The Sun.
London, England, 1856-10-30 00:00:00

LONDON THURSDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 30, 1856.

FREE TRADE CONGRESS AT BRUSSELS AND
THE
.iVA NCHESTER CHAMBER OF COM-
MERCE. •

The deputy sent to represent the Manchester Chamber
of Commerce at the Free Trade Congress recently held
in Brussels made his report to the board of directors on
Thursday last, being the first meeting of that body held
since his return from the continent. He represents
the spirit which animated the proceedings to
have been admirable, and nothing eeems want-
ing to a successful diffusion of the principles of sound
political economy throughout Europe if the resolutions
adopted at the close of the Congress be enforced by an
energy which shall not fail, a determined persistence in
the dissemination!of them, and a resolute resistance of the
obstacles with which they will have to combat. The term
assigned for the duration of the Congress was found to be
too short to admit of a full development of the benefits
which would attend a universal adoption of free trade ; but
the speeches made by gentlemen from various countries
showed that the principle had taken root extensively and
only needed cultivatioh. The written communications
which bad been made to the Congress were so numerous
that it was impossible to read them in detail, and it was
therefore resolved that a history of the proceedings of
the Congress should be forthwith prepared, and should
contain these documents. Among them an address from
the Manchester Chamber of Commerce, of which the
following is a copy :

" To TIIE PRESIDENT AND MEMBERS OF TIIE INTERNATIONAL CON-
GRESS FOR, PROMOTING TIIE REFORM OF CUSTOMS' DUTIES, NOW
• SITTING AT BIT:BULB. •

" Gentlemen,--It will not be difficult for this grave
assembly to appreciate the motives which have induced the
Chamber of Commerce and Manufactures at Manchester to
appear by a depttation, in order to offer, on this interest-
ing occasion, its sincere congratulations to the Free
Trade Association of Belgium, on the step which it has
taken-in convening this important Congress, and to ex;
press its deep gratitude for being permitted to take an hum-
ble part in its proceedings. No similar institution can know
more intimately than this Chamber the nature and im-
portance of the work upon which the Free Trade Associa-
tion of Belgium has resolved to enter; none more
clearly foresee the difficulties by which its progress will
be impeded for a time—none can give more secure assur-
ances of ultimate success if present resolves be carried out
with firmness, assiduity, and perseverance. From 1820,
the year of its institution, the Chamber of Commerce and
Manufactures at Manchester never ceased to avail itself of
every opportunity of protesting to the Government and
Legislature of Great Britain against the impolicy and in-
justice of imposing heavy duties upon the importation of
food, but its remonstrances were not regarded, its argu-
ments fell upon deaf ears, its motives were even vilified.
Firm in the conviction of the truth of the principles which
it had deliberately espoused, the chamber continued to re-
peat its demand for the limited application of them which
at that time it advocated, untilout of thediscnssions which
took place among its own members in Dec.,1831, arose that
great and beneficent confederation which, diffusing sound
and enlarged principles of political economy among the
masses of the British people, spread conviction on every
side, and finally brought a power to bear on the Govern-
ment and Parliament which could no longer be safely re-
sisted. It is to be feared that though the proceedings of the
League cannot, if studied; fail to render the work more easy
to all who wish to follow its example, the Belgian Free
Trade Association will yet, even at this day, with the re-
sult of 10 years' British experience before them, have the
same obstacles to overcome, and will consequently stand in
need of the same energy and the same resolute persever-
ance which carried our great free-trade organisation to its
triumphs. As it was in Great Britain before hercommercial
emancipation, so is protection now in every country in
which it is dominant—unreasoning impolitic, and unjust.
Protection isunreasoning, because, seeking selfish and indi-
vidual ends alone, it will tot see the obvious truth that to
foster any industry, whether important or insignificant, by
taxation to such an extent as to prevent importation, is
pro tanto to raise a fictitious price upon the whole
people of the country for the mere purpose of enrich-
ing a few individuals. It is' impolitic, because, while it
absorbs,e. in enhanced prices, a large portion of the means
of the people which would otherwise be applicable to the
purchase of other things which would minister to their
comforts and enjoyments, it diminishes every incentive to
reduce the cost of production, and fixes a permanent high
price upon the consumer ; it is unjust, because, by the ex-
ertions of a despotic power, it forbids the mass of the peo-
ple from expending the earnings of their labour in a man-
ner most advantageous to themselves, These are incon-
trovertible primary truths, which the Free Trade Associa-
tion of Belgium will have to teach and fix upon the minds
of the intelligent people of Belgium. Great Britain has
learnt them, adopted them, and having tested their value
will maintain them. RegardlesSof the unwise suspicions
with which her policy is regarded and the obstinacy with
which it has hitherto been resisted by other Governments,
she holds on resolutely by the system which she finds to be
so advantageous to her own people. She heeds not the
blindness of others ; she is determined to provide untaxed
food and untaxed raw materials for the industry of her
artisans. Not entertaining any jealousies, she exposes the
labour of her people to a healthy competition, and admits
from all countries alike cotton, woollen, and plain linen
manufactures without duty, and only retains a dimi-
nish(' I duty on silk manufactures until die revenue
will permit the abolition of it. Her rule is to purchase
that which she wants in the markets in which she can pro-
cure it at the cheapest cost, and to sell that which she has to
dispose of wherever she can obtain the best price. She ig-
nores as a phantom that which statesmen call reciprocity;
she:repudiates differential duties of every kind; she has
abandoned a long-cherished error in abrogating her naviga-
tion laws ; and, irrespective of other tariffs, opens her ports
to all the world. Aud what have been the consequences ?
The following table, compiled from Parliamentary papers,
supplies the answer; it indicates the average declared value
of the exports of British produce and manufactures only
for'each four years therein specified, and, consequently,
represents that which, after supplying her own require-
ments, Great Britain has actually distributed through the
markets of the world :
EXPORTS OF BRITISH PRODUOE AND MANUFACTURES

