The Sun.
London, England, 1835-10-21 00:00:00

NEW RIVER COMPANY.

The claims of the New River Company.to votes for the
county of Hertford, which had been adjourned until Satur-
day last, came on for hearing at the Shire-hall, Hertford,
before Messrs. Knapp and Peake, who, after a long and
patient investigation of the claims and objections, decided
in favour of the Company. The objections taken were of
a twofold character ; first, that being a Corporation aggre-
gate, they could not, as individuals of that Corporation,
vote for the Company's freeholds ; secondly, that if they
were entitled to vote as corporators, they could only vote
in respect of the actual freeholds in the possession of the
Company in this county.
It appeared, from the evidence of Mr. Inglis, the Com-
pany's chief clerk, that there were originally 72 shares, one-
half of which are called King's shares, from the fact of
5001. per annum being still payable to the King, or his
nominee, out of that half, which formerly was the King's
property, and the other half are called adventurer's shares ;
that the annual income derived from one of these shares
was about 700/. per annum, but that this income in great
part consisted of the profit the Company derived from the
supply of water to the metropolis, and that only a small
part of it was derived from their actual freeholds in the
county. _ _

Mr. Inglis stated that the whole rental of the Company's
,freeholds and copyholds (the latter being a small portion of
the wbole) in Hertfordshire, amounted to upwards of 6001.
per annum, but that Ware Mill, which was the property of
the Company, and let for .500/. per annum, was subject to
a rent-charge in perpetuity of 3591. per annum, which left
them a clear yearly income of-2411. ; he afterwards stated
that he thought he had underrated their income, and that
it was more than 3001. clear of all charges : but as he did
not appear to know how much of it wits copyhold, the
former sum remained in evidence as the amount of the an-
nual value of the Company's freeholds ; this sum, therefore,
divided by 72, gave 31. and a fraction for each person's share.
A variety of authorities were cited to show that the first
objection was valid, and a very elaborate written judgment,
in which very deep research was displayed, of Mr. Co-
ventry's on the same claims in Middlesex, was referred
to as confirming this view of the case, which it was
thought would be quite conclusive, and render it unne-
cessary to • go into the second part of the objection.
Messrs. Knapp and Peake, however, while they admitted
Mr. Coventry's opinion to be entitled to great weight,
not only did not concur in his judgment as related to
this part of the case, but Mr. Peake went much fur-
ther, and decided that the actual dividend paid to the
shareholders, without regard to the source from which it
was derived, whether as a profit upon the outlay of ca-
pital in steam-engines, iron pipes for conduits, or profit
upon the water purchased of the River Lee Company, or
from water raised from their own spring at Chadwell, or
from the rents of actual freeholds in the county, constituted
a freehold, thus treating water, a mere mercantile com-
modity, as a freehold capable of conferring a right to vote
for the county. The Company having thus established,
according to this decision, this principle, may now be said
to hold the representation of the county in their own hands.
The evidence of Mr. Inglis satisfactorily proved the net
income of the Company, clear of all and every charge,
amounted to upwards of 50,000/.per annum, and assuming
that this is to be equally divided between the counties of
Hertford and Middlesex, it gives something more than
25,000/, per annum for each ; and it is possible—we do
not say probable—that these shares may be so diviclA and
sub-divided as to give the Company ten or twelve, thousand
votes in each county. That this is nu fmihi obimera may
be. proved by this fact, that @MP' of the shares are at, this
moment divided iute *4, awl others into 90 parts. The
ir.RPirY into the right of these claimants to votes has brought
nut some facts which were not generally known before, and
has dissipated some very erroneous notions of the quantity
of water derived from the spring at Chadwell. It appeared
from an Act of James 1., Ivhich empowered the Company
to make this trench, or cut, that it should be of the width

