The Sun.
London, England, 1851-01-23 00:00:00

ADMISSION TO THE EXHIBITION OF 1851.

TO TEE RIGHT BON. LORD JOHN RUSSELL.
My Lord,—Within a few (hp the. s:aucture de-
signal to.reeeive the cohtributious of the world's in-
dustry will be completed. The question now arises,
as to the mode of admission of the world's people.
And it is upon this important subject that J now
chilli the liberty of addresii.4 you.
Shall admission be taxed by payment ; or shall it
be free ?

Each mode has its difficulties; but, after an
anxious consideration of the matter, it is my convic-
tion that free entry will be at once more simply prac-
ticable, and more in harmony with the large and en-
lightened purpose of the Exhibition.
`.mere are no less than 7,000 exhibitors. Surely
no tax should be levied upon them or their families
for the right of visiting. an exhibition to the staple of
which they have themselves contributed. And lam
further cualirmed in my Lelief of thenp,roadcitfiiecdabailsityl
nod wisdom
whetrteropt propose—nthry"tchee—una) be
nimous and hearty
opinion of very many of tie most influential members
of the city of London.
The Royal Commissioners have incurred a large debt
—a debt that must he liquidated. And it is to be
reared that a too anxious sense of this obligation may
induce the levying of a rate of entry that shall, to the
million, amount to prohibition.
I have therefore to propose that, for the first fort-
night of the Exhibition, admission shah be, in every
case, by payment. And further, that one day in the
week (and for many reasons I should sel2ct Wednes-
d shall, for the whole term of exhibition, be re-
ser,,..-ei for the higher classes of all nations who may
prefer !c. pay for 612 exclusive privilege of admission
rather th:.rt encounter the inconvenience of a crowd.
With these exceptions that the entrance shall be en-
tirely free.

The sum taken during the first fortnight, and on
the one day in each week, would, no doubt, be very
considerable ; nevertheless a large deficit would re-
main onerous upon the Royal Commissioners. This
deficit lam emboldened to solicit your Lordship to
meet by a Parliamentary grant. And this solicita-
tion I make the more readily, from the belief that from
the very fact of the Exhibition a large addition will
accrue to the revenue of the country ; an addition—
it is calculated upon trustworthy au,hority—of up-
wards of two millions. Now, of these two millions
how small the item required to throw open the
doors of the world's Exhibition to the world's citizens.
When the subject of the Exhibition was brought
before Parliament last year it was very properly dealt
with ; for, as everything was then in a state of un-
certainty as to the future, bad Government interfered
the whole matter must have passed into their own hands.
The case at present is entirely altered; the building
is nearly finished, and will shortly be ready for the
reception of the world's wares, and the great difficulty
at this moment is to find space for the vast quantity
of articles likely to be sent.

We 'Live invited ail the nations of the earth to a
friendly competition of skill; to this invitation many
have heartily responded. We have also invited the
whole fathily of pian to come and participate in 3 the
first banquet the world has ever dedicated to peaceful
industry and to intelhctual triumphs. An event so
pregnant v.ith hixti and humanizing good to all man-
kind should be informed with the most liberal—with
it purely cosmopolitan spirit. If it be otherwise—if
at the very threshold of the building dedicated to this
industrial banquet a tax be laid upon those who would
Partake of its oe•nefichsi influence; a banquet, more-
ovt.,r, to which thousi;pds nt payers have con cributed
—the whole purpose of the Exhibition will t'orego a
;race which otherwise would endow it with a crown-
lustre.
Several foreign Governments have voted consider-
able sums to wid their people in the object of the Ex-
hibition, and I know that already in France ana Ger-
many the idea of payment (for foreigners are espe-
cially accustomed to gratuitous entry into all na-
tional buildings) has been canvassed in a spirit which,
as an Englishman, I feel to be a reproach to my
country. It is• this reproach, my Lord, that I beg
of you, by the consent of Parliament, to put away
from us.

But not alone for the stranger do I ask for free
admission. I ark it for the large body of our own
working classes, for those men whose skill, whose in-
dustry, will, I doubt not, be triumphantly represented
at the forthcoming congress of labour. Thousands
of these men—the sinus of the land—are at this hour
depriving themselves of many little household comforts
to enable them to visit London ; and the inevitable
cost of such a visit should not be increased by at further
tax. Therefore, I ask for the working men of Eng-
land a free entry into the structure dedicated to the
world's industry—free as the light that pervades it.
Again, such will be the magnitude of the Exhibi-
tion, that no one, two, or three visits will suffice to
the knowledge of its manifold objects. This will bs
made sufficiently obvious, when it is known that to
make merely the circuit of the tables will be to make
a journey of no less than twenty miles. Hence, with.
paid admission, the visitor will be tempted to spend &
day, when otherwise he would at various visits occupy
but a few hours. There would, in the gratuitous ad-
mission, be a flowing stream of people, if I may use
the figure ; whereas, with exacted payment, visitors
will become fixtures from morning till night.
I might, my Lord, dilate upon this subject ;_ but I
hope that I have said sufficient to obtain of your
Lordship a patriotic consideration of the question--
Shall the Exhibition of the World's Industry be free
to those whom England invites to meet in generous
rivalry ? or shall we send forth invitations, and then
tax our guests ?—I have the honour to remain your
Lordship's obedient humble servant,

JOSEPH PAXTON.
Exhibition-buildings, Hyde-park, Jan. 22, 1851.

