The Sun.
London, England, 1833-11-08 00:00:00

MIDLAND COUNTIES RAILWAY.

(From the Derby Reporter.)
On Tuesday last, a meeting was held at the King's
Head, in this borough, of gentlemen friendly to the esta-
blishment of a railway communication between Derby,
Nottingham, and Leicester, and forward to London by a
junction with the London and Birmingham railroad.
This project has originated with some of the l-ading in-
habitants of Leicester and its vicinity, who have zea-
lously engaged in the enterprize. Already have surveys
been made of the intended lines between this town and
Leicester, and Derby and Nottingham, and part of the
line from Leicester to Rugby, and ,orrveyora are now di.
ligently employed in completing the survey of the pro-
posed line from Leicester to its junction with the line of
the London and Birmingham railroad near Rugby. A
very influential Committee has been formed in Leicester,
and shares to the amount of 60,0001. have been applied
for. At Nottingham a Committee has been formed,
which comprises four or five C.,iinty Magistrates, and
other gentlemen of property and influence. Here also the
applications for shares are very favourable to the success
of the enterprize. The coal owners of this, and the
adjoining county of Nottingham, had taken shares amount-
ing to 50,0001. in a project instituted about two years ago
for a similar purpose, but which was not then carried
into effect ; this sum will be thrown into the present
undertaking, which, when added to the amount ready to
be subscribed for at Leicester, will form one-sixth of the
capital required, without the aid of Nottingham and Derby.
Plans of the intended lines from Pinxton to Leicester, and
from Nottingham to Derby, were exhibited at this meeting.
Mr. Bell read the dial:. of a prospectus, which enumerated
the probable amount of expense necessary to complete the
project, and the sources and amount of income. It was
estimated that 600,0001. would he an ample capital far the
completion of the Railway and its establishment, which it
is intended to divide into 6,000 shares, at 1001. each.
The profit, upon the most moderate and grtatly reduced
estimate, was computed as follows, v;z. :
From travellers by coaches, by posting, and car-
riage of light goods, it is expected there will £

be a revenue 0f...
From heavy goods now conveyed by boats and

waggons

8,288

From coal, iron, lead, stone, timber, linen, corn,
&c

102,467
From v-hich are to be deducted for the expenses
of locomotive power, repairs, &c 37,2J0

Leaving a net surplus of 65,217
To which are added the probable increase from
travelling, and carriage of light goods, agree-
ably to the scale adopted in all recent compu-
tations of this kind .. 40,620
And the probable increase in merchamhze, and
heavy goods, from extended markets and re-
duced expenses 8,160

£113,997
Mr. Bell then stated, that Mr. Babington, who has taken
great interest in this project, and who was expected to
have been at the meeting to explain the details of the plan, as
he had done at Leicester and Nottingham, would not allow
his name to be used till he was convinced of the accuracy
of the calculations from which the foregoing results were
derived by going through the whole himself with great
care and attention. He had very considerably reduced all
the sources of income, and now felt assured that if any
error had been committed, it was in estimating the income
from the proposed railway too low, rather than at too high
a standard, and that they should be quite safe i❑ assum-
ing the profit to be ten per cent. at least. Mr. Bell then
mentioned several sources of income that had not been
noticed in the estimates. Several questions were asked
by gentlemen present respecting the proposed rates
of carriage, which appeared to be very low ; ; was
then stated that the cost of carriage to Leicester,
now bs. 2el. to 6a. per ton for coals, and very much
higher for merchandise of various kinds, would be reduced
to 2a. 9d. or 3s. And coals, which are T..- sold at
from 12s. to 15s. per ton, would I— ....auced to from Bs.
to Ils. Another e-=':«""n inquired, whether the Le-
would not limit the rate of profits ; to which it
was replied, the rates for both passengers and :tones had
been limited by Acts procured for the establishment of
railroads now in use, and regard had been had in the
estimates made to this circumstance. It was also st ited
in answer to another question, that the probable addi-
tional income which would arise from a junction with the
High Peak railroad, and with one talked of from Sheffield,
had not been taken into the account. It was then
moved by Mr. S. Fos, and seconded by Mr. Byng, that
the prospectus and estimates be approved of by the
meeting. Several gentlemen then present were added to
the Provisional Committee.

