The Sun.
London, England, 1851-12-16 00:00:00

S N 7 DECEMBER 16, 1851.

in which the friends and relatives of poor unfortu-
nate prisoners are plundered by persons who prowl
about the court, professing themselves lawyers ; but
they—every one of them—shall see pretty quickly
the inside of the county prisons if I can only get a
clear case brought home to them. Flanagan—l am
here to defend myself, and I'll swear I never had
a penny from this woman. I never saw her before.
The woman then repeated her statement, but was
interrupted at every sentence by Flanagan, who con-
tradicted every word she uttered. She then called
two witnesses. One of them swore that she saw the
money paid to Flanagan at the Lamb and Flag, and
that half& pint of gin was paid for by the women at
Flanagan's request. The other witness swore that
she: saw Flanagan and the woman at the House of
Detention, and heard him ask for 2/. 103., and tell
her that the money must be paid to him, and to him
alone. The complainant had made a mistake as to the
day ; it was last last Wednesday week, when the
Court was sitting at Clerkenwell, and not last Wed-
nesday.

The JUDGE—Now, sir, what do you say to this ?
Flanagan then said that last Monday week he was
told by Fisher, an officer of the G division, that he
could have the case, when he replied that if he did it
would be 2/. 43. 6d. That would be a guinea for Mr.
Horry, a guinea for Mr. Hadwin (whom he did busi-
ness for), and half-a-crown to the clerk. He had
nothing to do with it.
The JUDGE—Who's Mr. Hadwin ? Flanagan—
He's an attorney that I am with.

The JUDGE.L.Then you go about getting money as
an attorney's clerk. I will have Mr. Hadwin sent
for, and let this man be taken into custody.
Flanagan was then ren3oveirer the cells; and a
messenger sent to find Mr. Hadwin at an address
given by Flanagan, No. 4, Clifford's Inn, but the
officer returned and said there was no such person to
be found there.

Subsequently Flanagan was brought into court.
The Learned JUDGE told him that before many
hours passed he would in all probability find himself
charged with obtaining money under false pretences.
No such person as Mr. Hadwin, to whom he was
clerk, had been found at the address he had given to
the officer. Who and where was that person ? Flans-
gan—.l never said I was clerk to Mr. Hadwin.
The JUDGE—You did say so, or what was equal to
it ; and if you were not, how comes it that you asked
for a guinea for him as well as one for counsel ?
Flanagan for some time could not recollect Hadwin's
address. He said be had made a mistake in giving
the former one—it was No. 4, Lyon's-inn.
The Learned JUDGE then directed that Flanagan
should remain in custody until to-morrow (this day),
and that an officer should inform Mr. Hadwin that
his attendance was required.

Fisher, of the G division, denied most positively
that he ever bad any communication with Flanagan
about the case.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.
MANSION-HOUSE.
Joseph Hayward was brought before the Lord
Mayor, charged with having robbed his employers.
Mr. Matthew Thomas Humphrey, managing clerk
to Messrs. Ernest and Cresswell, of 99, Cheapside,
accountants, said—On the 9th August the prisoner
was in the employment of the firm as well as myself,
and had a cheque-book in his possession belonging to
John Coleman and Henry Howard, trading under the
firm of Howard and Coleman. I saw it in his posses-
sion in the afternoon of that day with a cheque drawn
for 91. 7s. 6d., and which was duly signed "Howard
and Coleman." Ernest and Cresswell bad at that
time some business of Howard and Coleman's, and it
was the duty of the prisoner to see to the issuing of
the cheques of that firm. On the Monday following
I wanted the cheque-book, and it was not to be
found, and the prisoner was absent from his duty that
morning. I made inquiry ,about the cheque for
91. 7s. 61, and stopped payment of it at the banker's.
I here produce the cheque which I had seen that day
in the cheque-book, and which has since been re•
ceiyed from Mrs. Ann Dawe. In the counterfoil is
written the word "cancelled." The writing is to my
knowledge the prisoner's. I hold in my hand a state-
ment on the subject made by the prisoner, but written
by another person who is now in custody upon ano-
ther charge.
Mrs. Anne Dawe, a licensed victualler, in Wall-
brook, said—On the 10th of August the prisoner
came to my house and had a pint of ale, and asked
me to cash a cheque for 91. 76.6 d. It was not then
crossed. I gave him the full change. My husband
has not lost the money.

