The Sun.
London, England, 1856-09-19 00:00:00

HIGH PRICE OF CORN.

(From the Times.)
The relations of the corn and money markets
are as perplexing as any celestial phenomena.
Perhaps the more general rule is that of contraries.
A wet summer or a war which sends corn up
sends the funds down, and when funds go down
shares of course follow with still more violent
oscillations. This is a very intelligible state of
things. In the Dutch barometer, at the approach
of fine weather, the lady in the silk shawl comes
out, and her companion in the cloth cloak goes in ;
and vice versa when it threatens rain. But the two
markets are not always the Castor and Pollux of
the firmament, for sometimes they are both elated
to Heaven, or both hurled below in reluctant com-
panionship. It has been so lately. For about two
months wheat and Three per Cents., nobody
could say why, have been coming down together,
and the other day both presented to their respec-
tive admirers a very lugubrious aspect. Within a
few days they have almost simultaneously, yet
neither with very good reason, taken to rise ; and
the recovery in both cases has been considerable—
Consols 14, and wheat ss. a quarter, or more.
These are no very great fluctuations, indeed, but
the wisest heads are puzzled to find out a satisfac-
tory reason. Reasons, of course, can be easily as-
signed, but it is not so easy to say why a reason
should operate at one time and not at another.
Nobody could deny a month ago, or a fortnight
ago, that trade was fairly prosperous ; that there
was a fair prospect of abundance ; that we seemed
to be in good train for the settlement of our vari-
ous differences ; that the railway returns were
more favourable than ever ; that there was money
enough coming from the gold fields ; and in the
Bank of England there was no such diminution of
bullion as to cause any disquietude. In spite of
all this, funds and shares dropped and dropped
day after day. Some said these were speculative
sales, and true enough, as had been predicted, the.
settlement-day was the date of the reaction. Not
a reason was given that had not operated, or been
fully expected to operate, months and months be-
fore. Even the demand for money abroad, which
constituted the immediate drain on the market,
bad been distinctly foreseen as the necessary re-
suit even of reviving enterprise, and of that general
squaring of accounts that would arise at the termi-
nation o a war. The drain of silver to the East
admits of a ready explanation, as was yesterday
pointed out in another part of our columns. It
merely arose from our having to buy in China the
raw silk we could not obtain in France, and from
our usual exchanges with India being disturbed by
the payment of railway calls.
True, there was another cause, which for a time
more directly affected the shares of all mercantile
associations, and that was the failure of the Royal
British Bank. The diSappearance of 150,000/.,
or even twice that sum, in imprudent advances,
seems itself a very slight affair. Many a private
failure discloses a much larger deficiency. This was
merely the common case of half-a-dozen acting
partners, under the specious name of directors,
" playing ducks and drakes" with the money of
their sleeping and very simple copartners. To say
that they helped themselves and their friends from
the till, till the till was found to he empty, would
be an unfair way of stating the fact; though the
result was much the same, and will generally fol-
low, when directors are not men of the highest
stamp. There are, however, dozens of such banks,
as well as assurance and other companies, the
shareholders of which would be puzzled to sax
what they know of their directors, what reason
they have to trust to this or that man, and whether
they would think a 1,000/. note perfectly safe in his
hands or not. There are known principles of
human nature very applicable to these cases. There
is no real.security against fraud, or commercial
practices leading to the same result, except charac-
ter. In the long run character is the only
dependence, and of course it is a point on which
people have to judge for themselves. The common
error is to think cleverness, 'sharpness, a touch of
roguery, and even a slight share in some question-
able but successful transactions, better than a dull
compound of scrupulous honour and plain common
sense. It is rather remarkable, however—we speak
without the slightest reference to the recent failure
—how often the men who have suddenly surprised
the world by frightful defalcations have never had
a character for exact and delicate honour, and have
even avowed a different code of morality. They
who trust such men deserve to lose their money.
What is more, when there is no certain knowledge
of the men whom you are absolutely trusting with
your money, it becomes, to say the least, mere
gambling ; for there is no real difference between
an ivory cube, which when thrown up into the air
may fall on this side or that, it is impossible to say
which, and a man concerning whom you cannot
say whether be will spend your 1,0001. in propping
up a friend's bad speculation, or put it to some
safer and less private use. It is the drawback of
new associations that they are in the hands of new
men, who may be honourable and prudent enough,
but are not certainly known to be such. Such are
the general principles applicable to the subject.
Nevertheless, there is a large class which is only
taught by experience, and which prefers its own
experience to that of others. When, therefore, a
bank or a railway company is suddenly turned in-
side out, the shock to the weaker portion of the
public is all the greater from their habit of only
learning by such catastrophes. The alarm then
spreads fast enough, and scarce a j int-stock bank
escapes suspicion, because one appears to have been
ill-conducted. No doubt the recent failure had its !
effect on shares of all kinds, and that to an unrea-
sonable extent.

