The Sun.
London, England, 1832-09-14 00:00:00

THE IRON TRADE.

A deputation of the Iron Trade of Staffordshire
lately presented a memorial to his Majesty's Minis-
ters, upon the distressed state of that class of manu-
facturers, and the causes which had produced it. The
statements ;ire, that ever since the panic of 1825,
with very slight intermissions, a continually increas-
ing depression has taken place in the prices of pig
iron and bar iron. Pig iron has fallen from 81. to
3/. per ton, and bar iron from 151. to under Si. per
ton. The iron masters have reduced their work-
men's wages, improved their working, and practised
all manner of economy; nevertheless, the prices of
the produce have fallen below the range of the fixed
charges and expenses which the law compels them
to discharge, viz. rents, royalties, contracts, and
uther engagements. The profits of their trades have
ceased ; and in many cases a positive loss attends
them. They have long hesitated about abandoning
their works, and allowing their workmen to be
thrown upon the parishes.
The Memorialists state, that the great cause which
has produced this depression is, " the attempt to
render the rents, taxes, royalties, and the other va-
rious engagements and obligations of the country
convertible by law, into gold at 31. 17s. 101 d. per
ounce." The remedy which they propose, is "the
speedy establishment of some just, adequate, and
efficient currency, which may properly support the
trade and commerce of the country, and preserve a
remunerating level of prices."
It is impossible not to sympathize deeply with
the sufferings of these manuf,cturers : but the cause
and remedy of their distress appears to us to be very
different from those pointed out. Tables are ap-
pended to the Memorial, from which we extract the
following information :
" Previous to the speculative years of 1824 and
1825, the total number of furnaces in Nast or open.-
tion M England and Wales, was 185.

" In 1823, the price of Pig Iron, per ton, was
3/. 13s. 6d. In .Linuary, 1825, in consequence of
the commercial mania, it rose to 8/. 55., and the
number of furnaces in blast then increased to 2G0."
Although the prices began immediately to fall,
the number of blast furnaces continued to increase,
so that in 1828 the number was 278.

The fail of prices continued progressive through
1829, 1830, 1831, and 1832, till the price for
August 1832 is reported to be 21. 17s. 6d. per ton
for pig iron. Nevertheless, the number of furnaces
in blast in 1831 was 252.
The quantities of iron made were the following :-
1822. 1825. 1828. 1830. 1831.
Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons.

469,500 61E1,200_ 703,100

678,400

53 ~600

If we suppose the efficient demand for iron to be

the same in 1832 as it was in 1823 before-the
mania, the quantity produced ought to be the same,
in which case the prices would be equal in both
years. But although there is no reason to believe
in any great increase of efficient demand, the quan-
tity produced has been increased in the proportions
above stated, or nearly 20 per cent. The inevita-
ble consequence must be a ruinous fall of prices.
It is a common maxim with manufacturers, that
as prices fall they ought to extend their trade, in
order to compensate, by an increased number of
transactions, for the smallness of. the profit on each.
We know many instances in which this maxim has
been carried into practical effect ; yet it is most
senseless in principle, and ruinous in its conse-
quences. One cause of a fall in the price of any
commodity, is an excess of the supply over the de-
mand.—lf the producers extend the supply, they
inevitably diminish the rate of profit; so that, in-
stead of reaping the same total gain from an enlarged
trade, the) extinguish every chance of getting any
prc.fit at all. A fall of price is the natural intima-
tion that the supply is excessive; and every reason-
able man ought to contract his trade till he find a
re-action ensuo.

The iron trade affords a convincing exposition of
the soundness of these principles. The great cause
of the severe distress is to be traced to the exces-
sive increase of blast furnaces produced by the high
profits of 1825. The moment the prices began to
fall, the iron-masters ought to have extinguished a
portion of their furipaces ; but in place of doing so,
they continued to increase them up to 1828. The
consequence was, a continued and rapidly increasing
depression of prices. If they would bring down the
otnlhfsuelt2mbe
it3ale,v isecir of furnaces
rtiutabirgsrseeue.lofybtt.
to ,lb.alltloefoy in op
tkethialaferot.
prices would
to the
uldspeedillmit of
speedily attain
raonr_enmi
aestsdy inshaonuladltepruartsioutei
the same system of increasing the supply beyond the
demand, they would ultimately be ruined, although
shillings were by law declared to be equivalent to
pounds in the discharge of rents and contract debts.
In Scotland, the great iron companies, such as
those of Carron, Shotts, and Devon, carry on the
trade of founders in addition to that of producers of
pig iron; and in consequence have suffered, we be-
lieve, much less than the English and Welsh com-
paid( s. We are convinced that prosperity will rc-
visit ictoottinernoof eiensi they
within the nbiriittsig
othe
th the
dem supplyan
do!'
their
—Scotsman.

IDENTIFYING AN A ss.—On Monday week
a donkey was ordered by the Rev. Dr. DONNE, Deputy
Mayor of o,westry, to appear before him to be identified,
in a dispute, by its original owner, from whom " Robin"
had been absent upwards of two years, and had passed
through divers hands. With some little difficulty in as-
cending the steps, the officers ushered " Robin" into the
presence of the Reverend aLndioNlV,sor:shs)ip;fublu Doctor otheteoraniLathres
Town Clerk's office, who, it is presumed, expected a second
miraculous speeeh (like BAA
dumbness was plentifully made up by his old mistres., who,
whilst hugging her old favourite round the neck before the
deelaied there was a mark over the eye with a
,hewer which she poked him with once for trampling
over the taturs.— Shrewsbury Chronicle.

EXTRAORDINARY SUICIDE.—Among the
numerous suicides that take place in England, a suicide
committed from an apprehension of being buried alive
will be admitted to be a singularity. Ws.are not aware
f such a whimsical motive having in any former case di-
rected the hand even of the insane. In the following
instance, it sectns to have been the only cause of the uu•
happy hypochondriac's rashness. LETITIA GRANT, aged
56, killd herself nn Monday. JAM ES COSTER, her
nephew, who gave evidence of the fact before the Coro-
ner, said, " his aunt was naturally a very timid woman,
and always expressed her alarm at the least infection.—
Last week she contilained of a howel cotnplaiut ; which,
despite all opinions to the contrary, she insisted was an
attack of the cholera morbus. She recov, red ; hut so
fearful was she of the disease, that every morning she fu-
migated the room with preventatives of various descrip-
tions. On Monday she fanci,al she hail anther attack,
and wished to be removed to the Cholera Hospital; and
requested, if she should fall a victim to the malady, that
she might be Wel, lest the medical men should be de-
ceived, and that she should te interred alive. He called
in medical aid to convince her there were no grounds for
her fears, yet still she would declare she had the com-
plaint. In the afternoon, about three o'clock, he heard a
noise in her sitting-room, and upon running up he found
horrid manner, quite dead, wit!.
the ula lady on the floor weltering in her blood, with lier
yltAte .sy
I
Bide."..—Brighton Gazette.
till"
:eraatzu3urtwinith w
a iniost
,d committed