The prisoner—The statement made is perfectly
correct, and I admit my guilt.
• A few moments afterwards the prisoner exhibited
much impatience to be committed, and said it was
not his wish to adjourn the case ; on the contrary, he
wished to go at once for trial.—The prisoner was
then committed for trial.
THAMES.

William Dixon, a well-known and desperate thief,
aged 19, and who was described as a labourer, of No.
12, Cock-hill, Ratcliffe, was brought before Mr.
Corrie, who sat for Mr. Yardley, charged with being
concerned with another in breaking into a ware-
house at Muntz's metal wharf, on the banks of the
Regent's-canal, Limehouse, and stealing therefrom
about five cwt. of copper and copper nails.
It appeared that on Saturday night, a warehouse
in the occupation of Messrs. Charles Moss and Co.
on the metal wharf, was fastened up and secured in
the usual manner. On Sunday morning at nine
o'clock, Mr. Knight, a clerk in the employ of the
firm, went down to the wharf to see if all was safe,
and was surprised to find a glare of light in the lower
warehouse. He was at once convinced that the pre-
mises had been entered by thieves, and he soon disco-
vered that one of the window frames, and the stout
iron bars which secured it, had been forcibly re-
moved, an operation which must have occupied some
time. A large quantity of metal and metal nails,
used for shipbuilding purposes, was missing from
the warehouse. The police were immediately com-
municated with, and Copping, a police-constable,
No. 379 K, and Showier, a sergeant of the same
division, proceeded to the wharf and traced the
greater portion of the metal which had been stolen
to another part of the wharf, where they found it
deposited in old bags, and covered over with
drain-pipes. The officers planed themselves in ambush
the whole of Sunday and Sunday night. Yesterday
morning, soon after six o'clock, they heard men on the
wharf, which was followed by a noise among the
drain pipes. Copping and Showier rushed from their
biding-place and saw the prisoner and another man,
each with a bag of metal on his shoulders. Oa
seeing the policemen they threw down their
loads, and one of them leaped into the canal ;
and although immediate assistance was rendered,
and the drags were procured and thrown into
the water, he was never seen afterwards. The
prisoner, who did not follow his companion into the
water, made a furious attack on the policemen, who,
after a desperate and violent struggle, effected his cap-
ture. The bag which dropped from the prisoner con-
tained 79 lbs. of sheathing metal, which was identified
by Mr. Knight and Mr. Smith as the property of
Messrs. Moss and Co. The metal and nails found
among the drain pipes, and which had been abstracted
from the warehouse, weighed 3 cwt. 3 qrs. and 20 lbs.
The prisoner, in defence, said that he had nothing
to do with any robbery or with breaking into a ware-
house. He was in the Commercial-road that morn-
ing, and was accosted by a man who asked him if he
wanted a job, and on his applying in the affirmative
the man took him to the wharf and pointed to a bag
of metal, which he directed him to carry, and just as
he got it on his back the police-constable pounced
upon him.
Mr. CORMS—Who is the man? The prisoner—
I don't know ; he jumped into the water, and I never
saw him afterwards.

—..--- -........._.
A Thames police-constable, No. 18, said the pri-
soner was well known, and had been convicted three
times and very often in custody.
Mr. CoRRIE said the prisoner must be remanded
for a week, and asked if the canal had been dragged.
Inspector Smith, of the K division—Yes, sir, it was
dragged yesterday ; the man was not found.

RAILWAY TRAFFIC RETURNS.
LONDON, BRIGHTON, AND SOUTH-COAST
RAILWAY.

Traffic—Week ending Dec. 13, 1851 ... £8,039 3 10
Traffic—Week ending Dec. 14, 1850 ... 8,307 12 3
Total of the half-year, to this date, 1851 ... 311,719 15 5
Total of the half-year, to this date, 1850 ... 281,556 0 5
Total number of Pasgengers—Week ending
Dec.l3, 1851 ... 44,860

Passengers ... ... ... ... £6,050 0 3
Goods ... ... ... ... 1,989 3 7

- Total ... .., £8,039 310
Total miles open, 1851, 17314 ; ditto, 1850, 17114,
London Terminus, Dec. 15, 1851.

