromp•
ton keep three fire engines, and a number of their men are
trained as an effective fire brigade, and everything was
therefore done immediately to check the progress of the
raging element. An engine from tho mill of Mr. Thomas
Barnes, M.P. (Prestolee), and another from the paper
works of Mr. Roger Crompton, of Kersley, were also
speedily on the spot, and there being a plentiful supply
of water from the river Croal on one side, and the
reservoirs on the other, the works were providentially
saved from destruction. The reflection of the fire had
been observed in Bolton, and when a messenger arrived
for the corporation engines Mr. Superintendrat Beech
and the fire brigade were in readiness to start with two
engines ; the Etna engine of Messrs. Ormrod and Hard-
castle, and their firemen, were also ready, and galloped
at full speed to the works, which they reached a little
before seven o'clock. They also renoered effectual eat
in confining the fire to the range of buildings in which
it originated. At the end of the building named there
was a clock tower, with a bell at the top, and this was
destroyed, the clock face indicating that it was stopped
at 4.20. From this tower the fire spread to another
rag loft, forming the angle of the centre building. It
was four storeys high, and about eight windows in length,
and here also, from the combustible nature of the mate-
rials, the fire defied every effort to subdue it. At length
the roof and the floors fell in, and the whole range of
rag lofts lay a mass of burning ruins. the
last-named building •
Adjoining
there is a machine shed, containing
three valuable paper
machines, and a portion of the
burning materials failing upon the roof about one-half
of it was destroyed but the machines are very little
injured.
mnt.3ihiechfirst-named rag store there is
a 24-horse engine,
vi
and a portion of, the walls adjoins the machine room,
abana roof faliing through the
flooring upon it
,ately it will not stao,paialylepot
le damage is done, hut fortu-
rtion of the works, as they
have water-power
' p ince. The
fire was got under about seven o'clock,
ils
was entirely subdued. In
the 2n•hlock, anu at eight it
ug rooms, on the
lower storey, there waa a
Considerableti•ishi
paper, but it wile nea,rly:,
au
wetout. quantity of
fire was prevented from reaching
the warehouse
the
behina,
and also the brown paper finishing
room,
were considerable stocks of paper. Inotmh,egewhere there
are a great number of hands e 1
mp.oyed, and, fortunately,
mills there
,
there will be no stoppage of the Work_.
4 The damage,
it is thought, will be about 6,000/. Messrs. C
Crompton
are not insured, in consequence of the high
d • their custom being to adopt every premiumrequire , precaut tol
• t fire. Another account states that ...
against r...i.essrs,
their premises two
Crompton keep on powerful fir
•named the Royal and the Deluge, as
well e-
engines,
by a water- laht e`. • and t,
force-pump, worked 2
these were
immediately brought into play, and, unthr the able
superintendence of Mr. Rideout, rendered great service
spread of the flames to the adjacent
buildings. preventing the
the fire . . Jacent
It is not known how
buildings.
d at from 5,000/. to 6 0001'
and the damage is estimate . , ... ,
Work will be resumed in a few da3s.—.fianchester
uardian.

"
RICHARD KING, M.D.
" BEDFORD Pim, Lieutenant, R.N."
