The Sun.
London, England, 1851-02-01 00:00:00

SHORT WEIGHT IN COALS.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
SlR,—The flagrant case of short weight in coals,
reported in your paper of the 22d instant, together
with the steps that have been taken by members of
the Coal Merchants' Society, have at length fairly
brought this matter before the public ; but it requires
" line upon line, precept upon precept," in order to
put an end to this iniquitous system. Will you,
therefore, permit me to furnish your readers with a
few hints for their guidance, those at least who may
wish to satisfy themselves of the honesty of their coal
merchants.

Have your cellars measured, a ton of coal occupies
a space of about 52 cubic feet. A sack of coal ought
to weigh two hundred and twenty-four pounds,
exclusive of the sack. See'that the scales, and also
the weights, are properly balanced, by placing two
of the four half-hundredweights on either side of
the scale. There is no security in allowing any
other than a proper balance machine to be used.
Select the sacks for weighing, and as small sacks are
frequently used which are made to contain only 1
cwt., do not be deceived because they appear quite
full. Have a witness, who should write down the
exact weight of each sack (if a policeman so much the
better), as he will prevent the not uncommon prac-
tice of the carman's driving away; do not believe
that he has ricked his back, even if he swears to it,
and if he breaks the machine (a common trick)
send to the nearest police station for another. And
last, though not least, do not leave the matter to
your servants or butler, unless you wish to be defeated.
I heard of a nobleman a few days since who
inquired of his corn merchant whether be could not
afford to allow his coachman more than 5 per cent.
Every man owes a duty to the public as well as to
himself. You may consider that you owe nothing to
the coal merchant—you may disregard his advice, if
not worse; but bear in mind that all his efforts to serve
you, and redeem his trade from the disrepute attached
to it, can only be done by your assistance and co-
operation. If the above recommendation should be
adopted, the public will soon discover to what an ex-
tent this fraudulent system has been carried.
I am, Sir, yours respectfully,
A COAL MERCHANT.

ADULTERATION OF COFFEE.
(From the London New Price Current.)
We have the pleasure to announce that Government
has at last come to the determination of putting a stop to
the further adulteration of Coffee. The Attorney-
General has been consulted on the subject, and proceed-
ings at law are in the course of being instituted against
several of the fraudulent vendors of that article. The
announcement of these proceedings, it is hoped, will be
the means of putting a stop to these fraudulent
practices throughout the country; but should this
warning not be attended with the desired effect,
then no fewer than one hundred of the leading
adulterators will be selected for the next example. How
any Government should have so long permitted frauds
of such enormity to be perpetrated, by which the
public is cheated and the revenue defrauded of vast
sums of money every hour of the day, without even at-
tempting to put a stop to them, is one of those in-
explicable circumstances that neither reason, policy,
or common sense can explain. Certain it is, how-
ever, that (from whatever cause) the culprits who
cheat their neighbours every day by selling chicory,
roasted chesnuts, acorns, beans, &c., under the name
of coffee, escape punishment; while a poor starving
wretch who purloins a piece of bread to appease his
hunger, is rewarded with a month or two's occupation
at the treadmill. It is an extremely difficult matter to
give a reason of any kind, why Government has been
so tardy in putting a stop to the flagrant practices
of the coffee dealers. Among these reasons, such as
they are, one is said to be, that the present Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer carries on a profitable
trade by growing chicory to supply the coffee dealers
with the means for cheating the public. This may
or may not be true, as we cannot take upon ourselves to
vouch for its being a fact. Another reason given is,
that the fraudulent dealers in Coffee form such a nume-
rous class of the constituency who support the Minis-
terial candidates with votes, that the Government is
afraid to proceed against their friends, and thereby
hazard their seats in Parliament. The real cause,
however, of the intended proceedings against
the self•styled coffee dealers we believe to be, the move-
ment on the part of the Excise against the adulterators
of Spices, the Chancellor of the Exchequer having clas-
sically remarked, " Et sic de similibus, de exterie," which
being freely interpreted, means " What is sauce for the
goose is sauce for the gander."