Spirit of the Public Journals.

(From the Times.)

The proverbial weakness of example to teach tbat
which peop'e will not learn for themselves receives daily
illustration in the annals of commerce. Here we see
coning together, like a wedding and a funeral at a
church gate, the beginning and the end of imprudence—
the seed time and the harvest of folly. At the very mo-
ment that we hear a French company has obtained from
the Russian Government railway concessions to the
extent of 2,500 miles, and involving an expenditure of
nearly 40,000,000/., one of our own most able, most
enterprising, and, as was till lately thought, most suc-
cessful firms in this branch of speculation, proclaims it-
self unable to meet its engagements. Messrs. Fox,
Henderson, and Co., the contractors for the Exhibition
in Hyde Park, the Crystal Palace at Sydenham, and
other splendid undertakings at home and abroad, have
had to appeal to the forbearance of their creditors.
Their difficulties have been known for some time ; but
our readers are aware that these cilumns are about the
last place where they are likely %see mere rumours of
privata--disaster. In the present instance there was
more than usual motive for tenderne-s on this point, for
there is not a private firm in the kingdom that English-
men have so muchVassociated with the industrial and
mechanical triumphs of their c9untry. No doubt, this
is the too common fate of inventors and discoverers—of
the pioneers of enterprise and the vankuard of material
progress. Their work is too closely allied to genius not
to share its infirmities and mishap. Yet it does seem
bard—at least one cannot but feel it—that the contrivers
and builders of fabrics which add so much to the enjoy-

ment and reputation of their country should suffer the
fate of the common tradesman who has neglected his ac-
counts, and miscalculated or squandered his profits. Yet
so it must lys, and such is thelaw of Providence. There
are moral considerations which are euperior to the
claims of the most transcendant genius ; and
everybody, from the Emperor on his throne to
the humblest huekster, from the inspired poet to
the dullest artisan, must submit to "count the
" cost," and make certain prudential calculations, with-
out which everything he feels dear may be torn from his
grasp, his happiness marred, and his honour dragged in
the dust. It is our especial business to urge these ne-
cessary calculations against a host of subtle influences,
eloquent tempters, and contagions examples. Ofte❑
would it havebeen more agreeable to go with the stream
or at least to say nothing when our warnings were not
likely to be heeded. But we have persevered to warn all
our eountrymen,—too many of that class who are said
soon to be parted from their money,—and we can permit
neither misplaced delicacy nor any personal regards to
stay our comments upon commercial imprudences when
they can be useful.