As to the fluctuations of the corn-market, the
recent fall was intelligible enough. It was owing
to the ascertained goodness of our harvest, which,
after a period of excessive heat, followed by
rather more rain than was desirable, turns out to
be abundant and well got in. The present rise
is another question, and it is ascribed to the
damage done to the French crops by the inunda-
tions, and to the fact that the harvest generally in
the South of Europe is below the average. It is
presumed, then, that we shall not supply our
wants with such facility as heretofore, or with
such convenience to the usual course of trade. But
surely this inconvenience must be exaggerated when
the Americans are at this moment calculating, not
what they can supply—for on this point they
appear to think their resources boundless—but
what we can take. Free trade has given such
encouragement to agriculture in the Western States
that we have only to give the word and any
quantity is forthcoming. So say the American
papers, though it is not unlikely they may
find the definite sooner fathomed than they cx
pect. But, at all events, it appears that the ins
port of British manufactures in.o the States has
this year been much more than usual, and there is
now some anxiety lest there should not be a suffi-
cient demand for their agricultural produce to
balance the account. If, then, we are to trust to
American speculations, a scarcity is about the last
thing we need apprehend. What, then, makes the
present rise ? There is just now a demand in excess
of the supply. That is a sufficient account of the
matter, though, perhaps, not the whole account.
We know, however, of no adequate, reason. It may
be that farmers having recently sold wheat at 808.,
and being flush of money, cannot make up their
minds to part with it at 655. There may be deeper
reasons for the present state of the market. But.
farmers have the game in their own hands. They
can now sell at a remunerative price. If they pre-
fer to Isola out for higher, and are ultimately re-
duced to accept less than what they now refuse, it
will be their own affair.

(From Galignani's Messenger.)
The Siecle contains some remars on a subject
which, although not political in its character,
of haracter, is of
the highest importance—the fabrication' bread at
a cheap rate. If the populations of any nation
to be kept tranquil and contented, the bitter pangsare
of famine must be sedulously kept at a distance
;
for the sight of a hungry family is capable of urg-
ing the best-intentioned man to desperate attempts
against property and government. Hence all
statesmen have paid the most particular attention
to provide sufficient food for every person placed
under their protection. It was actuated by such
views that the French Government lately extended
to Dec. 31, 1857, the measures decreed for facilita-
ting the importation of corn into France. Nothing
could be more logical or more prudent than such a
course, for there is one very marked fact which
dominates in the whole of this question of corn,
and that is, that France does not herself produce
sufficient corn for her ordinary consumption. It
is true that occasionally au unusually abundant
harvest gives a surplus for the following year ; but,
if a quinquennial or decennial average be taken the
result will be found a deficiency. The Siecle gives
some statistics on this head which bear out our
assertion :

