The Sun.
London, England, 1866-11-30 00:00:00

has just been held at Hampstead to determine future
action. Epping Forrest has recently been the cause
of a suit in equity. In the parish of Loughton the
inhabitants have exercised from time immemorial
the right of cutting firewood, by what is tradition-
ally spoken of as Queen Elizabeth's charter. This
right, they say, existed from the 11th November to
a specified day in April in each year, on condition
that the first axe was laid at 12 o'clock at night on
the former date. Curious stories are told of the
means taken to prevent this law being kept.
Suppers given and conviviality promoted, in
the midst of which an astute and sturdy commoner
has stolen out at night to keep the bond and pre-
serve his own and his fellows' rights ; money gifts
pusatreohlffeossemrneelst o induce
aonfdkpeee i
mp iuntaslgtieuvnpedaiang nrgivrasooeodlnets-tcehasfooprtpemo form—such
thestuo
etklhteteaepsr
are said to have been the means fruitlessly employed
to shake the resolution of those bent on maintaining
the charter. Where this document is, and under
what circumstances it was granted, have not been
stated. Midnight is supposed to have been fixed in
order that the privilege of wood-setting should be
restricted to bond fide inhabitants, but the evidence
of the existence of the charter seems to mainly rest
upon the unanimous testimony of old parishioners,
and the persistent efforts made to prevent its first
clause being observed. Tradition states that three
other parishes near originally had the same privi-
leges as Loughton, but have lost them through suc-
cumbing to the temptations quoted; and it is also
said that at Walthamcross similar rights were ex-
tinguished by the monks, who gave a supper to the
commoners, and by engaging them in revelry until
the magical hour was passed, caused the rights to
lapse, and made enclosure legal. At Loughton re-
cent proceedings have assumed a peculiarly painful
character, owing toithelord of the manor, a clergy-
li.ar having felt-ins duty to visit condign punish-
ueat ui)o44/sill)o4V cOttagf7 for ofEktinni:
chop their wood afterbeing warned that the ground
it stood on had been made by him private instead of
public property. Imprisonment, loss of employ-
ment, of means of subsistence, and of home have
followed, and it is probable that' particulars of their
hard treatment will be brought before the public,
and steps be taken for their aid.

.: A-..z:

The great difference of °plaids which still exists
between Earl Spencer and the inhabitants of Wim-
bledon are to be determined in a suit in equity,
which is about to come on ; while tike dwellers near
Blackheath will shortly call a local meeting, at
which members of the Commons Preservation Com-
mittee will attend to proff%.--expla.-nations and
advice. In all cases, the ceQtral society aims at
stimulating local public
,4fl.—irit ; and its usefulness
consists in promoting the objects of 114'. CoWper's
Act more effi•
ciently than can be done by any exist-
ing organisati4. The great desideratum is to pre-
serve the opeUl'Spaces near London for the benefit._
not merely a those living near them, but,for._;;;J;;
smoke-drieV-Londoners themselres. It
known that -many waste lands have been encllitseef. 7
through the 'apathy and ignorance—of-WOW:
ing in their vicinity, which would be priceless- as.:
open spaces now. Mr. Cooper's Act, and the yip:
lance of ills Preservation Soddy, are designe tn. ,
prevent these enclosures, for the futtire," and w Mile_"
the latter- encourages 'the formAtion, of, and-invites
co-operation with local coMinitteeifor the same end,
it- is especially anxions•to embody in its ranks tall
interested in the health and wellbeing of the com-
mnnity, - •

THE ROYAL SOarFhY OF AtttS:

A very interesting paper was read on. Wednesday
night by Mr. W. Hawes,,in the room Of the Royal
Society, to a nunierons aUdience, "On the Effects
of Limited Liability Partaership on. he Progress of
Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce." I'ho cbatr_
was taken by Sir lloufl6ll Altorney'-
.
General.