NEW RAILWAYS. The project of the
Leeds and Liverpool Railway is revived, and Mr. Walker,
the civil engineer for the Leeds and Selby R iilway, is at
pre-ent engaged in surveying that part of the new line
which lies between Liverpool and Manchester.—Bir-
mingham Advertiser.

FOREIGN RAILWAYS.—M. Navier and his
staff of civil engineers, amounting to eight in number,
have been twice upon the Leeds and Seiby Railway
withi❑ the last fortnight, examining the works with great
minuteness, preparatory to the commencement of con-
structions of a similar kind on a large scale in France.
We understand that these gentlemen expressed themselves
much gratified with the scientific skill displayed upo❑ this
great public undertaking, and with the beauty and solidity
of the works.—Birmingham Advertiser.

THE HEADSMAN, BY COOPER.—" The
story of this new novel has many scenes of touching
loveliness; we have been kindled and subdued, surprised
and amused ; and our expectation has been ever kept
alive with the hope of seeing the dark made light, for we
felt the presence of some great mystery, which we knew
must be unravelled. Sigismund, the young, the brace,
the chivalrous, interested us much with his love for the
Baron's daughter, and the deep and bitter feeling of hi
degradation as the son of the Headsman of Geneva. The
work is in three volumes, and each volume possesses an
interest of its own. The first contains the narrative of a
voyage during a storm on the Lema❑ Lake, in which the
maritime tact and courage of Maso, and the fortitude and
daring of Sigissnund enable them to triumph over every
peril. The second relates the agitations and woes of Si-
gismund and Adelheid, when the latter offers to become
his wife, and he is compelled to proclaim himself the son
of the Headsman. And the third involves the whole
characters in this Swiss drama in a snow-corn on the
Alps. The beauties of the narrative are numerous; all
is earnest, tender, and impassioned; and the characters of
Maso and Adelheid have the original and natural air so
strongly impressed on all the productions of this author."
—Athenceum.

COMMON COUNCIL.--A Court of Common
Council was held ye,terday to proceed with the Watch
Act for the ensuing year, and the remaining clauses having
been gone through, and a long discussion held upon the
amounts of moneys to be raised by the several Wards, the
same was finally settled and agreed to, and the Act passed.
.
The Court agreed with a Report from the Committee
respecting the inquiry into Municipal Corporations in
England and Wales for appropriating the Lord Mayor's
hustings in the Guildhall for the sittings of the Commis-
sioners when they proceed in the examination of viva voce
evidence, which they had communicated they proposed
doing on the 26th inst.

LONDON,
FRIDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 8, 1833.

By the arrival of the Pantaloon at Falmouth,
we have received the Lisbon Papers to the 26th
inst., and private letters of the same date.
Their contents are far from important. The
Miguelites continued to occupy Santarem, which
they had well fortified, and it does not appear
that an immediate attack by the Constitutional-
ists is contemplated. According to the Lisbon
Papers, the enemy are straitened for provi-
sions, and it is supposed that the sword will be
unnecessary for their subjugation. The private
letters from Lisbon state, that a dispute had
arisen between Major KELLY and the Govern-
ment respecting the pay of his recruits, and
that he and the officers who accompanied him
had resigned. About eighty of the men who
refused to serve under new of had been
imprisoned.