.EXIIIMTION OF 1851.
COUNTERS-RULES FOR FITTING Fr.

1. The boundaries of each class are fixed, and emitters,
of one class ulust not extend into the limits of the
clus,rms adjacent.
2. Counters•projecting into the great central p3ssrge
must net he built up higher than 4 feet at summit. If
&sired, they may rise in steps from the ground.
3. Every passage leading out of the great c.:entral pas-
sage to the north to the south must be 8 feet wide,
and in th;: centre of every 24 f, et space.
4. No communication from cast to west between any
paserges !,:hall be ektablisbeil,swithout special leave of the
Executive Committe in wri':ng.
5. P4slova t:-.Len out of exbibitieg space by exhib
tore, tto own convenictee, must be on the grouzid
noz, less thee 5 feet, wide, and in the gallery not less than
3 toet wide.

i. Coutters beiow a gallery may be built up to 9my
heigbf unrSer,siy 19 tier, if required.
7. Vertical iktiA. or partition space, must not proj*ct
into t. 4 great central I,abssge.
8. Time must be always a clear passage of 5 feet
next the railings in the gailei-1t:45, wad- no, pa:iBage less
than 3 feet.

9. Case;, counters, &c., tray Le placed in any direc-
tion, north to south or east to west, provided they do
not extend beyond the boundaries of thm space allotted
to their clans or into the general passages ; but it is tie.
quested that counters and cases should bo multiples. of
4 feet.
10. No vertical or counter space in tho galleries most
rise above 7 feet.

By order of the Executive Committee,
M. D. WYAIT, Secretary.

EXPENSES OF APPLICATIONS TO PARLIAMENT.—+At
the last meeting of the town-council, Mr. Thompson called
attention to the enormous amount of the law and Parlia-
mentary expenses incurred by the borough of Liverpool
within the last sixteen years, and which he stated wets as
follows :
""
*** ***
Ng 26
2
1838
• •••
111:8;8 3334
045792 *l:.▪ .11• 17•
53•
46• 49i:6'66c0"558155'1903,51) 1:11:991981 0:1251
1 8841 1843
• " 5,918 12 4
115• ••• .8. 4,37_3 3 1
1947 ... 11,925 2 4
[Of this sum the cost for the water bill was 7,737/. y
1848 •• • ... 23,887 16 8
IFor the water bill 23,5261. 19s. 6d.]
1849
• ... 3,241 8 6
1850
••• ••• ... 1,534 3 3
Water bill, &c. 10,397 12 6
Equitable Rating Committee 2,500 0 0
—Liverpool Chronicle.

CUSTOMS' REVENUE Or THE CLYDE PORTS.-It iS
gratifying to state that, notwithstanding the remission of
duties, the Clyde ports show an increase for the year MO,
and now present a total of more than 1,000,000 L sterling per
annum. The return is as follows:—
Receipts at Glasgow in 1849
1850

... £640,568
... 645,669

Increase at Glasgow ...
Receipts at Greenock in 1E49 ...
tt ~ 1850 ...

... £5,101
... f... 371,02
... 388,487

Increase at Greenock ...
.. .C 11,495
These are irrespective of the receipts at Port Glasgow, of
which we have not yet received a return. The rapid rise of
.
the Customs' Revenue at Glasgow is, we believe, unpa-
ralleled in the kingdom. In
1812 the Customs revenue was
only 3,124/. ; in 1820, it was 11,000/. ;
'
in 1830, it was 59,013/. ;
in 1840, it was 468,9741.; while in the year just closed it
was 645,6691.
Tan SCOTCIa IRON THAI —''r understand that
a very influential meeting of the iron trade was hold on
Monday, in the George Hotel, George•square. The ob-
ject of the meeting was to consider what means might be
deemed desirable to remove a strong prejudice found to
exist in England against the use of Scottish iron. An
effective committee was appoiutcd for that *pose. These
gentlemen are to report to a
every confider
nfibdreatneceh
inof subsequent general meet-
ing of the trade. The subject is of the highest impor-
tance
stepsnati takenindustry;oiahythe com-
mittee and
we
resuts.—Gl
being satisfactory in their l asgotc Daily
havet o a !tear

We have much pleasure in announcing that the
Order of the Garter has b?en conferred upon the Marquis of
Normanby, in consideration of his important services as Am-
bassador in Paris, and in several other high offices of State.
Times.