. .
.. .
. . Mr.. Hialv.Es, after alluding to thesast iniportance
of the subject he had taken in; han'il,Olfsorved that
..,•-•
the moat', ktriking itistances, in/tinies past of
such chartered,liartnershipset„corporations, were
thoseof the_ New Rive!. Company, established established in
'the -'ivigli,C4o‘4l.lttn.4.- -r-r--:f4--oi.i,jt;44;it7:..
metropolis with pure water; affethe Bank of Ei,g-
land, established in 1694, to conduct large monetary •,• •-:.
operations, the object of both being the improve- ",-:
)
went and advancement of our social and trading in-
terests '• ~
at home ; and of• the East India Company,
the Hudson's Bay Company, and the Hamburg
Trading Company, established respectively in the ..
years 1806, 1809, and to conduct and stimulate the
trade, then in its infancy, with our dependencies,
colonies, an 1 foreign nations. The principle of
limited liability, as applied to trading companies, is
not, therefore, new to this country. The second -
class, or the association of two or more
individuals, for a common purpose, and with
unlimited liability, has, however, always formed '.
the ordinary type of partnerships under which the
great bulk of the business of the country has been
conducted. In such partnerships each partner was
liable, to the full extent of his fortune, for the debts
contracted by the company or firm of which he was
a member, but the difficulty which frequently aro:e
in determining who were partners led to constant
litigation. having given a long and interesting
account of the working and operations of the pre-
' sent law, he next called attention to the improve-
ments which had been effected of late years, by
which employers are enabled to appropriate some
portion of their annual profits to workmen, either in
lieu of or in addition to wages, without any of the
complications of partnership, or the necessity
companies.
of con-
verting private partnerships into public
The advantages, then, of association andm more
eco-opera-
tion are now open to all classes. Thewealthy
can unite to conduct large monetary and commer-
cial undertakings, the shares of which may be of a
high denomination ; the middle classes, including
the members of all professions, can unite in manu-
facturing and trading industries, to their mutual
benefit; and that a large class of producers who de-
pend
combine to obtain at
the chonnpweseterkalytewaangdesofnithaeybest quality a supply of
the necessaries of life, and a fair and legitimate mode
of influnicing the rate of wages never before open
to them. But whatever might be the pecuniary
advantages derived by individuals from association
underjimited liability, those to be derived by work-
men, and through them by the State, either by their
becoming shareholders in the large establishments
where they are employed, or by their receiving by
special agreement a certain portion of the net pro-
fit, after the payment of proper interest on the capi-
tal and salaries to the partners, are of far greater
moment. In fact, the mode of remuneration will
strike at the root of the evils of trades unions—that is
BO far as they are directed to restrictions on labour.
If every man, in addition to his wages, is a partner in
the profits of the works in which he is employed,
and is made to feel how much profits are decreased
by any undue interference with the freedom of labour,
and that his half-yearly bonus is lessened by such
interference, he will soon become, if not
oppo-
nent of restrictive trade regulations, an a
'Very luke-
warm supporter of them, and an unwilling sub-
scriber to the funds of associations which directly
reduce his receipts with very small prospective, if
any, advantage. The hon. gentleman then entered
into an interesting account of the working of these
co-operative societies, and concluded by saying that
if, by affording facilities for the establishment of
co-partnerships in industry; Or for the appropriation
of a certain per ceutage of profits of ordinary part-
nerships under the Act of 1865, to all engaged in
producing manufactured articles, whether it be by
the reproduction of cheap works of art, or by the
importation of raw materials from foreign countries,
greater results can be obtained than by adhering to
the old plan of allowing all classes of producers to
work each in their own circle, and striving for their
own personal ends only, that systemoin of legislation
which has inaugurated such a change
r•C
will foremost
bei., .
.
rela-
tions of capital and labour
country'will
an
amongst those to which this
debted for the future- prosperity of its arts, manu-
factures, and commerce. - . -
An interesting discussion followed, and the pro-
ceedings terminated at ten o'clock.

There were happily no deaths from cholera or
diarrhcea registered in London on Wedno:day.