The Sun.
London, England, 1856-01-25 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON. FRIDAY EVENING, JANUARY 25. 1856. 1

LINES I,KASED ,T FIXED 13,ENTALS.

THE QUARTERLIES.

cause of liberty. " Russia and the Allies" deals
with the subject of the war in an effective manner,
showing that in no element of strength are the
Allies inferior to Russia, while in several they are
superior. The necessity of care being taken to
secure a safe peace for our Allies as well as ourselves
is strongly urged—the article concluding as fol-
lows

RAILW AV's

CompanB.

Ctoant• enol3e
yeater fay.

Bastness
this day.

The Edinburgh Review. No. CCIX.

" That which lies before England as the duty of to-day
must be done well and effectually, even if for the present
it be done exclusively. Other things may wait. The
Tzarate is like the Papacy, it never allows that it is in
the wrong, never admits it is defeated, all its titles are
indefeasible, and its designs are never abandoned, only
postponed. But the reckonings of all kinds which with
us await the close of this war, will, if the close of it be
inglorious for England and unfruitful in European liberty,
issue in agitations which will render us incapable of tak-
ing part in foreign affairs for many years to come. If
we now leave our work unfinished, it may or may not
be completed by other hands, but it is not likely that we
shall ever, as a nation, have the opportunity of resuming
it. And he is the truest patriot, who labours among us
that the termination of this war may be, if it may so be,
speedy, but above all satisfactory and effectual. To
reach that much-desired haven he will have to drive on
the galley of the State, steadily but not in haste, in the
face of trying storms of warfare, skilfully avoiding the
shoals of foreign diplomacy, and the rocks of domestic
faction, partisanship, and self-seeking ; and he will have
to take heed that no unseen Remora hinders the onward
progress of tke gallant ship."
Besides the above will be found articles on the
" Military Education of Officers," " Athenian
Comedy," and " Lions, and Lion Hunting," all
of which are well worthy of perusal. Contem-
porary literature has its usual share of attention,
and is reviewed with customary ability.

EASTERN COUNTIES RAILWAY.

Meeting this Day.

A special general meeting of the shareholders of this
company took place this afternoon at the London Tavern,
Bishopsgate-street, in pursuance of a requisition to the
directors, dated the 20th December, to convene a special
general meeting of the shareholders "for the purpose
of taking into consideration the general position of the
Board of Directors, the state of the company's affairs,
and of adopting such measures and resolutions as may
be deemed necessary, and can be legally taken, for the
due and proper administration of their affairs." Mr.
Waddington, in the chair.

There was a very full attendance of shareholders ;
several lady proprietors were present.
The CHAIRMAN took his seat amidst mingled cheers
and hisses, the former predominating.
The SECRETARY having read the notice concerning the
meeting, and also the requisition,
Mr. Sergeant GAZELLE appealed to the meeting and
the chairman whether the latter would not best consult
his own feelings and that of the meeting by retiring
from the chair that day, instead of presiding over the
proceedings. .

The CHAIRMAN said that on a former occasion he
undertook to answer the charges brought against him
by the committee of managemeent. He had redeemed
that pledge, and it was for them to decide whether
it was satisfactory or not. Until that be done he should
retain his seat. (The hon. gentleman then sat down,
folding his arms over his breast.)

Mr. Bruce (director) referred to a pamphlet that had
been published, stating that there was nothing but anar-
chy and confusion at the board. 'He denied the state-
ment, and quoted in refutation of it that in the six
weeks during which Mr. Waddington had been removed
from the chair of direction the income of the
line had increased 8,0001. He referred to the
charges he brought against the directors at the meeting
in August last, which, he contended, had not been de•
nied, or, if denied, not disproved. He would de his best
whilst he remained a director to procure for them a
proper statement of their accounts, but he should decline
taking any part in the administration of the affairs if
they re-elected Mr. Waddington as their chairman. He
again condemned the past conduct of the chairman, and
concluded by moving that the meeting confirm the reso-
lution of the meeting in August last, appointing the
committee of investigation and requests them to con-
tinue their labours till the general meeting in February
next.

Coals
Olive oil
Wool
Lead, pigs
IP
Sugar, Colonial „
„ Foreign „
Meat (fresh and
salt) ...
Zinc

Dr. REILLY seconded the motion. He attributed the
present state of the company's affairs to the mismanage-
ment of the chairman, whose conduct ought to be the
subject of a public prosecution.

