The Sun.
London, England, 1860-03-26 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, MARCH 26, 1860.

NATIONAL PROVINCI AL BANK OF
ENGLAND, 112, Bishopsgate-street, London, 23d
March, 1860.
The Directors of the National Pros ductal Bank of England
Hereby Give Notice, That in consequence of the death of
Isaac Nicholson, Esc] , there will be .2. Vacancy in the Direc-
tion, to be filled up at the Annual General Meeting ot•the
Society, to be held onlhe 10th day of :41 ay next, and,tkat every
shareholder intending to become oi• to propose a candidate
for the office of Director must, within. ten days from the date
hereof; sigr,nify by some writing und(!r his or her hand, to be
left at the Office of the Society in the City of London. either
his intention to become a candidate it the name and place of
abode of the candidate intended to, be proposed by him or
her. —By Order of the Court of three tors,
DAN. ROBERTSON,. Agent and Manager.

N.B.—No Proprietor is eligible to 1 .e elected a Director who
has not been a proprietor of at least twenty £10',.) shares or
one hundred £2O shares for six ealenesi rniontlis, or to propose
a candidate unless a proprietor for at least ten £lOO shares
or fifty £2O shares.

PURSUANT to an Order of the High Court of
Chancery, made in a cause "J sanes Williams Thomas,
plaintiff, against Francis Thomas. d efendant," the creditors
of JAMES THOMAS. late of Albion -house, East India-road,
Poplar, in the county of Middlesex, a ad of Fowkes-buildings,
in the city of London, lighterman, d et eased, who died in or
about the month of July, 1859, are, by their solicitors, on or
before the 17th day of April, 1860, to x•me in and prove their
debts at the chambers of the Vice-(l3hancellor Sir Richard
Torin Kindersley, No. 3, Stone Betildings, Lincoln's-inn,
Middlesex, or in default thereof the ,y will be peremptorily
excluded from the benefit of the sa id Order. Monday, the
23d day of April, 1860, at twelve o'c'lock at noon, at the said
chambers, is appointed for hearing and adjudicating upon
the claims.— Dated this eighth day of 'March, 1860.

CHAS. PUGH, Chief Clerk.
WILDE, REES, HUMPHUY, and WILDE,
College-hill, Plaintiff's Soli ci tors.

CHRTSTY'S MINSTRELS, :Polygraphic Hall,
King William-street, Strand.—ra rewell Season in Lon-
don.—Every Eveninsr, at 8, and every ;.;aturday Morning at
:3 o clock. 'Tickets and places may be secured at the Hall
from 11 till 4, and at Mr. Austin's Wei it-end Box-office, St.
James's Hall, Piccadilly.—Sole Proprietor and Manager,
Mr. J. W. RAYNOR.

THE NATIONAL ASSEM BLY ROOMS,
NIGH .HOLBO
This Establishment, pre-eminently distinguished for the
elegance and matchless beauty of its .lecorations, "combined
with the perfection of its managerne) tt is OPEN EVERY
EVENING'. The celebrated band, imeter the direction on'tlr.
-W. N. Packer, plays a nightly-varied iseleotion of the most
approved classical and modern music. Doors open 'at half-
past 8. Overture at 9. Closing at 12. Admission, One
Shilling.

ARGYLL ROOMS, Windr ill-street, Picca-
dilly. A Grand INRTRUIIiI MTAL CONCERT,
commencing at half-past Eight o'clo' Dancing at Ten
o'clock. Conductor M. Lamotte (chef L'orchestra to the Em-
perm Napoleon). Principal cornet-a- piston, M. Boulcourt.
Doors open at 8 o'clock. Admission, Ls.

THE THIRD ERA IN THE PROGRESS OF STEAM
POWER !
"A Steam Plough for the Idle Soil of the World."

nN WEDNESDAY, March 2F,, a WORKING
NJ' MODEL, illustrating the traction principle of _

" GILES'S IZOAD AND FIELD LOCOMOTIVE,"
will appear in St. George's-road, Southwark, between 2 and
6 p.m. The -use of this Engine offers to the capitalist, the
West India planter, the British farmer, and the pioneer and
prairie farmers of the world, an unlim ite d supply of practical
steam labour suited to perform all the duties of agriculture
and road transport with economy, reliability, and efficiency.
The vast staple resources which lie in embryo in the idle
soil of the Colonies, the forests of Afri co, and the jungles of
India, need only labour to develope ,them; idle ships and
railroads are waiting to transport them; capital is waiting a
profitable field for investment ; idle thu tories. and artisans
are waiting to manufacture.. them ; I the woKld's 300

lions of poor and uncivilised are waiting to promote their
consumption, and to yield to the influence of industry, civilis-
ation, and the gospel.
A Practical Steam Plough is the ne.Kt step in industrial
progress, and the remedy for idle ships, for idle capital, and
for idle men, lies not in going back to protection, but on to
production.

Free by post for six stamps,
AGRICULTURAL PROGRESS AND ITS
PATRONS.
Published and sold by the Author,
JOHN GILES, 8, Cannon-street, London, Patentee and
Inventor.