SOUTII-EASTERN RAILWAY.
Gross traffic receipts for passengers
and goods, week ending Dec. 13,
1851 ...
... £10,233 4 8
Ditto, Dec. 14, 1850 ... ... 9,314 0 3

Increase in 1851 ... ... £919 4 5
London Terminus, Dec. 15, 1851.

The Warder states that a solicitor and twenty
other persons have abandoned Popery within the last month
or two in Dublin.

PRICE SD.

SPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOURNALS.
FROM THE MORNING PAPERS OF THIS DAY.
TIMES —The American President is under the an-
nual necte3sity of producing a Message long enough to
fill six or seven columns of en ordinary
ffinoewspaper. It
is as essential to the dignity of his
valcade of a Rajah, or the military e as the ca-
paageants of a
European Emperor. It is as necessary
functions as it is in our case to present our rrteorifdehrisa
with at least one broad sheet of readable matter, But
a perusal of the Message just arrived suggests
a
grave question. What if there should be nothing for
f
the President to talk about ? The bulk of the docu-
ment
before us is made up of matters accidentalin
their nature, and ephemeral in their interest. They
are events which might not have happened, and had
they not, it certainly does strike one that the Presi-
dent would have been rather hard up for a subject.
They are more than accidental, they are extraordi-
nary events. Near a quarter of the Message is taken
up with .the Cuban invasion and the popular outrage
on the Spanish Consul at New Orleans, for
both of which incidents the President expresses
the deepest regret—ungratefully, we think,
considering the food they have furnished for his
pen. The interference of the American Govern-
merit in behalf of " Governor Kossuth," with the
convoy and asylum offered him by the States—the set-
tlement of Californian affairs, with the arrangements
for the railway at Panama, and canals by Nicaragua
and other practicable routes—the winding up of
the Texan annexation, with the Mexican compromise
—and the working of the fugitive law, are all of
them extraordinary topics, which may soon lose their
interest, without being succeeded by subjects of equal
importance. Yet, with the first topic mentioned,
they make up the greater part of the Message.
Prolixity is a duty in America. The pomp of words
is all that is permitted in a republic. The President
has certainly been favoured by fortune hitherto, and
will never want for a subject so long as invasions are
attempted, foreign consuls maltreated, annexations
accomplished, gold diggings discovered, oceans joined
by rail, and three millions of men and brethren kept
in the condition of cattle. But if it be posssible to
imagine North America disturbed neither by ambition,
nor war, nor new discoveries, nor runaway slaves, for a
few years, how is the President to deliver his tale' of ,
bricks with the straw no longer found him ?
Doubtless be will deliver it, not merely because
words will never be wanting, but also because an
increasing. and enterprising people will always give
him something to talk about. But that only removes
the difficulty we started with a little further. How
are the growing appetites and gigantic developements
of such a people to be constantly supplied ? That is
a question which greatly concerns its neighbours,
who are, in fact, all the rest of the world. The tone
adopted by the President in treating these delicate
questions is severely moderate. There is a sort of
stern self-denial in the eartnestness with which
he reprobates all designs upon the possessions of
his weak and ill-governed neighbours. But the '
virtue is according to the temptation that is resisted,
and he does not fail to take credit for the singular
neutrality of the United States, whose mission, be
says, is to teach liberty by a splendid example,
rather than an officious interference. The American
Government, he says, does not follow, but lead, in
the doctrine of non-intervention, and particularly
in preventing its ports from being the depots for
piratical adventures. We hail these professions, and
trust they will be remembered in the hour of oppor-
tunity, but we will frankly confess to observe with
pain that the account with Spain is not yet entirely
closed ; that the sore has been kept open to this day
with inquiry and interposition ; that the United
States still insist on the sanctity of any vessel bearing
their flag in their own or in adjacent waters, including
thereby all the waters round Cuba, even though ob-
viously carrying piratical invaders to that island ;
that satisfaction has not yet been given for the sack of
the Spanish Consulate and the expulsion of the Con-
sul; and, that altogether, the relations between the
wolf and the lamb are left in a very ticklish state,
when nothing would be so easy as to settle them in
an amicable manner. The Americans have the art
of taking it out in all ways. They can unite the
amusement of political exploitation, the pleasure of
substantial acquisition, and the dignity of virtuous
self-denial at the same time. The first not having
been successful this year, is vigorously repudiated ;
but we scarcely venture to ask what the President
would have said had General Lopt z been able to land
his promised 2,000 men altogether, and at a place
where they could make good their position, and had