The Paris papers of Wednesday contain an
ordinance for the meeting of the Chambers on
the 23d inst. There are no later accounts from
Madrid in these papers than the 29th ult., and
no further intelligence from the army under
SAARSFIELD had reached Paris. It may be pre-
sumed, therefore, that up to the 4th inst. that
general had not entered Vittoria ; for, had he
done so, the news would have been transmitted
from Bayonne by the telegraph, unless the wea-
ther had been so unfavourable as to prevent that
mode of communication. The Temps says that
M. ANDINO has been appointed Spanish Mi-
nister of Finance, and that M. CAMBRONERO
is to be the new Minister of Justice. These
gentlemen are known in the political clubs of
Spain as Afrancesados. There is an article in
the Constitutionnel stating that the Duchess of
BERRY has lately crossed Switzerland, as was
supposed, for La Vendee. She is said to travel
with an English passport, accompanied by her
husband. We do not attach much importance
to this statement, forif the Countess of LUCCHESI
PALLI be rash enough to make another attempt
at revolution in France, her husband would
not, we think, be quite so ready to assist
her in her desperate freaks as he was
in lending her his name to extricate her from the
consequences of her reputed faux pas. The
Sultan has sent an ambassador to St. Peters-
burgh, to solicit time for the payment of the
arrears due by the Porte to Russia. The mag-
nanimous Autocrat will certainly grant the re-
quired delay, knowing that a merciless creditor
has never so firm a hold of an unfortunate debtor
as by allowing time for his embarrassments to
increase.

Nov. 6.
Four Five perpeFr ICCteEennNttsCs..,7l9o•oF2ll7.
2675tcp.. Si—Oc.ra4slC.Bl
Three per Cents., 75f. 70c. 6Cc. 40c.
Bank Actions, 1,720 f.
Rente de Naples, 91f. 50c. 20c. 90f. 90c.
Roman Five per Cents., 88g
Rente d'Espagne, Five per Cents., 17% 44.
Rente d'Espagne, Three per Cents., 38% as 37.
Royai Spanish Loan, 78;,78q.
Rente Perpet. d'Espagne, Five per Cents., 64% 64 63%.
Belgian Loan, 1831, Five per Ccnt., 96;4.
Haytian Loan, 250 f. 253 f.
Grecian Loan, 1041.
EXCHANGE ON LONDON.
One month, paper, —f. —c. • money, 25f. 40c.
Three months, paper, 25f. 31)c. ; money, 25f• 30c •
--fours Authentique.

The report of the Agricultural Committee
appointed last session established, beyond a
doubt, the fact for which we have long con-
tended,
that the injury inflicted upon the coun-
try by the corn laws was not profitable even to
the landowners, for whose exclusive benefit they