" From 1815 to 1825 we imported 9,014,369 hecto-
litres of corn of all kinds, and exported 1,978,179 hecto-
litres, making a difference between the imports and
exports of 7,036,190 hectolitres. From 1825 to 1836,
an interval of 12 year,:, the quantity imported wa-
-21,775,246 hectolitre, and that exported 9 484,915 bee
tolitres being an increase of imports of 12,290,331 hecto-
litres. In the period cf 1836 to 1846 the import of
corn wag 11,953,896 metrical quintals, and the export
3,638,245 metrical quintals. The difference in favour
of the imports was therefore 9,922,616 metrical quintals,
or 1,288,651 hectolitres a year. This quantity must,
however, be reduced by 173,654 hectolitres, being the
excess of the export over the import of flour. The ,
average of this last period was therefore 1,008,701 bee.
tolitres. From 1846 to 1854 the importation of corn of
all kinds amounted to 42,452,201 metrical quintals, and,

the exports to 51,767,034 metrical quintals. The imports
therefore exceeded the exports by 685,167 metrical quin-
ta's, or 901,539 hectolitres, being an annual average of
112,693 hectolitres. This deficit is less considetable
than that which we have pointed out in tae firmer
periods, but it if we add to it that of 1855 and 1856, of
which we have not yet the exact return,, it will doubt-
less exceed the highest total we have given."
In the face of this insufficiency of corn for the or-
-1 dinary consumption of France during the last forty
i
1 - i years, t s not temporary measures, the Siecle de-
clares, that ought to be adopted for allowing its
free importation, but a constant admission of all
articles of food without any duty or impediment
whatever. With corn brought in at all times, and
1 under every flag, a sufficiency of food would be an
1 assured matter, whether in peace or war. But
even then, enough would not have been effected to
give cheap bread to the poorer classes of the popu-
lation. Our contemporary conceives that the Go-
vernment ought to go farther, and direct its atten-
tion to procuring a cheaper mode of fabricating
bread. The bakers' monopoly ought, it thinks, to
be abolished, and steam-power be employed on a
large scale in mixing the dough and forming the
loaves into shape. A better system of centralising
labour in this most important matter ought to be
adopted, and vast establishments organised for the
general public, as has been done with such advan-
tages of economy and salubrity for the army. Un-
fortunately, our contemporary treats the subject
somewhat too generally to lead to any particular
resHlt ; but its suggestions seem so well adapted
to the matter that we hope to see some further ob-
servations on the subject from the same pen.

vernment are now lighting the lower St. Law-
rence, the Gulf, and the straits of Belle Isle ; and
that, when this is done, Quebec may lay claim to
being one of the safest ports on the North American
continent. As it is now, I know that some very
intelligent sea captains prefer the route through
the Straits of Belle Isle to that by Cape Race and
the banks of Newfoundland.—From the Corres-
pondeut of the Daily News.

THE SUN, 1,0.N` DON, 'RI DAY EVENING SEPTEMBER 19,

DISASTROUS PLOODS IN NATAL.

( From he Natal Mercury of April 18.)

About one o'clock on Tuesday morning, a rushing sound
betokened too truly that the Umgeni River, which has its
proper debouchure about three miles north of this town
has broken its banks, and was pouring through the new
channel, along the Vley or swampy flat that skirts our
sea-beach, within the bush that forms the embankment
eastwards of the Indian Ocean. Morning light revealed a
scene of majestic yet terrible grandeur. Through and
across not only the swamp, but the pasture land that skirts
it on either side, a wide and mighty torrent rushed with
impetuous fury, bearing down on its heaving bosom, up-
rooted trees and masses of bush, lately rejoicing in the ver-
dure of their E ecurity, but now torn and mangled hasten-
ing to destruction. Here and there, amid the foaming,
raging flood, stood out green oases, in the surging wilder-
ness of waters, and two cottages were completely insulated,
imminently exposed to the further oncoming of the flood.
The first efforts were directed towards saving the lives thus
exposed ; and the mayor (Mr. Cato), his brother, Mr. John
Cato, and others connected with his establish went, incurred
no slight peril in rescuing the helpless from destruction, by
means of boats. In doing so, Mr. J. Cato, Mr. Povell,and some
others, nearly perished, and were ultimately rescued with
difficulty, or rescued themselves by gallantly stemming the
torrent. The flood continued to rise higher and higher,
until about nine o'clock on Tuesday ; and was not less than
half a mile wide nearer its debouchtnent, below Mr. Cato's.
The last time the Umgeni broke through its bank, and
came into the bay, was on the 15th of April, 1848, pre-
cisely eight years ago ; but we understand, from the older
residents, that the flood of water was not so great as on
the present occasion. This new outfall of the Umgeni may
change considerably the condition of this town; and it
will be a serious question whether to permanently secure
it for the purposes of commerce and health, or effectually
to prevent, by a proper embankment along its old channel,
the recurrence of such a disaster.