he thereby succeeded in conquering and annexing the
island. President Fillmore devotes a few words to
the financial policy to which he and his late chief were
pledged at their election. He announces the proposi-
tion once more of a Bill to change the present ad
valorem duties into specific duties on those articles in
which, as he alleges, the question of value is open to
fraud, and in which, he also adds, the American
manufacturers require some protection. As the illus-
trious framers or the American constitution have
wisely deprived the President of a standing army, a
metropolis, or any means whatever by which he
could enforce his will or maintain his position against
the Congress, and as a coup delat is consequently
impossible at Washington, it matters very little what
private opinion Mr. Fillmore and his Ministers
may hold on the subject of free trade against a
decided majority of Senate and the House of
Representatives. In the latter body the election
of a Democratic Speaker has been carried by a large
majority, and therefore we may presume that it sees
no occasion to modify the tariff of 1846. The Presi-
dent's own arguments for a modification are not
likely to make many converts. Those arguments are
founded on the commercial returns for the year end-
ing last June 30, and for that year he is forced to
admit that the value of exports from the Union, as
compared with those of the previous year, exhibited
an increase of 43,646,822 dolls. "At first view," he
observes, " this condition of our trade with foreign
nations would seem to present the most flattering
hopes of future prosperity." He argues, however,
that this inference is fallacious, because the increase
in the value of exports has not been an increase in the
quantity. He refers it wholly to the high price of
cotton during the last six months of the year 1850,
caused by a deficiency in the crop. But what does
the President suppose his customers to be ? Have
they Fortunatus's purse that they can only pay
40,000,000 dolls. more than usual for their cotton, but
find money for more of other things besides.
No financial arrangement, least of all artificial re-
strictions on trade, will prevent the natural results
of a dearth ; and a dearth of cotton, like a dearth of
corn, curtails the means of the consumers, and renders
them worse customers for all other things. If the
Americans pocketed, by Mr. Fillmore 's account,
40,000,000 dolls. more than usual for the same, or
even for a less, quantity, of cotton, surely they might
well be content, without complaining that the rest of
their trade has not improved in proportion. All that
can be fairly expected from free trade is a general
increase in the interchange of commodities in the
long run ; for no law, or absence of law, can possibly
obviate the effects of political events or physical vicis-
situdes. If during the fiscal year treated of in the
Message, viz., that ending last June 30, having to
pay extra for a short crop of cotton—that is, having
to pay more for the raw material and to manufacture
less out of it, we bad rather less money for
tobacco, that has nothing to do with free trade.
As for breadstuffs, provisions, and rice, of course
it is .wholly unreasonable to suppose that the
American exports would continue at the money value
obtained in the famine year ending June, 30, 1847.
It is unreasonable to expect that the money value
and the quantity should not vary :according to the
abundance or shortness of the British and European
crop or other accidents. A wide field of investiga-
tion, indeed, is opened by the facts instanced by Mr.
Fillmore, though evidently far beyond any Protec-
tionist ken. The truth is, that the United States
have, in several important respects, been rapidly
changing their industrial and commercial
position.
during the last two or three years. They
have
voted to the settlement of California, to the gold dig-
gings, and to the trade with that new State, an im-
mense portion of the capital and labour that would
otherwise have contributod to the increase of agricul-
tural production. Another large proportion of ca-
pital and labour has been draughted off to railroads,
canals, and other improvements. Such works add, WI -
mediately, to the consumption, not the production of
corn. Immigration also adds to the consumption,
each head,
the rate of about a quarter of wheat for
as the immigrant must on the average work a whole
year before his labours tell on the harvest. In fact,
the United States, for the last two or three years,
have been rather in the position of
a newly planted
foreign labour,
colony, thriving
, doonthethremastuepriplalys of .
But for the extra-
capital,
ordinaryfoeovdenats of this period, they would doubtless
have produced much more cotton and corn, and have
supplied them somewhat cheaper. California has had
the chief part in these changes, and that chiefly by
raising prices—a result which could not but operate
more unfavourably on the American than the British
manufacturer. But so far America has no reason
to complain. With an immense increase in the public
revenue, in the value of exports, and the quantity as
well as the value of imports, in population, in rail-
roads, and every other item of progress, it is idle to