' of ten feet and no more, and that the freehold of inheritance
of the land should still be in the proprietors. Person.; at
all acquainted with the New River, particularly those who
have land on the banks, need not be told that the Company
seem quite to forget the restriction of width, as it is gene-'
rally from fifteen to eighteen, and in some places twenty
feet wide ; an encroachment that probably will not now be
tamely submitted to. The good people of London, too,
who have for such a length of time imagined that they
were drinking nothing but the pure water issuing out of
the celebrated springs at Chadwell, and who have in their
,
delightful and
basin
;ring, will be chagrined to
aptertihoediNcael
we xrciuversrioHn seaidntaos thethe csoouunr.tcrey
of
z.isshdo
does not yield one-twentieth
gnearly the whole of it is fur-
ila)ebaarurtnn
of
fahnatt
their
thiss u ps supply
ioyf
itf:nat
3,n the limpids
that
fur-
nished out of, and by, the navigable river Lee, not a whit
purer or better than the Thames at Richmond or Putney.
The evidence of Mr. Telford before a Committee of the
House of Commons, in conjunction with that of Mr.
Walker, one of the most celebrated engineers of the pre-
sent day,' fully substantiates this fact : the former stated to
that Committee that the New River Company &livered to
tho inhabitants of London, and its vicinity, 1,100 cubic
feet per minute, and the latter, upon several examinations
of the quantity abstracted from the River Lee, stated it to
be upwards of that quantity, and frequently from one-
fourth to one-sixth more, so that in point of fact the spring
at Chadwell scarcely supplies more than the deficiency oc-
casioned by waste and evaporation, in its progress to Lon-
don. If this decision of the Barristers can be sustained in
law, viz., that the net profit of the Company it a freehold,
and in their own occupation, the different parishes in which •
this freehold is situated will do well'to see that the Com-
pany are duly rated for the same. We understand that they
are now rated in the parish of Little Amwcll ; but cer-
tainly not to a fourth part of what they should be accord-
ing to this decision, and we are informed that in other pa-
rises they are not rated at all.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE REFORMER.
SlR—The doctrine laid down by Mr. Peake, in pro-
nouncing his decision on the claims of the New River Com-
pany to votes for this county—viz. that the whole profit
of the Company, divided amongst the proprietors, was
freehold, and that every person possessing any fractional
part of a share which gave him forty shillings a year
nut of it, was entitled to vote—has excited the utmost
astonishment, particularly after 'the elaborate judgment
pronounced by Mr. Coventry in Middlesex, that they,
being a corporation, could not, individually vote for
the property of the Company. However, allowing that
the most liberal construction should be given to the Re-
form Act, the most that they could be fairly entitled to,
would be to vote for the actual freeholds which the Com-
pany possess in the county, and which appeared to have
been sufficient to have conferred a vote on a person holding
a whole share ; but by the decision of Mr. Peake, as stated
above, any person possessing the 350th part e,f a sliar"
entitled to the elective franchise, becafte it co,-
evidence that the annual profit made
amounted to the enormous suns of '
t thousand nd pounds
out
Now if this principle be f9'-' to y tou!a p
the .bearil;t
• - carried out, it amounts in
plain terms to thi,.
and cc --that if six persons were the owners
4. -
~_oo.l.
s of a field planted with hops or grain, and the
arly praton the cultivation of this field amounted to
twelve pounds and upwards, they would all be entitled to
vote for this property, although the actual value of the soil
should not be more than forty shillings a year, which, ac-
cording to all former received notions, would only have con-
ferred a vote on one person. But Mr. Peake went much
further even than this ; because it appeared in evidence
that the greater part of the water on which this profit of
fifty thousands per annum is made, is not the produce of
their own lands and springs, but actually purchased of ano-
ther company, thereby clearly bringing it within the charac-
ter of a purely commercial transaction. Surely the pro-
prietors of Bank or East India Stock have as equitable
a claim to the elective franchise as a proprietor of a New
River share.

Whether the decision of Mr. Peake will be borne out by
Parliament, remains to be seen, as it will most probably
form a topic of discussion in the ensuing session.
I remain, Sir, your obedient servant,
—llertfordshire Reformer. VIGIL.