The " suspension" which we have mentioned is said
to have arisen principally, or immediately, from a loss
of 70,0001. by the Danish Railway. We believe, how-
ever, that the same firm is engaged on the new water-
works at Berlin, and on the, Napoleon Docks—an im-
mense merchandise station at Paris. For anything we
know, the two last undertakings may beprofitable. We
must say, however, that in the fact of a purely English
firm undertaking 'a foreign railway there is much to re-
mind one of the South American mining companies, and
other distant enterprises, on which so many hard earned
British millions have been 'thrown away. A British
contractor must bid low to beat one on the spot.
Though ever so superior in skill and experience, he must
still be under great disadvantages from want of local
knowledge and connexion. He must bid, and afterwards
act, very much in the dark. He must be more liable to
fraud or neglect at a distance than with the opportunity
of constant inspection. All this, and much more, is. so
obvious that most people will think it rests with the con-
tractor to show he can execute such a work in a foreign
country. We shall perhaps be thought to offend against
the omnipotence of British enterprise, but there is a sad
amount of experience on our side. England can still
supply all the component parts of the undertaking,—the
personal skill, the manual labour, the rails, engines, and
other material. The capital, too, will, under any circum-
stances, be largely contributed by this country ; and it
cannot be said that a foreign railway is generally a worse
investment than a British one. A contract, however,
for the execution of a foreign railway, or the acceptance
of a concession, must rely on the soundness of all the
calculations on which the estimate is made ; and, so far,
it places the contractor, or the company, at the mercy of
those who have laid out the line, and their numerous
unknown agents in that work. Such is the nature of
the operation which has just now taken place between
the Russian Government and a French company to an
enormous amount. That company—it is not yet known
whether it is the Credit Mobilier or a rival—undertakes
to carry a system of railway right through Russia at con-
siderably less than 15,5001. a-mile. It may find the land
cheap enough ;' it may not have to construct many
bridge., or other works in masonry ; but it will find ser-
vile labour dear labour; ID will null dl4tauce enay ; and
it will find Russian institutions rather in its way. No
doubt it expects much of its money from England. No
doubt, too, it will obtain a good deal. But if the Bri-
tish purchasers of the shares in this gigantic undertaking
lose all their money it will not be for want of a caution
on our part. They must judge for themselves, as no
doubt they will.

Considering that there is no difficulty just now in
getting a good interest for money at home, in the safest
possible investments, the British capitalist—perhaps
we ;should say the British speculator—has no lack of
golden opportunities of a more poetical kind. He can,
thanks to the übiquitous agency of the Credit
Mobilier, sink his money upon railways in the well-
governed and well-settled kingdom of Spain. He
can, if he likes, present the Sultan of Turkey with
Aladdin's lamp by contributing to establish a Na-
tional Bank at Constantinople. For the permission to
do this the Sultan asks no more than a loan of 8,000,0001.
Such, however, are that potentate's resources, such the
peace and stability of his empire, and such his know-
ledge of railway statistics, that it is said he is about to
guarantee 6 per cent. to the fortunate contributors of
6,000,0001. required by the Euphrates Railway Com-
pany. But these are mere trifles to what we may soon
expect. Enterprise, that has had many a heavy blow
and great discouragement in this country, and that is
driven from one field to another like a party of thimble-
riggers or prize-fighters getting out of teach of the
" beaks," seems to have taken up its abode, en perma-
nence, in the neighbouring capital. There two colossal
companies are scouring Europe for money and
the universe for investments. We know not on what
star they calculate, or to what destiny they attach them-
selves, but they evidently seem to think that a fortunate
audacity is the secret of success. To a universal all-
grasping ambition they ascribe the wealth of England,
and th -y have only to follow our example and they will
make Paris in its turn the commercial metropolis of the
world. If they can do this with our money, if they can
induce the industrious English tradesman to invest his
savings in stock the fluctuations of which are entirely at
the command of a snug Parisian circle, they will be
certain to succeed in -establishing a drain of English
money to their own hearts' great content and to the
ruin of some thousand English households. We are not
without our fears that they will even do as they desire.
Our poor countrymen have a sad penchant for speculative
investments, and do not remember how often, how uni-
versally, the dice are loaded iu this game. They don't
know the difference between being bebind and before
the ecenes. But if they do place themselves, their all,
their wives and children, at the mercy of foreign specu-
lators, who at best don't know what they are undertak-
ing, and most probably wish to sell their undertakings
at a premium, and shift the responsibility upon others,
then they have to thank themselves. We have dis-
warlntinigs,nnootrtwheill
it firstbe time
lewete,
with-
raiseouthave
d
e beingtdh e our
heededvocde uot
i.
till it is too late.