Both Lieut. Pim and himself were anxious that every
facility should bo afforded for an investigation of the plan
here laid down, not only by those who bad taken an active
part in previous searching expeditions, but by all who,
either by scientific or geographical knowledge, might be
supposed competent to form a correct judgment of the
probabilities of success. He was happy to say that in
consequence of the new light thrown upon the question,
the opinion was almost universal that by a land and sea
expedition they would at length succeed in discovering the
fate of the missing ships,, and perhaps even of rescuing
some of the survivors. (Hear.) That such might be the
case was the opinion of Captain Austin, Captain Richards,
Captain Inglefield, Captain Sherard Osborn, Dr. Hooker,
and Dr. Armstrong, all Polar men ; and in farther confir-
mation of that opinion, he would read a letter from Admi-
ral Sir S. Beaufort to Lieut. Pim. It was as follows :
" The one great object which should override all other con-
siderations, and on which I shall take my stand, is the still
existing chance of rescuing from slavery the remnant of
those noble fellows, and the payment of that debt which
all civilised nations tacitly contract with those whom they
send forth on enterprises of danger. Now, it will not be
denied that a half of the whole force of the expedition is
yet to be accounted for, nor that it is probable when the
ships were abandoned that different parties took different
routes. Nor, again, if they threw themselves on different
parts of the long north shore of America, that the despatch
of a single Hudson's Bay messenger, to the mouth of the
c reat Fish River, can by any perversion of language be
rareeacnekeedf, bu ni
called an effective and adequate search for our missing
further e d
countrymen ; nor will it be denied that if their boats were
w
,r
retreat,
ea pillaged,t , and
mtuti their
hcerne
havews had
thrownn no possible
oss ib le
them-
selves on the mercya of the natives, who, if they spared
their lives, woad assuredly extort from them some work
in return, and would as surely watch that they did not es-
cape. Finally, when w 6 reflect on the charms of repose and
safety after shipwreck a
of a full stomach,
after
vainly
boatwreck, and on the comfort
winkles, or scraping
the
rocks
sifting the sands for perri-
withrochks* for tripe de roche—and,
again, on the facility
ich sailors adapt themselves
to new habits, striking w
examplesee of all which will be found
in many of our voyagevoyagers,and p
narrative, he nnistbe a very incredulous
in Kane's admirable
person who doubts
that at this moment several of our ua
abandoned and almost
forgotten countrymen aro sheltering themselves in snow
huts, swallowing morsels of frozen seal or walrus,
ttryand at the
same time chewing the bitter cud of their co
of gratitude, want of faith, and want of honour."Thislet.
want
ter was from a man of the highest possible authority
this subject. He (Dr. K.) hadaiways guarded himselfufrPr
expressing any opinion upon the matter, but in his ownm
mind he thought it possible that there might be some !Jur-
-1 vivors. Sir F. Beaufort was perfectly right in thinking
that the Esquimau' would not let them escape. If they
got hold of a doctor or a blacksmith, he (Mr. King) was
sure they would not, for they knew too well the value of
such men. If, therefore, they had fallen into the hands of
the Esquimaux, and had coavinced their captors that they
were of utility, there was not the slightest reason to de-
spair that they were still alive. (Hear, hear.) The object

LIVERPOOL, Dec.
0 ,sners
12.—Tie Chipclipper: Gipaß
pseg
e
Qy ride
ailed hence tc-day for Melbourne, wi
nd a large cargo.
PUBLIC INCOME AND
EXPENDITURE.—The puy. c
income for the year ended the 31st of March, 1856,
amounted to 70,552,1451. atrainst 64,091,5711.
in 1855,
and the expenditure to 93,149,3101. against 70,236,8171.
A over
in 1855. Thus there was an excess of exnen
ire
of
income in 1855-56 of 22,597,1651., and an excess
6,145,2461. in the year 1854-55. The (..‘uVomos (in
1855-66) yielded 35,635,5521. ; the EsciFe, 5,210,084/. ;
5tamp5,7,063,610/.• assessed and land taxes, 3,136,9771.;
the income tax, 15:159,458/. (Against 10,922,267/, in the
year ended the 31st of March, 1855) ; the post-office,
2,767,2011.; and Crown lands, 421,7151. The duties on
spirits and wines remain very. stationary; those on malt,
coffee, tobacco, snuff, and sugar have increased. The
house tax yields 72a,789/., and land taxes, 1,157,5251.
The expenditure in 18b5-56 included 2 863 353/. for col-
lecting the revenue, 28,112,825/. for ,the2public debt,
1,695,052/, for the civil government 3 192 420/. for law
and justice, 366,443/. for diplomatic salaries, 47,461,1881.
for the army, navy, and ordnance (against 28,321, 7071.
in the preceding year), and 4h,2e00:.m00y0/. for the vote of
credit (war with Russia). The army cost the country
17,395,0591., the navy 19,654,5851.2 and the ordnance
10,411,5441. The civil list, privy purse, the salaries of
the Royal household, and the pasraents of the Queen's
tradespeople include the sum total of 371,800/., and the
allowances to the several branches of the Royal family
151,'881. King Leopold epays into the exchequer
33,5001. out of his pension of 50 0001., after making
sundry deductions for the dischargt annuities and pen-
sions to the establishment of the late Princess Charlotte.