THE PAPER TRADE

-•-,--.--

TO THE EDITOR OF THE

Sir,—There is nothinr, easier, and nothing is more,
common with as class a' men who•measum other
People by their own standard, than to impute im-
proper motives, where it is found impossible to con-
tend by fair argument ; and if it be discovered that!
the interests of the individual are in harmony with
the cause he is advocating, this accidental coinci-
dence is held to be a sufficient refutation of the ar-
guments set forth.
In stepping forth as the defender of the trade
with which 17 am connected from the unjust and
oppressive legislationwith which we are threatened
by the unconciitional remission of the Oustoms'cluty
of id. per lb. upon paper imported from foreign
countries, I anticipated, a.nd was fully prepared for,
this ungeneroug interpretation of my motives, as
will be seen by reference to my first letter, where
I say, " Oh, it will be said, this is part of the old
rag ; free-trader in everythieg hut what affects his
own interests."
Thus prepared, I am not surprised to find my
anticipations realised ; and if I had. no regard for
your space, I might retort upon my adversaries, by
inquiring whether the 'course of legiSlation which
they so zealously recommend is dictated by pure
patriotism, unalloyed by a trace of self-interest; or
whether it does not partake in some degree of that
very common. human frailty—a desire to benefit
themselves.
Who is this " public" on whose behalf the paper
duties have been repealed at a
sacrifice of upwards
of a million and a quarter of revenue, and on whose
behalf an unconditional surrender of the import
duty is demanded ?
It is no small favour to the proprietors of the
cheap newspapers, and the publishing interests
generally, to be relieved from-a tax equivalent to 20
per cent.. on the, paper faey -use,',inVolvrtig= the
placing of this burden on the broader shoulders of
the income-tax payer by 'an increase of a I.d. in the
pound; and yet they demand the sacrifice of a whole
trading interest to their inordinate cupidity.
The struggle now going on is not whether the
trade of the :English papermaker shall be sacrificed
for the benefit of the whole community, but it is
whether the paper trade shall be sacrificed for the
benefit of the newspaper and publishing trade; and
it is no answer to the charge of injustice which I
have advanced. that in defending the paper trade
from the assaults now made upon it, as I think
most unfairly, I am thereby defending my own in-
terests
. .
Notwitintanding the sneerinr, taunts which are
levelled against me, I stand, unabashed, the uncom-
promising advocate of free trade and. the defender
of paper trade at the same time.
I do not sue in forma pauperis for mercy at
the hands of the Government
; 1. do not ask for pro-
tection. I demand justice, I ask for free trade,
in the sense in which it is applied to the. great
trading interests of this country ; I ask only to be
put upon the same footing as the cotton spinner,
the flax spinner, the woollen manufacturer and the
silk manufacturer.

If I am to be called upon, like them, to meet the
world's market in my manufactured article, I want,
like them, to have access to a common source for the
raw material of manufacture. The English cotton
spinner and manufacturer meets his foreign com-
petitor on equal ground, because they both buy
their material from the same markets, and he fears
no competition; and so do the linen, the 'woollen,
and the silk manufacturers, they have all access
to the markets of the world for the purchase of
their raw material, and they are, therefore, in a
position to meet their foreign competitors, let the
competition arise where it may.
Is there injustice, or any craving
for favour, in
asking that the papermaker be placed in a
similar position ? " Oh, no," it is responded, "there
is no injustice in your request; it is quite fair and
reasonable ; and we should be very glad if we could
obtain for you the same position which all other
trades enjoy ; but, you see, foreign Governments
are so obstinate in their refual to allow rags to be
exported, that we cannot place you in this desirable
and just position ; but is this," say they, " any
reason why we should not buy foreign paper, and
allow it to enter this country free of duty, even
though it be, as you say, that their paper can be
made at a much cheaper rate than you can make
it, arising from the great abundance and the arti-
ficially low price of the material from which it is
made ?" I answer, " Unless you are entirely des-
titute of English sympathies---unless you desire to
aid foreign Governments in the selfish policy they
have laid, down, and to close the door for ever to a
more just and equitable state of things—unless
you wish to help them to take advantage of their
own ,ffrong—unless you. are prepared to place this
country in a position. of dependence on foreign
countries for the supply of paper, and to witness
the destruction of an useful and important manu-
facturing
interest, giving
employment to a large
amount of labour—unless," I say, " you have well
considered and are prepares for all the consequences,
you ought not to admit foreign paper free from
countries which maintain an export duty on rags."-
If the position of the English cotton spinners,
the woollen manufacturers, the linen and silk ma-
nufacturers be only one of bare justice and equity,
then the position in which the English papermaker
without the privilege,
will be placed by the admission of foreign paper
enjoyed b those other great
interests, of buying their materihls from a common
source, being totally different, it therefore cannot
be a position based on either justice or equality.
I illustrate my meaning by putting a hypo-
y
thetical case, and I will take the cotton trade for
the purpose.
Supp,,se that America, actuated by a desire to
monopolise not only the growth, but also the ma-
nufacture of ,cotton, were to lay a tax of 50 per
cent. upon t:ne export of cotton ; would our Eng-
lish cotton spinners consider it fair to this great in-
terest if were proposed to admit American cloth
and yatm freely to this country ? Would they be
satisfied to be told' that the thing would right it-
self in the course of a few years, and that in the
mean time they must do the best they could ?
Would they patiently endure to be reminded of the
indomitable nature of English skill and enter-
prise ? Would any Government dare to make a
proposal of this nature ?
And if not, where is the difference between the
position of the English papermaker as it will be if
the proposed remission of the import duty is
effected, and that which I have drawn of the cotton
trade as it would be under similar circumstances .
The only difference is, that the lime is a compara-
tively small and powerless interest, and the other
is all-powerful—an imperium iii imperil.
I am thankful, air, and the trade with which I am
connected, and which is so seriously threatened,
has reason to be grateful, that you; notwithstand-
ing that your interests appear to be in an opposite
direction, have so generously afforded me the means
of placing our case before the public; and if you
will still afford me the opportunity, it shall not be
my fault if this case is not better understood. I
am resolved that no one shall have the excuse of
ignorance for taking part in this act of injustice and
oppression. _ _