were intended by the oligarchical tyranny which
framed them. The Report of the Committee on
Commerce and Manufactures,—or, rather, the
minutes of the evidence taken before it, for the
Committee has not expressed any opinion of its
own,—has been in our hands for a week past,
' and, after a diligent examination of it, we
can state, with the greatest confidence, that
there is not a witness whose testimony does
not, directly or indirectly, establish the fact, that
those same corn laws are vitally injurious to
every other class of the community. Our ma-
nufacturers are at the present moment in tole-
rably full work, but the continuance of their
employment depends almost upon the turning of
a straw. There are three ways in which it is
possible to keep up our manufacturing competi-
tion in foreign markets—first, by lowering the
wages of labour at home, without lowering the
price of food; secondly, by raising the wages of
labour, or price of food abroad ; and thirdly, by
lowering the price of food at home. The first has
been in operation for some few years, principally
from the competition of Irish labour ; but it is
at ended with much misery to the working people,
not to mention danger to every other class.
Besides, it is by no means desirable that the
standard of living among the industrious and
working poor should be reduced to that of the
Irish labourer. Humanity and policy (if, indeed,
they be distinct) alike rejecting, then, the first
mode of meeting foreign competition, the question
is, whether we have it not in our power to adopt
the second or third. If we could cf a sudden
double the superficial extent of the United
Kingdom, abundance of profitable employment
for our spare capital, and cheap food, would be
the immediate consequences, without any increase
in the price of food abroad. If bread can be
imported from abroad without increasing the
price in the countries from which it is drawn,
we have the advantage of cheaper food where-
with to feed our manufacturers ; but should
the effect of a free importation of foreign
bread be, as we have no doubt it would
be, to raise the price of corn abroad somewhat,
as well as lower it somewhat at home, we should
have the further advantage of making manufac-
turers abroad eat dearer bread. In fact, should
place them exactly, as regards the price of food,
upon the footing of our own manufacturers ;
whereas, at present, we cut the throats of the
latter, by compelling the foreign bread grower to
sell his commodity cheap to the foreign manu-
facturer. This double operation of our Corn
Laws, the making bread abroad cheap, as well
as making bread at home dear, has not li
met with the attention it deserves. It never
seems to have crossed the minds of many of the
most intelligent witnesses examined before the
Committee on Trade, for they all speak of the
destruction that must soon overtake our own
manufactures unless English wages be reduced.
Thus Mr. S. JACKSON, of Sheffield, at page
185, says expressly that the wages of workmen
in cutlery must come down. It appears not
to have struck him that it was possible to
raise the price of food and wages of labour
abroad, the low rate of which he justly
looks upon as affording foreign manufacturers
their great facilities for competing with our own.
According to his evidence an English saw maker
receives 15s. per day, for a particular kind of
work, at which a French saw maker of Molsheim
earns only 10 or 12 francs per week, turtling
out the same quantity of work. This work
too is not inferior to much of our own ;
English marks are forged upon it, and it is sold
in large quantities in America. Our ability to
stand this competition rests solely upon the
slender foundation of past character. Mr.
JACKSON, at the same time, gives some ac-
count of the price of provisions at Molsheirm
which, in conjunction with thz; lower rate of living
among foreign workmen, sufficiently explains
their ability to take these poor wages. House-
hold bread is id. per pound ; wheaten bread
lid. per pound ; beef 3d. per pound ; potatoes
2d. per peck ; and beer Id. per pint. Our
cotton appear to be in as great danger as
our iron manufactures ; and upon our main-
taining our superiority in this article de-
pends the employment of millions of our
fellow countrymen. By the evidence of Mr.
W. R. GREG, it appears, that the average
wages of work people in cotton mills in
Switzerland is 4s. sd. per week ; in Austria
45.; in the Tyrol 3s. 9d.; in Saxony
3s. 6d.; at Bonne, in Prussia, 2s. 6d.; and in
France ss. Bd. The greater part of the
men earning these wages are certainly worse off
than English cotton spinners (the average of
whose wages is, according to Mr. GREG, 10S.
per week), but still they are able to live upon
them. This they would not and could not do,
if the price of provisions were in the least raised.
We have it in our power to raise the price
of their provisions, to compel their mas-
ters to give them higher wages if they
manufacture at all, and at the same tine
to lower somewhat the price of bread in Eng-
land. This double effect would be pro-
duced by a repeal of the law, which, as far as
possible, forbids our manufacturers to exchange
i
their cotton goods, their iron ware, for food
fugrowns
e t abroad.o
put
his
shoulder
IVohuol d
ei
r to t
he wheel, s
there
thenl
e that
and willad
re
in the abolition of the selfish, short sighted,
pick-pocket Act of 1828 ?

We see it stated in the miscellanies of the
Asiatic Journal of the present month that a
society is forming at Sydney, Australia, the
bond of which is the consumption of no article
not of colonial produce or manufacture. The
scheme is absurd, and its authors will no doubt
shortly discover that it is a losing one ; but it
indicates the kind of feeling which our own
monopolising spirit produces. In all our colo-
nies we sow the seeds of hostility, we impose
ridiculous or mischievous restrictions on the em-
ployment of capital ; and then wonder at their
disaffection. The Australians do not a-k to
to have placed on German
thhaev have aa sn
ad highian s a
desiredu ty on German wool as
timber ; but
.they require not to be shackled in

the use of the coal on their own estates ; the%
require to have their tobacco admitted at ar
equal duty with that of our American colonies
they require being allowed to export their corn tc
us us flee of duty as we send them our broad del
and our cutlery. None of these things are done
and if we do not take care we shall find th3'
instead of rearing a colony which will in leg
than half a century furnish an outlet for 01
manufactures, doubling every sixteen yep
we shall have been sowing the seeds of a tariff
injurious to our commerce as that of the Urn?
States.