ARREST OF FOREIGNERS IN FRANCE.—By a
recent decision of the Court called La Chambre des Vaca-
tion, in France, it is now held that one foreigner cannot
arrest another upon what is called with us menie-proces, or
any sort of writ before trial, for debt, even though that fo-
reigner should be the actuary of two French creditors to
whom the other was indebted.

THE SILK TRADE.—The sale at the India House
continues to attract a great deal of attention, in conse-
quence of the active demand which exists among the ma-
nufacturers to purchase. In some instances silks have sold
at an advance of from 12 to 15 per cent. higher than last
.sale, but the general average of the quotations realized
yesterday was 11 per cent. higher than the prices ob-
tained at the last quarterly sales. It is remarkable that
not a single bale offered by the East India Company has
yet been refused. The sale will not conclude until Thursday.
THE INDIGO TRADE.--Yesterday the quarterly
sale of East India indigos commenced, and was attended
most numerously by buyers from the manufacturing dis-
tricts, and others interested in the trade. The quantity
declared for sale was 8,158 chests, of which 6,812 were of
recent importation. The descriptions of goods to be offered
were as follows :-7,996 chests of Bengal ; .53 ditto Ma-
dras ; 54 ditto Kurpah ; 10 ditto Oude ; 25 ditto Prus-
sian Blue ; and 20 ditto Trash. This exceeds the quan-
tity put up at the July sales by about 400 chests. The
demand for exportation was very brisk throughout the
whole of yesterday ; of 786 chests which have passed the
sale; only. from 70 to 80 were bought in. The prices
realized were equal to those of last sale, in most instances
for consuming qualities, but shipping samples sold from 3d.
to 4d. per 1137 lower. The quotations realized yesterday
were from 3s. 4d. to 6s. per lb. ; good to fine violet colour
• fetching ss. 6d. to 6s. ; ordinary to middling from 4s. 6d.
to ss. 3d. ; and low to good consuming qualities," from
3s. 6d. to 4s. Bd. per lb. The sales will not conclude for
some days. A portion of the recent importations is in a
damp state.
EXPEDITION TO AFRICA FROM THE CLYDE.—
On Thursday afternoon, a scene of a very novel and in-
teresting description was exhibited to the people of
Greenock. Todd and M'Grigor, engineers, had built a
neat little iron steamer, and her appearance on the river had
excited a great deal of interest. This beautiful little
darid.Y toy of a steamer has again and again performed
the voyage up and down the river, to the great satis-
faction of every person connected with her, and to the
admiration of all who have witnessed the movements of
this great curiosity. On Wednesday, she took her final
departure from the Broomielaw, and arrived at Greenock
in the afternoon, where she announced her arrival by a dis-
charge of ordnance. Immediately after her arrival, she was
taken into the harbour, and completely dismantled, and was
on Thursday afterwards hoisted on board of the brig Mis-
chief, a rakish-looking old slaver, which has been fitted out
by a Glasgow Company for the purpose of trading with the
inland parts of Africa. 'The novelty of the scene attracted a
great crowd of people. This little steamer is, when fully
equipped, and in working order, about 10 tons weight, and
is intended to explore the Niger and its tributary streams,
for the purpose of trafficking with the natives. Her cargo
consists of ammunition stores, toys, and upwards of a hun-
dred bags of small shells, called couries, from the East
Indies, which are to be given for gold dust, ivory, and other
valuable produce of Africa.—Glasgow Paper.
The character of our manufacture has changed
much for the better of late years. Formerly there were
large quantitics.of merchandise manufactured and kept on
hand, to wait the chance . ok. a market. That is not the
case now. The manufacturers take orders, and their orders
seem to employ them fully. To show the correctness of
this remark, one of the greatest houses in the world—that
of Messrs. Baring—were not long ago under the necessi*:,,
of making contracts in April or May, for goods deli-,erable
in September. Ur. Bates of that firm, infs7:rms us that
when •he first came to this country twent:
were in many warehouses in I y years ago, there
50,000, or even 100,000 Pier :ondon 20,000, 30,000,
es of Manchester goods for
sale • but now, when bp i receives n the common course of
his business
the ;k4l" '7,iniission for a large qbantity of goods for
:....can market, he is obliged to order them a consi-
u".:tule time before. The stuffs, whether woollen, linen, or
cotton, have also improved very generally in quality. In
proof of this position, Mr. Bates states that two French
gentlemen had recently arrived with very extensive orders
for British cloths which he considers a singular circum-
stance. They were purchasing for a foreign market, and
observed that a much handsomer cloth was made in Eng-
land than could be made on the Continent of the same
materials, a circumstance which induced them to come here
to purchase. The increased demand for our goods is not
partial or temporary. It has proceeded from all parts of
the world, pretty equally, independently of the augmented
home consumption,=Dr. Urea Philosophy of Manufaci
tura. .