"development of progress," with which he started, to a
flaming panegyric of the "military aspirations of the
Napoleonic dynasty ;" and then puts the question, whe-
ther it would be more conformable to the spirit of Italy
to be organised on the basis of a Unitarian Constitution,
as proposed by Mazzini, or whether it would not be ad-
visable to have different monarchies in Italy—one of
which to be ruled by a Murat, the other possibly by a
Prince from the House of Savoy.
From what has been stated above, the nature of the
assuming
answer to these qhypocritically uestions may be uessed. The writer
of the manifesto,
that "Italy,
like a prolific mother, has exhausted herself by her own
fecundity," declares the time of real popular freedom to
be irreconcileable with the "aged feebleness" Italy has
arrived, at, and therefore advises the establishment of a
"strong authority," on the ruins of the shattered throne
of Ferdinand 11. The internal divisions and jealousies
(he says) which divide the several factions of the penin.
sula do not admit of any other course being adopted.
There remains nothing but to organise a "strong military
power," which is "necessary to restore authority and
order in a country that has undergone so many political
commotions." Of course, the writer is of opinion that
" with a Murat, the people would greatly reinforce this
desirable military element ;" and he, therefore, proceeds
to recommend his French pretender to the suffrages of
the Italian nation. In terms the most fulsome and flat-
tering, he proposes Prince Murat as a King for Italy,
leaving it at last even in doubt whether poor Victor
Emmanuel, who, for appearance's sake, has been named
in the beginning of the programme, is to be taken into
consideration at all at the final adjustment of the affairs
of the peninsula.
A. concluding observation of the writer of the mani-
festo may still farther be dwelt upon. He advises the
Italian people to act at once, and to lose no time, lest
the prospects of Muratism might share the fate of the
prospebts of O'Donnell, who '" in spite of certain recom-
mendations from abroad," hesitated too long in precipi-
tating the Spanish Bourbons from their throne, and be-
came himself the victim of their hatred. This allusion
to "foreign recommendations" clearly indicates the part
the French Government has played iu the recent Spanish
crisis. In pointing attention fo the fate of O'Donnell,
the atithor of the programme gives his readers to under-
stand that now or never the cause of Murat must be
fought, otherwise the chances of victory will pass away
as irretrievably as those of the Spanish dictator, who
lacked the energy for acting upon the counsels of the
Tuileries.

The Manifesto we have thus retraced in its principal
features is an important document for arriving at a just
estimate of the Neapolitan complication. It is remark-
able as well for the positive assertions it makes, as for
the facts it passes over in silence. The air of high pro-
tection it assumes towards the "mercantile interests" of
Great Britain, and the superciliousness with which it
affecti to disregard the political interests this country
has in the peninsula, are characteristics not to be over-
looked by Englishmen. On the other hand, the slighting
tone of patronage the manifesto indulges in towards
Piedmont is equally instructive. Piedmont, if we under•'
stand rightly the advocate of Prince Murat, is for the
nonce to act the useful part of the cat in the fable, and
pull out the desirable chesnuts from the fire for the be-
nefit of the monkey. We think, however, there is too
much political ,good sense at Turin to consent to the
adoption of thislumiliating and suicidal part. In fact, no
sooner 'would Piedmont have aided in establishing a
French prince on the throne of the Two Sicilies than it
would have cause deeply to deplore such co-operation.
With a Murat at Naples, and a French army in the
Papal States, Piedmont would entirely cease to be a
free agent, and be hemmed in between the pressure of
the French empire on the one hand, and'the influence of
French power in Southern Italy on the other. What
fate would befal little Piedmont, thus enclosed in the
embrace of pretenders with colossal military and naval
forces at their command !
The ambitious views entertained even now at the
Tuileries respecting Piedmont may be judged from the
counsels lately given by the Imperial press to the Conrt
at Turin. Within the last few weeks several of the
organs which are known to be directly inspired by the
French Government openly counselled Victor Emmanuel
to overthrow the constitution of his country, and at the
same time asserted the necessity of re-uniting the Sar-
dinian province of Savoy to the French empire ! Thus
will it be seen, that not only does Muratistn encroach
upon the national independence of Southern Italy, but
even in the north of the peninsula the dynastic influence
of France endangers the European equilibrium. It is'
high time the attention of the British statesmen should
be directed to this point, lest our national power—which
we would gladly see employed for the furtherance of
Italian freedom—might be used merely to change a
decrepit despotism for one more subtle, and possessing
greater powers of mischief.

OPPOSITION TO MINISTERS' MONEY

AT CORK.

A meeting of the Town Council of Cork was held on
Monday, the mayor presiding. The following letter from
the Crown solicitor was read :