Sporting Intelligence.

DONCASTER MEETING.--WEDNESDAY.
ADDITIONAL PARTICULARS.

BETTING ON TELE PORTLAND PLATE. —7 to 1 agst
Welt:tam, 8 to 1. agst Grcuitis Esuriens, 10 to 1 agst
Evelyn, 11 to 1 agst Lance, 100 to 8 a,-t Diphthong
colt, 100 to 7 agst La Victime, 16 to 1 agst Thames
Ditton, 20 to 1 each agst Early Bird, Alembic, and New
Brighton, and 25 to 1 each agst Bourgeois, Flyaway,
and L'Addio.

The Stand Plate Handicap of ssovs each, with 50 added;
the second to save his slake. Red House in. 9 subs.
Captain Christie's Kestrel, by Tearaway, 3 yrs, Est 10ib

(Fordharu) 1
Lord Chesterfield's Peter Flat, 3 yrs, 6st 131 b

(Cresswell) 2
Mr. Mellish's Pope Joan, 5 7st 51b (Bates) 3
The following also ran :—The Medway, Olympus,
and Arago.

One of the incidents of this flood was the premature and
involuntary launch of Messrs. Cato's new schooner, from
the beach at the outfall of the old creek, where she was
built. The flood broke away the framework that held
her, and she was carried out into the bay, without, we be-
lieve, much damage. This occurred about seven o'clock
on Tuesday.

Betting-2 to 1 agst Olympus, 3to 1 agst The Med-
way, and 4 to 1 each agst Kestrel and Beter Flat. Won
by three-quarters of a length ; a length between second
and third ; same di,tance between the third and fourth.
Her Majesty's Plate of 100 guineas ; 3-yr.olds, 7st ;
four, Bst slb ; five, Bst 121 b ; six and aged, 9st lb.
.Cup Course.
Mr. T. Parr's Fisherman, by Heron, 3 yrs... (Bates)t 1
Lord Zetland's Zeta, 3 yrs
Mr. Jackson's Lady Tatton, 4 yrs (j. Osborne) 3
Mr. E. R. Clark's Mr. Sykes, 6 yrs..........(Dockeray) 4
Mr. Barber's Pretty Boy, 3 yrs (Fordhapn) 5
Mr. Gill's Scotchrnan, 3 yrs (J. Gill) 6
Betting—Even on Pretty Bay, 4 to 1 agst Fisherman,
and sto 1 agpt Zeta. A fine race in with Fisherman and
Zeta ended in a dead heat ; Lady Tattoo finished about
two lengths behind the first two ; bad fourth.
Deciding Heat (betting, 11 to 8 on Zeta)—Won easily
by three-quarters of a length ; Zeta bruke down about a
distance and a half from home.