Dinner being over, her Majesty proceeded to her apart-
ments to prepare for holding a drawing room, which
was to take place at nine o'clock. Precisely at that
hour her Majesty appeared in the drawing room, and the
company began to arrive in rapid and constant succession.
The arrivals did not cease till near eleven o'clock. The
company was ushered into the drawing room by Captain
Marshall, and introduced by Lord Howe. The Ladies,
the Doctors, and heads of Collegei kissed bawls. There
were altogether 350 presentations, and her Majesty under-
went the toil of standing for nearly two hours without any
marked appearance of fatigue. The following were among
those who had the honour of paying their respects to her
Majesty :—Viscount Chetwynd, Viscount Dillon and.
Viscountess Chetwynd, Lady Wennon, Lady Anstru-
ther, Lady Georgiana Beree, Lady Johnstone, Lady
Dashwood ; the Provost of Queen's, the Registrar of the
University, the Warden of New College, Provost of Oriel,
President of St. John's, Warden of Wadham, Principal of
St. Alban's Hall, Principal of Brazennose, Rector of Exe-
ter, Principal of New Inn Hall, Master of Pembroke,
Master of Balliol, President of Trinity, Principal of Jesus,
the junior Proctor and Principal of Magdalen Hall, the
Rev. C. C. Clarke, Archdeacon of Oxford ; the Rev. F.
Vow, Fellow of Queen's ; the Chaplain of Christ Church,.
the Mayor. Aldermen, and Commons td Oxford ; Sir G.
Dashwood, Mr. Estcourt, M. P. ; Sir Harry Willock,
K.L.S. , Mr. Robertson, town clerk.
In the course of the nigki there was some slight indica-
tion of riot in parts br the town, but not to any serious
degree. His Gl7.ce the Duke of 'Wellington proceeded
from the (1-awing room to his apartments, at the Vice-
Cptain Marshall upon this ocasion acted
passed on.
-.Aloes on foot and alone. He was loudly cheered asa
with his experience, no necess_ry etiquette was marred or
omit ted.
Casntleman Usher, and it is superfluous to say that,
ha:L

Tuesday Morning.
This morning her Majesty took an airing on foot in the
beautiful grounds called the Meadows, accompanied by part
of the household. About eleven o'clock, on her Majesty's
return, the Nobility and Gentry of the county waited upon
her Majesty, and presented a loyal and affectionate address.
Immediately after which the Royal carriages drove up to
the door. In one of them her Majesty, the Duchess of
Weimar, Prince George of Cambridge, and tne Duke of
Wellington took their scats. The visitors of distinction and
her Majesty's suite accompanied her in two other carriages.'
On making her appearance she was loudlj cheered, and
proceeded immediately to Christ Church, and visited in
succession Merton, the Clarendon, the Bodleian, the
Ratcliffe, All Souls, and Queen's where an elegant dejeune
was prepared.