*I

THE TRADE OF FRANCE, 1855.

The Moniteur of Monday contains the trade tables of
France for the month of December. and for the year
1855, compared to 1854 and 1853. For the same period
our trade tables are not yet published ; and as those for
November were not published till the end of December,
and those for the year 1354 were not published till after
the middle of February, 1855, we are afraid we must
wait at least another fortnight for the official records of
our trade for 1855. 'We have so often referred to the
dilatoriness of the Board of Trade on this subject, which
deprives its publications of much of their value, that
objurgation is obviously useless, and we content our-
selves with merely referring, as a contrast to its delay,
to the greater activity of the Imperial Government of
France. The French tables include the stocks on hand,
which form no part of our official statistics.
The import trade of France in 1855 was so good that
the Minister of Commerce has said that it equals the
trade of 1346, the most renowned under the former go-
vernment, and has thus entirely overcome the depres-
sion which began with the convulsion of 1848. The
revenue obtained by the customs' duties, which we quote
as the only criterion we have of the total imports, was
in 1655, 189,704,6901 r. ; in 1854, 150,587,303 f., and in
1853, 141,607,552 f. In the interval several alterations
have been made in the duties, but they have generally
tended to lower the rates, and we have the Minister's
word for the fact that in 1854 and 1855 the whole of the
indirect taxes were alike, and yielded 70,000,000 f. more
in the latter than in the former. But this includes all
duties as well as the customs, and we shall better under-
stand the increase and the course of the trade by attend-
ing to the quantities of the articles.
In the cereals, a term which includes flour as well as
wheat, and all kinds of grain and meal, the imports
were less in 1855 than in 1854 and 1853.
The following is the account in metrical quintals, each
metrical quintal being nearly 200 cwt. :

IMPORT OF CEREALS.
1855 1854 1853
4,109,589 5,414,950 5,159,854
Our surprise that France should have imported less
in 1855 than in 1858 disappears when we notice what
were in these years the

- EXPORTS OF CEREALS.
1855 1854 1853
957,581 1,596,216 3,963,487
The exports, therefore, in 1853 exceeded the exports
of 1855 by upwards of 3,000,000 quintals. France im-
ported grain and exported lour. Even in 1863, how-
ever, the imports exceeded the exports by nearly
1,201i0,000 quintals. We have before learned that, taking
long periods, the average imports of grain into France
have rather exceeded the exports. On the whole, there-
fore, France is an importing country, and we may con-
clude, from the recent extension of her manufactures and
of her town population, that this is likely to be her condi-
tion for a considerable period. Combining this with the
fact that a large proportion of her agricultural produce, of
her wines, and her brandies, is intended for exportation, it
supplies an irrefragable condemnation of her system of
stimulating the manufactures of cotton, silk, leather,
sugar, glass, &c., by bounties. On the principle of free
trade neither should be favoured, but certainly the pro-
duction of silks and cotton should not be promoted at
the expense of the production of food.
Of some other articles the imports declined in 1855.
The principal were cocoa, to a small amount below
1854, but the imports were more than in 1853 ; cotton
below the two previous years, the consequence of the
deficient crop in the United States ; saltless in 1855 by
one-third ; and nitrate of soda. The decline in the im-
port of salt is the more remarkable as the export has
increased, and the total increase of the salt duties in
1856 above the duty in 1854 is only 1,600,000 f., and is
little more than 100,000 f. above the amount in 1853,
indicating, we think, that this duty, always hateful to
the French, and always onerous, now falls very heavily
on the multitude. For us it must be a subject of con-
gratulation that we have long ago, owing in the main
to the exertions of the late Mr. Calera% entirely got rid
of this odious impost.
Of the articles of which the import increased we tran-
scribe the following :

IMPORTS INCREASED IN 1855.
1855. 1854. 1853.
Oxen and cows No. 113,469 90,946 36,162
Sheep
Wine Hectolitres 412,205 192,023 31,650
Brandy, &:c lt 234,998 89,899 45,116
M.
Coffee
quintals 398,992 319,770 277,873
Copper
Bar iron /, 717,963 125,959 59,735
Cast iron lf 1,360,411 918,958 861,989
Linseed

40,575,654 35,573,708 29,820,737
11
298,001 174,842 181,213
375,587 210,479 285,102
359,477 308,701 289,320
889,935 826,991 220,852
800,848 483,911 412,205

103,028 59,805 9,542
258,419 165,949 252,380