Perhaps the most serious damage, in a colonial point of
view, is that which the cane-fields in this neighbourhood
have sustained. The Springfield cane fields, abutting on
Umgeni, on the other side of the Berea hills, were early
submerged by the overflowing of the river, and it is
believed a large part of the crop is injured, and some of it
destroyed. Several families residing near the river are
rendered homeless by the visitation, and we deeply regret
to state that great losses of cattle, horses, poultry, farm
utensils, and even household furniture have been sustained.
At the Springfield mill the water rose so high as to surround
the mill ; and a loose sugar pan, waggon, and other articles
wore swept away. Happily the new channel so far relieved
the main stream that the disastrous effects were partly
stayed.

North of the Umgeni (says the Alircury of the 25th of
April) scarcely any of the rural settlements have escaped
serious damage. The mill lately erected by Mr. Walton at
the Umhlangi, together with the data for the supply of its
waterpower, are swept away by the flood, and serious in-
jury was done to the crops and homesteads in that neigh-
bourhood. At Verulam the whole of the cultivation on
the flat adjacent to the Umhloti, is not only entirely de-
stroyed, but the soil is covered thick with sand, and thus,
for the present, rendered useless. The houses in the village
and neighbourhood have all suffered more or less, and the
Kafir (Wesleyan) Chapel is partially washed down. Beyond
Verulam, owing to the state of the roads, no communica-
tion took place for more than a week ; and we regret to
learn that the accounts now to hand give details of nume-
rous and serious losses in the injury done to crops, build.
ings, and stock. The chief sufferers at Verulam are Messrs.
Andrews, Johnson, Thomas and Richard Groom, and W.
Starr.

Southwards of. Durban, we are happy to report, the da-
mage to the cane crops was mt so great as was apprehended.
Wednesday's post has brought us tidings from the Ton-
gaati, of which the following is a summary :—" In one
night the river rose higher than any. of the residents had
known it before, and within 16 hours it had entered into a
large brick shed of about 180 ft. by 30 ft., which was 17 ft.
above the level of the river. Unfortunately this building had
been made use of as a shed fir timber, hides, tallow, &c.,
and was filled with unburnt bricks, ready for the kiln. Dur-
ing the Monday the water rose rapidly till it reached the
roof, and before the next day the building had been swept
away, carrying with it much dry wood, hides, &c., which
aould not be saved the day before, although all hands worked
hard during the day, in the deep water, and not without
danger from alligators. The rise of the former heavy floods
was not known by any here to reach more than 16 feet ; on
this occasion it came to within two feet of the sugar-house
buildings, which by measurement are 32 feet 6 inches above
the ordinary level. The extent of the losses is not yet known,
but they are very heavy—at least 30,000 bricks, for the
Tongaati works, the shed above referred to, sugar-coolers,
hides, tallow, tools, &c.; and about 500 loads of excellent
fuel (dry sugar-cane) which cannot be replaced. These were
on a fiat 26 feet above the ordinary level, and were invalu-
able to us. In addition to these disasters, many oxen, it
is feared, are dead from cold, or were washed clown the
river at night, and much damage is done to green unfinished
brick.