" 45, Kildare-street, Dublin, Oct. 23,1856.
" Sir—l beg to intimate to you, for the information of
the Town Council of the borough of Cork, that it having
been made to appear to his Excellency the Lord Lieutenant
by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners for Ireland, that three
of the half-yearly instalments for ministers' money, under
the statute 17 Vic. c. 11, had become due and payable oat
of the several parishes within the borough of Cork, and
that no portion thereof having been raised or paid, the
several sums thus become Crown debts. That his Excel-
lency had, in consequence, been called on to make, and had
made, an order in pursuance to section 5 of the statute,
that the demand should be recovered and paid over to the.
Ecclesiastical Commissioners, and I have received directions'
to institute proceedings for the recovery of the instalments
due, against the corporation of Cork, and shall be obliged
to exhibit an information against the corporation in the
first day of ensuing term unless the demand shall be com-
plied with in the interval.
" I remain,__ Sir, your obedient servant,
" WILLIAM KEMMIS, Crown Solicitor.
"Alexander M'Carthy, Esq., Town Clerk
of the borough of Cork.
Mr. Fagan, MP., said—l think, sir, and it must be
now evident to all, that the course I proposed, and
which was adopted in council in regard to this question
of ministers' money, was the most prudent one. This
council declined to collect that tax, not because they
indignantly repudiated the law, but because they had
not the machinery to carry out that law. The law
required us to raise this ministers money by means of
a rate to be assessed or levied on the hou-es subject to
it ; and to carry out that law we should have a separate
valuation, of those houses. Mr. Griffiths' is the valu-
ation on which all our local rates are levied, but that in-
cluded stores and other buildings of a similar descrip-
tion, which are not liable to the tax, and unless there
was a separate valuation the law could not be carried
into practical effect. This council called on Mr. Griffiths
for a second valuation. They applied to have a reviser
sent down to rectify the assessment as it then stood, but
he refused to do it. A memorial was sent up to the Lord
Lieutenant, stating the reasons why the council could
not proceed with the collection. Mr. Horsman acted a
most inconsistent part in the course he adopted in mak-
ing one of the most able, eloquent, and effective speeches
in favour of the abolition of the tax, and voting against
it after—but that proved that whatever the peculiar
views of Government might be on the question, they
were determined to support it as it was on the statute-
book, for being the executive they were bound to do so
Next session, however, some steps will be taken against
it. In my opinion, therefore, we should appear in the
Exchequer, for I think, we have an equitable defence on
the grounds that I have stated. (Hear, hear.)
Dr.•Linehan—And who is to pay the expense of all
this ? (Oh, oh.) Yes, I say who is to pay the expense ?
It was the law, of the land and we must carry it out.
(Oh, oh.) If the law is defective, as Mr. Fagan says,
why did he not move about it in the House of Com
mons ? Why did he not look to it before, instead of en-
deavouring now to plunge this council into litigation ? I
belong to a part of the city that does not pay any
ministers' money. (Oh, ob, and laughter). Now I pro-
test altogether against being taxed by this litigation.
Mr. Penrose—How will you carry out the law ?
Dr. Linehan—We have a right to carry out the law.
Now I do not want to say anything offensive to any
member, but to give my opinion above board; and cer-
tainly I will not allow my part of the city to be taxed
for your litigation. (Oh, oh.)
Mr. Keller—Fie, fie, doctor.
Dr. Linehan—What do you say fie for? (Laughter.)
I am a loyal subject, and 1 will support the law.
Mr. Keller—Surely, doctor, it is joking you are.
Mr. Sheehan—He is a J.P. of the county, and wil
be a deputy lieutenant one of these days. (Laughter.)

Dr. Linehan—l don't want any of your joking, sir.

Mr. Sheehan—We don't care what you are.
Mr. Sheehan and Dr. Linehan rose to their feet and
remained looking at each other for some time, while
roars of laughter were heard from all sides.
Mr. Sheehan—None of your humbug, now. (Con
tinned laughter.)
Mr. O'Neill—That is very unparliamentary.
him out, doctor. (Oh, oh, hear, and confusion.)
Dr. Linehan—l want to save myself from this expense,
and I protest against this litigation. I know I shall
lose popularity, but I do not care a fig for popularity.
(Great laughter.)
Mr. Sugrue said he could not sit down and silently
listen to Dr. Linehan impute a dereliction of duty to
Mr. Fagan, their excellent representative. There was
net ono in Cork who would not say that they never had
a more painstaking member than he, whose exertions
were always rendered in promoting the interests of the
city. Dr. Linehan should not charge him with neglect

Call

of -duty.
Dr. LinA.ham (standing up). I deny it altogether.
deny it, sir. Well, well, did yoz.l ever hear anything
more preposterous. (Roars of laughter).
Mr. Keller—There is no mistake but you are guilty,
doctor. (Laughter...)
Mr. Sugrue—lt is well known that Mr. Fagan used
all his inventive faculties and his greatt ability against
this measure in the House of Commons; and everything
that he has done deserves the assent of the corporation.
(Hear, hear.) It is impossible for us to avoid going into
Chancery, and unless we take measures in time, the
Government will 'yend down a receiver over our tolls
[and thus compel us to pay.
Dr. Linehan---Levy the applotment they gave you.
bir. Eagan—l beg to move the following reeolution..