I find that much doubt and misconception still
exists as to the extent of this prohibitory system
on the continent of Europe; and also as to the dif-
ferential cost at which paper can be made in these
protected countries as Compared with Englisk
manufacture.

In Spain and Portugal and Belgium a prohibi-
tive law exists. In France the export of rags has
been up to the present time prohibited, and the pro-
posed export tariff is 81. to 101. per ton. In Holland
it is 121. 10s: per ton. In German, and the Zoll-
verein 91. per ton. In Russia 61. per ton ; and
these duties, it must be remembered, are from 50 to
100 per cent. upon the value of the rags iu the re-
spective countries.
Well, then, it is said that the foreigner labours
under many disadvantages in inferior machinery,
want of coal, &c. No greater mistake can be com-
mitted ; the fact of the foreign
paper used abroad
not being tie good as our own does not arise from
their inability to make better, but because the taste
and habits of the people make them content with a
worse paper at a lower price. They have as good
machinery (nearly all English make) ; they have
labour at a much less cost, and the want of coal is
more than counterbalanced by the abundance and
cheapness of their water power ;
and they
are required, produce as good paper as can at a
much smaller cost. eau, if they

But one fact is worth a whole bundle of theories.
A day or two ago I had put into my hand by a
most respectable member of our trade a parcel of
samples sent over from France and Germany, and
the gentleman said, in Placing the samples in my
hand, "I am prepared to take orders from you, or
any one else, to any extent, itt the prices marked."
I have since learnt that he has made large sales at
these prices. It thus appe9.- that, notwithstanding
the pscnt import duty is 2Ad. per lb., against our
Excise duty of lAd , affording a protection to the
home maker of id. per lb., this paper of foreign
manufacture can now be brought into successful
competition with our own ; and, such being the

case) I will leave it to any reasonable man to con-
ceive the effect of a perfectly free import.
It is -thought by some that this discrepancy in
the price of material will right itself in time, by
equalisihg -the price here with that on the Conti-
' neat. 'I believe under no circumstances, short of a
free export, could this be sensibly effected, on ac-
count of the immense area from which the Conti-
nental supplies are drawn ; but that, with an Ame-
rican demand constantly operating in our market,
with a power to pay a much higher price than we
can, this is rendered impossible.
It now remains only to inquire on what grounds
so many well-meaning men seem prepared to pre-
cipitate us into that unnatural contest, without
power to help ourselves.
I find no one prepared to deny the extreme hard-
ship of our case ; no one who would not, if th€y
could, remove the obstacles to a free access to the
foreign material; but, strange enough, those who
thus profess to sympathise with us, who condemn
the injustice of the proceeding—either from party
tactics, or from its being, as they think, an infrac-
tion of great principle—are intending to commit
us to this unequal and ruinous contest. With as
much justice might you throw two men into the
river to swim for their lives, the one with every
limb unfettered and the other with an arm and a
leg tied up, and eall this a fair contest, as commit
us to a race of competition with the foreign maker,
hampered with an export duty on the material we
require, under the pretence that this is free trade.
What we ask from the public is that which the
public seldom refuses—fair play; we ask to be
placed on the same footing of free trade as the
cotton, the woollen, the silk, and the linen manu-
facturers; and, placed in this position, we will fight
our way as best we can ; and only until we can be
placed in this position, and only -as a means of break-
ing down these selfish restrictions, we ask that a
cpmpeAtating import duty of Id. per lb. be allowed
id remain ; and we say, further, that to act other-
wise is to destroy a deserving trading interest, and
to perpetuate the state of things on the Continent
which is universally conderaned.—l am, sir, yours,
THOMAS Cox's Hotel, Sermyn-street, March 23. WRIGLEY.