The depots of the 65th and 76th Regiments, number-
,ng respectively 16 officers and 107 men, and 15 officers
and 101 men, arrived on Wednesday by the Clyde
steamer in Kingstown harbour from England, and were
marched to the Royal Barracks, Dublin, where they
will be stationed for the present.
Cuwtoua MEETING. IN PARIS.—The rag.gatherers
(ekilionniers) of Paris have long possessed a mutual
benefit society, and they recently demanded and obtained
permission from the police to hold a meeting for the pur-
pose of examining its accounts, and revising its statutes.
The meeting was held a few days ago at a public-house
bearing the sign of the Vieux Drapeau, in the Quartier
saint Marcel. Forty-eight delegates, nominated by the
whole of the rag-gathering fraternity, were present, and
each of them on entering deposited 20c., which were
disbursed in paying for the room and for sundry bottles
of win ordinctire. The senior delegate was pro tent. called
to the chair, which was half of a cask turned bottom
upwards, and six delegates who knew how to read, and
five who knew how to write, were proposed as candidates
for the posts of president and secretary. An election of
of these two dignitaries having been made, the senior
resigned his seat to the elected president. Taking pos-
session of the cask, the latter embraced the senior, and
then delivered a speech, in which, after expatiating on
the honesty of the rag-gatherers as a body—proved, he
said, by their always giving up anything of value they
might happen to find, and by their rarely figuring before
the tribunals for robberies or ones offence,. He gave an
account of the operations of the benefit society since the
last meeting, and exhorted his " dear brethren"
to be friendly to each other and united. The secretary
then read, one by one, the statutes of the society, which
are 42 in number, and asked if any delegate had any
alteratic n to propose in them. Only two were subj--cted
to discussion ; the 17th, which provides fur the " frater-
nal division" amongst the rag-gatherers of particular dis-
tricts of the heaps of rubbish and filth that may be de-
posited in them ; and the 52d, relative to the contribu-
tion to be paid per month to the society, and the amount
to be allowed to sick members. Tee first-mentioned
article, after due debrve, was modified to the effect that
not only should the heaps aforesaid be reserved to the
rag-gatherers of the districts, but that on no account
should one rag-gatherer presume to encroach on the heap
of another ; and the secon t was, on account of the pre-
sent dearness of food, modified so as to make the monthly
contributions of members 500. instead of 25c., and the
daily allowance to the sick 60c. instead of 30e. The
statutes having been formally approved of, a resolution
adopted in previous meetings, declaring that the oldest
member of the rag-gathering fraternity, one ' S--,
aged 85, called "the General," should for the rest
of his life be freed from any monthly payments to
the society, but should enjoy all its advantages, that he
should besides be allowed 250 grammes of tobacco a
month, should have a seat of honour at all meetings and
banquet., and should at the latter be entertained gratis,
was passed unanimously with loud applause. The trea-
surer was then called on to produce his accounts and
cash. The accounts having been examined were de
Glared correct, and the balance in hand, which consisted
of 77f. 95c., and was deposited in an earthen pot, was
counted, and was also found exact. The delegates then
removed to a puyic house called the Pot Tricolor, at
the Barriere Fontainebleau, where a banquet was pro-
vided them. The place has always been the grand ren-
dezvous of the rag-gathering fraternity, and formerly it
was divided into three parts—one, called the "Cham-
ber of Peers," for the elite of the calling, that is those
who possesed a good basket, a good lantern; and a
crotchet with the handle ornamented in copper ; the
second, called the " Chamber of Deputies," for those
who possessed such things of an interior quality or in a
dilapidated state; and the third, which was called the
" Saloon of the True Proletairee," for the " lower
orders," who had neither basket, nor lantern, nor crochet,
and who,
consequently, were obliged to pick up rags
with their fingers, and carry them in bags. But on the
present occasion it was determined that, in accordance
with the progress of democratic ideas of late years, and
as a mark of friendly feeling, all distinctions of rank
should be broken down, and that the aristocracy, middle
class, and lower orders of the profession should meet at
the same table. The chairman, on taking the chair,
proposed that henceforth this determination should be
rigorously adhered to as a fundamental rule of the rag-
gathering community, and his proposition was adopted
with acclamations. The guests then proceeded to
attack the good things provited fhr them. The dish
of honour was a gigantic olla podrida ; the wine was
ordinaire, and was contained in a high earthen jug
called the Petit Pere, which was constantly being
replenished from a cask called the Mattricand ; and
the dessert was composed of the strong cheese Girarme,
of radishes, and of a petit verre of a horrible sort of
brandy. The banquet was very gay, and at the desert
several toasts were drunk—one of them to the " press,"
which, said the president, enlightened the world, and,
by its large consumption of paper, caused rag-gatherers
to live. A collection made for the poor closed the ban-
quet ; it amounted to 9t. 75c. At former gatherings the
utensils of the table were' chained to it ; but on this
occasion they were left free. The guests, however, were
required to deposit the value of them, and when they
gave them up on leaving the deposit' wait restored.